OBSERVATIONS AFTER THREE YEARS IN GEORGIA - Daphne Lewis, bambusera!
I moved to Perry, Georgia, in October 2010. Robby Russell invited me to use his 20 year old
plantings of bamboo to do my research. I rented one of his houses and began to work.
My first task was to choose which varieties of bamboo to research. I walked through his fine
collection in Bonaire on a gentle southeast facing slope and his smaller collection in Fort Valley at
a former USDA Station. I looked for bamboos with canes thick enough to be sellable as bamboo
shoots. I chose eleven varieties: Phyllostachys praecox, P. edulis (moso), P. nigra henon, P. vivax
aureocaulis, P. viridis Houzeau, P. viridis Robert Young, P. bambusoides (Japanese Timber), P.
rubromarginata, P. nigra Bory, P. dulcis and P. aurea. I have duplicate plots of Henon and Robert
Young, one each in Bonaire and Fort Valley. Seven varieties produced shoots: praecox, moso,
henon, aureocaulis, Houzeau, Robert Young and bambusoides. Three varieties did not produce
shoots: rubromarginata, Bory, and aurea. The P. dulcis grove produced shoots in 2013.
I decided to use 1000 square feet as my plot size. I staked out a thirty two by thirty two feet
research plot in each grove. I cut stakes of thin bamboo and pounded them into the ground. I tied
bright surveyor tape to the tops of my stakes. With research plots marked, I was on my way.
After staking my plots, I prepared them for the first harvest in 2011. I cut out and removed the
leaning and dead poles. My plots were ready by the time the first shoots appeared.
To cut the poles, I used a reciprocating saw. I had three batteries. Some days I used all three. I
wore out one saw and bought a second while I had the first repaired. Now I have two saws, each
with three batteries. Inside my research plots, I carefully cut all bamboo grass to the ground with
hedge clippers. Then I sprayed vines, perennial weeds, brambles and young trees with Roundup.
The spray never touched a bamboo leaf.
Outside my plots as the weeks went on, I would spray poison ivy, smilax, honeysuckle, brambles
and trumpet vine. When they died, the next spray would take me further into the woods. I kept
clearing out the brush with my sprayer and opening the bamboo forest to its beauty. I love working
in the groves. Four years later, my research plots are weed free and richly mulched with straw and
bamboo leaves. Outside my plots, the forest has no weeds and no ticks. It is pleasant to look at
and to walk through.
My routine was simple once harvest began. Drive to Fort Valley. Let the dogs out. Note air
temperature and time in my log book. Go to the praecox, henon, aureocaulis and Robert Young.
At each grove measure the soil temperature, jot down the water level in the rain gauge, flag with
surveyor tape the shoots that will grow up, harvest the excess shoots. Back at the car, prep the
shoots (if needed); weigh the shoots; count them; place them in my cooler, note the data in my log
book. Sometimes photograph them and the groves. (Oh yes, call the dogs!) Note air temperature
and time of leaving. If the weather is hot and dry, turn on the sprinklers in praecox, aureocaulis
and Robert Young. Drive to Bonaire and repeat the process with henon, Houzeau, moso,
bambusoides, Robert Young, dulcis. rubromarginata, Bory and golden.
Rubromarginata, Bory and golden did not produce shoots. While I harvested some dulcis shoots
in 2013, I did not use those numbers in my research because dulcis covered only (approximately)
300 square feet in 2011/2012 and 400 square feet in 2013.
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OBSERVATIONS AFTER THREE YEARS IN GEORGIA - Daphne Lewis, bambusera!
There is no well in Bonaire. In 2012 Robby connected a trash pump to a ditch with water and
hooked it up to hoses in an attempt to water the groves. We could not get water to the groves.
Yields for all Bonaire bamboos are from rainfall only.
I eat shoots every day during harvest season. I make salads with them. I stir-fry them with other
vegetables and melt cheese over the top. My Chinese friends says “Don’t mix cheese with
bamboo shoots”. I do melt cheese because that is what I do with all my vegetables. To me
bamboo shoots are a vegetable like other vegetables - except, unlike all other vegetables, when
cooked they are still crisp. In 2014 I will bake shoots and grill or broil them as well.
I have a friend in Savannah who helps me sell the shoots. She is three hours away. I need to find
a chef closer to my groves who will buy shoots from me and serve them as a local, fresh, and
novel vegetable. Sometimes I sell shoots and poles at the local farmer’s market.
Much as I enjoy harvesting, cooking and eating bamboo shoots, what I really look forward to is the
end of shooting season. I enter my field notes on my computer. I compile my data; I make graphs;
I work with high hope for great results. “This year will be better” is the tune in my head.
GRAPH ONE
GRAPH ONE compares my yields for the first three years. During these years, maintenance on
the groves has been thinning of poles, elimination of weeds, selective harvesting of shoots,
spreading of compost and llama manure, broadcasting of lawn fertilizer, and mulching with hay and sometimes with pine straw if I can’t get hay that day. In the case of praecox, aureocaulis and
Robert Young at Fort Valley, maintenance has also included irrigating with lawn sprinklers using a
faucet mounted timer.
This graph shows that my high hopes for each successive year to more productive than the
previous one were dashed. I wanted the green bars of 2012 to be taller than the blue of 2011 and
the yellow of 2013 to be taller yet. Graphs like that would show that I know how to care for
bamboo. For every bamboo the yellow bars of 2013 are less than half as long as the the blue and
green of 2011 and 2013. The significant exception is the Robert Young at Fort Valley.
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OBSERVATIONS AFTER THREE YEARS IN GEORGIA - Daphne Lewis, bambusera!
What went wrong? We had drought in the summers of 2011 and 2012. The bamboo suffered.
Spring of 2013 was unusually cold. It was so cold that most of the bamboos shot two weeks later
than normal. The earliest shoots of the praecox froze and died. Weather trumps management.
Phyllostachys praecox - Early Bamboo
Praecox is a consistent producer of shoots. I think that one reason
praecox is performing consistently is that it shoots early. It avoids the
late spring and summer drought that slows rhizome growth.
Praecox first begins shooting outside my plot where the sun hits the
soil directly. In 2011 shooting began when the soil reached 52°F. In
2012 the soil was 56°F. In 2013 spring was unusually cold. There
were weeks of cold and then the warmth came suddenly and the
praecox started shooting when the soil leaped to 60°F. I did not
harvest the very early shoots. The earliest ten shoots froze and died
when about two feet tall.
Praecox canes are straight, uniform in diameter and a dull dark green.
The largest culm is 2.75”. Most culms are in the two inch and under
range.
My data show that praecox produces 1500 pounds per acre in a
normal year. 1500 pounds is a low figure for the potential of this
bamboo because 1/3 to 1/2 of the plot is saturated by runoff from the
bamboo nursery sprinklers. The rhizomes rot in half of the research plot and do not produce
shoots. In early 2013, I diverted the runoff water away from the grove with a shallow ditch.
Because the ground is no longer saturated, I expect yields from the entire plot in 2014 or 2015.
In 2013, for the first time, thirteen praecox shoots were gnawed by squirrels. The shoots rotted
and died. Some were gnawed when a foot or less high. Some were gnawed up near the tip when
four feet high. The taller shoots had been flagged to grow up as replacement canes.
In 2014 Robby Russell will set up his game camera to document squirrels eating bamboo shoots.
This grove is close to several large oak trees. There is brushy cover for rodents on two of its four
sides. I plan to cut back the cover this spring in 2014. It is possible that predation will get worse as
the squirrels grow fonder of bamboo shoots. When designing a bamboo farm, protection from
squirrels is essential. Groves to maximize productivity need distance from overhanging trees with
squirrels. Because my praecox grove is small, barely larger than the 32 foot by 32 foot research
plot, the effect of squirrel predation is exaggerated. If the grove were large, the loss of a few
shoots along the sides would not seem as much.
In 2013 I harvested thirty two praecox shoots at half a pound each. Ten shoots were killed by the
late frost. The squirrels ate 13 shoots some of which were flagged to grow up. Praecox had 81
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OBSERVATIONS AFTER THREE YEARS IN GEORGIA - Daphne Lewis, bambusera!
standing canes including just 7 new ones. One third of the plot is empty of canes due to soil
saturation.!
Praecox has the longest shooting period of my bamboos. It varies from two to tour weeks
depending on the weather.
LESSONS FROM PRAECOX
1.!
Squirrels will destroy the new shoots in a bamboo grove.
2.!
There will be few or no shoots in saturated
soil.
GRAPH TWO
Average Pounds Bamboo Shoots 2011-2013
1500
Pounds per Acre
1250
1000
750
765
250
1,230
1,135
500
290
345
350
783
531
372
0
R.Young B Henon FVR.Young FVBambusoi Henon B. Vivax aur
Moso
Houzeau praecox
Pounds per Acre
Phyllostachys edulis - Moso Bamboo
When I was cleaning the moso research plot in early 2011, there were no
leaners and dead poles to thin. The canes were spaced so that walking in the
grove was easy. The canopy was closed and light dappled on the ground. I
assumed that the research plot did not need thinning.
Moso is the storied wonder bamboo, the one that bamboo enthusiasts enthuse
over. In 2011 at my first harvest, I expected great numbers of shoots. I had read
of yields of 5 to 10 tons of shoots per acre. My moso yielded 3 shoots - Total! It
yielded less shoots than any other bamboo! Why did such a healthy looking
grove send up so few new shoots?
Each shoot weighed 1.75 pounds. Yield came to 229 pounds per acre.
Shooting lasted 9 days.
In the summer of 2011, I cut and removed the nine smallest poles. In 2012 the
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OBSERVATIONS AFTER THREE YEARS IN GEORGIA - Daphne Lewis, bambusera!
plot yielded 1800 pounds per acre. Yield in 2012 was eight times the yield of 2011. I assumed that
thinning the grove was key. In 2013, yield dropped to 320 pounds. Was the drop in production due
to the drought of 2011 and 2012? Or was it that moso tends to alternate years of high and low
productivity? Summer and fall of 2013 was unusually rainy. Will yield in 2014 jump up to 2012
levels because of moisture in the previous growing season? Will it jump higher? If yield in 2014 is
good, will it be due to lots of summer rain or to an alternate year growth habit?
The largest pole in my research plot is 4.25 inches in diameter. There are 11 new canes for a total
of 54 canes.
The average weight of the shoots was 1.75 pounds in 2011, 2.5 pounds in 2012 and 1.2 pounds in
2013. Even at 1.2 pounds, a moso shoot is twice the weight of my other bamboos. It takes time to
dig a shoot. Large shoots command a higher price per pound than small ones. It follows that you
earn more money with moso shoots than with the others - but you need the grove to shoot. I
believe that the key is to irrigate. It is not possible for me to irrigate my moso grove unless I truck
in the water.
LESSONS FROM MOSO
1.!
Productivity can be erratic.
1.!
Moso produces larger shoots than other bamboos.
2.!
Plant more than one kind of bamboo.
Phyllostachys nigra henon - Henon Fort Valley
The henon research plot has topography different from the other plots. Two
thirds of the research plot is on a steep slope facing away from the sun and
shaded by a large tree. At the foot of the slope is a dry stream that runs during
rain storms. Some canes grow in the dry bed. Across the dry stream, the rest
of the research plot is level land. The shape and aspect of this plot is such that
the soil is one to four degrees colder than my other research plots. (I only
measure just before and during shooting season.)
A cold site delays the start of shooting. When shooting is delayed, the number
of shoots is reduced. During a cold spring, the delay is excessive. In 2013,
spring was unusually cold. The Fort Valley henon produced in early May
instead of early April. A delay of one month. Only two shoots were harvested.
The Fort Valley henon had been dug by nursery workers from time to time for
plants to sell. The telltale holes have largely filled in since the research plot
was marked off.
Most poles are under two inches in diameter. The largest is 2.5 inches. For henon in Georgia,
these poles are small. I believe that the small diameter is a function of cold soil and digging for
nursery stock.
LESSONS FROM HENON FORT VALLEY
1.!
Choose a site where soil warms early.
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OBSERVATIONS AFTER THREE YEARS IN GEORGIA - Daphne Lewis, bambusera!
2.!
Dig nursery stock from the edges of a vigorous grove rather than scattered throughout a
weak grove.
Vivax aureocaulis - Golden Vivax
Golden vivax is one of my best bamboos. It produced about a thousand
pounds of shoots per acre in 2011 and 2012. However, in 2013 the soil
temperature did not go above the high 50s in all of March. Vivax did not
begin to shoot until April 15, three weeks after 2012 and two weeks after
2011. I was able to irrigate the golden vivax in 2012. Therefore I believe that
its drop in productivity in 2013 was due to cold weather and not due to
drought.
The spacing of poles in the plot is 4 to 5 feet between each cane. I intended
for closer spacing but after cutting out the 2012 shoots that died in 2013 just
as they branched out (Drought!) and roguing (cutting out) the green poles,
the spacing became greater than I intended.
P. aureocaulis throws up green poles from time to time. These are more
vigorous than the yellow ones. In time the grove would become more and
more green and less and less yellow if I did not cut the green poles.
Squirrels damaged a number of shoots in 2013. There is a big oak tree just
west of the grove. Shoots close to the tree were chewed. In 2014, I will spray
squirrel repellant. Will it repel the squirrels?
I believe that green vivax is a better bamboo for shoots than golden vivax. I don’t have a green
vivax grove to prove this. I believe that in general the green skinned Phyllostachys are more
vigorous than the yellow skinned.
The largest pole in my research plot is 3.5 inches. I use golden vivax to make beer mugs and
serving dishes because the diameter of the canes is large and the walls are thin. For a given
outside diameter, there is more inside space for beer and, in the case of serving dishes, more
space for cheese, sliced apples and salted pecans. For most uses, though, a thin walled pole is
less desirable than a thick walled pole.
LESSONS FROM GOLDEN VIVAX
1.!
When cold weather delays the date of shooting, productivity will be less - three or four
times less.
2.!
Squirrels prefer to eat shoots close to the safety of their tree.
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OBSERVATIONS AFTER THREE YEARS IN GEORGIA - Daphne Lewis, bambusera!
Phyllostachys nigra Henon - Bonaire Henon
The henon at Bonaire puzzles me. Its tops die back. Its canes
fall over. The henon that I worked with in Seattle was large,
strong and healthy. In Seattle we have one inch of rain over a
three month summer. The henon survived the drought with no
problem. Adjacent to the sick Bonaire Henon is healthy moso.
Across from it is healthy Houzeau. The grove has not been dug
for nursery plants.
I have not done a soil test. Robby Russell suggests a water
table that is too high.
Despite its constant die-back, the Bonaire Henon is more
productive than the Fort Valley Henon. In 2011 it was 4% more
productive. In 2012 it was 40% more productive. In 2013, the
year of the cold spring, Bonaire Henon was 500% more
productive than Fort Valley Henon.
I have thinned canes, spread manure, mulched with straw. I believe that the increase in
productivity in 2012 is partly due to care. Also spring and warmth came earlier than 2011.
LESSONS FROM BONAIRE HENON
1.!
Bamboo can be unhealthy and unvigorous.
2.!
The productivity of bamboo depends on its health, location and management.
Phyllostachys viridis Houzeau - Houzeau
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Houzeau and Robert Young are two different varieties of
Phyllostachys viridis, a timber bamboo. Houzeau is green
skinned with a yellow groove. Robert Young is yellow skinned
with occasional random green stripes. Both are growing in
Bonaire. Both are at the bottom of the gentle hillside that Robby
Russell’s collection is planted on. As best as I can tell, the
locations of both research plots are equivalent. For example,
the soil temperatures 2/27/2014 were the same. My
management has been the same.
Like the Bonaire henon, the Bonaire Robert Young dies back at
the top. In 2011 I cleared out the leaners, the dead poles, and
the ones with dead tops. Because productivity declined in 2012,
I believe that I opened the grove too much. Too much sun struck
the ground and exasperated the drought. Too few leaves were
at work. In contrast, Houzeau had no dieback. My thinning in
2011 increased productivity in 2012.
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OBSERVATIONS AFTER THREE YEARS IN GEORGIA - Daphne Lewis, bambusera!
The number of new canes in 2013 in Houzeau is 27; in Robert Young, it is 7. The total canes in
Houzeau is 129; in Robert Young, it is 108.
The difference in shoot production of the two varieties of P. viridis is striking. Choose the green
skinned variety over the yellow skinned variety for growing shoots. Even choosing for beauty, I
prefer Houzeau.
Phyllostachys viridis Houzeau is vigorous. It is healthy. I routinely cut Houzeau poles out of the
surrounding groves thirty or more feet away from the research plot. I harvest shoots in the road,
meadow and other groves. (I count them separately from the research plot, of course!)
Houzeau poles are S shaped. A new shoot will climb to the sky and bend to find a hole in the
canopy. Even though I select shoots that are directly under a hole in the canopy, that shoot will
create an S shape. Crooked poles are no good for selling. Crooked poles are difficult to store.
Short sections of three feet or so are reasonably straight. Plan to chip Houzeau poles for mulch or
compost or to make charcoal. At the organic farming research station at WSU Puyallop,
Washington, staff found that bamboo chips were excellent to mix into compost piles to aerate and
add the “brown” “carbon” element to their largely herbaceous material.
Viridis is more productive of shoots than any of my bamboos except praecox. It is a reliable midseason bamboo. It shoots a couple of weeks after praecox and about a week after moso. The
grove is more beautiful than my others except moso. No bamboo grove is a beautiful as a moso
grove.
LESSONS FROM HOUZEAU
1.!
Double or Triple your harvest area by harvesting shoots from areas both inside and outside
the grove.
2.!
A green skin bamboo out-produces a yellow skin bamboo.
Phyllostachys bambusoides - Japanese Timber
Japanese Timber is one of the great bamboos. It has strong straight poles that
are preferred by craftsmen in Japan. It shoots later than other bamboos which
extends harvest season into late April and early to mid-May. In Georgia, but
not in Bonaire, there are vigorous groves with multiple large poles.
In Bonaire, Japanese timber does not get large. While it covers more land
than the other bamboos, the canes are around 1.5“ or less in diameter. The
few large poles are on a pile of dirt about two feet higher and two degrees or
so warmer than the surrounding soil. Within my research plot, the largest pole
is 3.5 inches. The largest moso is 4.25 and the largest Robert Young is 3.75.
Japanese timber responded to my thinning in 2011 by more than doubling the
number of shoots in 2012. In 2013, bambusoides did not begin to shoot until
May 7. Production collapsed due to the cold late spring.
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OBSERVATIONS AFTER THREE YEARS IN GEORGIA - Daphne Lewis, bambusera!
Outside my research plot along the access dirt road, there is a pile of dirt about three feet high
and fifteen feet long. This hill was piled there for workers to use to backfill holes after digging
plants to sell. Also there were chips piled there. On this hill there are large canes and many more
canes than elsewhere. The hill warms faster in spring and is two degrees warmer than the rest of
the soil; the soil is rich in organic matter. A similar hill with similar extra vigorous growth is near the
henon research plot.
LESSONS FROM BAMBUSOIDES
1.!
Bambusoides requires heat.
2.!
Bamboos do not necessarily perform as well as common knowledge suggests.
Phyllostachys viridis Robert Young - R.Young Fort Valley & R.Young Bonaire
In both Robert Young research plots, production of bamboo
shoots went down in 2012. I conclude that Robert Young does
not take well to thinning of its canes. When tops die back
there still are lower branches with leaves. Sometimes it is
better to leave these when thinning a grove.
The location of the Robert Young Fort Valley is the hottest
and driest of any of my research plots. The soil is 4 degrees
warmer than the Fort Valley henon. It is at the high point of
the surrounding area so rain water will run off. To the east is a
crop field and to the west and south are lawns and dirt
driveway. There are no trees. The sun bakes this bamboo
from sunrise to sunset. In a drought, this site is like a
scorching desert.
During the growing season when leaves are on trees, I detect
less water in its rain gauge than in the other Fort Valley gauges. The praecox, henon and
aureocaulis of Fort Valley are close to and surrounded by woods. I believe that they receive more
rain than Robert Young during growing season but not during the time when deciduous trees have
no leaves.
I was able to irrigate the Robert Young Fort Valley in 2012. Production in 2013, the year of the cold
spring, was 1.9 times that of 2011 and 2.2 times that of 2012. Every other bamboo had its lowest
yield ever in 2013. Robert Young Fort Valley had its highest yield ever. It was almost three times
as productive as Robert Young Bonaire.
LESSONS FROM ROBERT YOUNG
1.!
Preserve a closed canopy when thinning a grove.
2.!
Irrigation is key to productivity.
3.!
If you can irrigate, a hot location for bamboo is best.
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OBSERVATIONS AFTER THREE YEARS IN GEORGIA - Daphne Lewis, bambusera!
I have four bamboos in Bonaire that I am managing in addition to the ones above: P.
rubromarginata, P. aurea, P. nigra Bory, P. dulcis. These four are not included in my graphs
because they have not produced shoots.
Phyllostachys rubromarginata - Rubro, Rubromarginata
The rubromarginata is at the top of the Bonaire hill. It had been heavily dug for starts. The grove
was and is full of potholes from the digging. Many of the canes were leaning. There was a lot of
‘bamboo grass” - short bamboo whips about three feet tall. In 2011 I cut out the leaners and cut
down the bamboo grass. In 2011, 2012 and 2013 no large shoots came up. The grove was
invaded by Phyllostachys decora which was planted across the alley. In February 2014 I cut out
about 40 poles of decora. About a quarter of the rubro grove is empty of canes now that the
decora is gone.
LESSONS FROM RUBROMARGINATA
1.!
Manage a grove for shoots or for nursery stock, not for both.
2.!
Heavy digging of a grove precludes production of large canes.
Phyllostachys aurea Flavescens-inversa - Golden Bamboo, Fish pole Bamboo
Golden bamboo is at the top of the Bonaire hill, not far from the Rubromarginata. It is planted in a
small swale. The soil is a degree or two colder in this shallow swale. My hope has been to
manage the golden so well that it grows large canes. The largest cane is 1.75 inches. Most are
1.5 or less. I had hoped that golden would prove to be a good bamboo to farm because it is a late
shooter and would extend the season. In fact, I have not harvested shoots from this grove. They
are too small and arrive too late and are too few.
My experience in Puyallop, Washington, with golden bamboo at the Washington State University
bamboo research plots, was that golden was extremely hard to manage. It grew its canes very
close together so that thinning the grove was two or three times harder than any of the others. I
knew from other bamboo growers that golden would shoot all summer if irrigated. It seemed like a
good candidate for shoot production in a hot climate with irrigation.
Phyllostachys dulcis - Vegetable Bamboo, Dulcis
The dulcis grove is considerably smaller than 1000 square feet. It had been heavily dug around all
the edges, in effect, smallness by root pruning. I did no thinning in 2011 because it seemed that all
the leaves were receiving light. I mulched inside the small grove and well beyond it to encourage it
to spread. In 2012 I thinned carefully to maintain “leaf power”. In 2013 the grove had spread
nicely. It still did not measure 32 feet by 32 feet. I harvested 34 shoots and let 43 new ones grow
up.
If you are going to harvest from a grove for nursery stock, it is better to dig around the edges than
scattered throughout. I say this because in three years my rubromarginata did not send up one fair
sized shoot whereas my dulcis did. The dulcis spread nicely and I was able to let shoots grow up
and to harvest some shoots.
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OBSERVATIONS AFTER THREE YEARS IN GEORGIA - Daphne Lewis, bambusera!
The highway is expanding in 2014 and half the grove will be destroyed. We will dig up that half
and relocate it to my new farm in Hawkinsville, Georgia.
Phyllostachys nigra ‘Bory’ - Bory
The nigra ‘Bory’ is half way up the hill in Bonaire. Unlike the nigra Henon, it does not have tops
that die back constantly and it does not fall over. However, it does not produce shoots. In 2013 for
the first time, I harvested 10 shoots with an average weight of a quarter pound. Not worth
harvesting. My previous experience in Seattle with bory is that it is vigorous and stunning with
green culms mottled with brown clouds/spots. Not so in Bonaire. The canes are a dull greyish and
the spots do not show until you wipe away the grey film.
The largest pole is 2 1/4 inches whereas the largest of the Bonaire henon is 3 1/4 inches. I think
that if I could irrigate this bory, it would be a fine bamboo.
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OBSERVATIONS AFTER THREE YEARS IN GEORGIA - Daphne Lewis, bambusera!
EPILOGUE
I will continue to manage these plots in Fort Valley and Bonaire. Curiosity and the desire to make
a contribution to knowledge about farming bamboo drive me on.
When I saw that Robert Young Fort Valley tripled its productivity in 2013 when all other bamboos
crashed, I decided that I had to research irrigated bamboo. I bought twelve acres with a good well.
In 2014 I will plant dulcis, praecox, moso, houzeau, bambusoides tanaka, bambusoides regular,
black, vivax, and meyeri. I will also plant the native bamboos Arundinaria gigantea and A.tecta.
With my farm, I will be able to document the cost of establishment, the time to first harvest, the
increase in yield with maturity, and the profitability of shoots. I will document rain and irrigation,
fertilizing and mulching. I will not have replicated plots. I will have the Bonaire and Fort Valley plots
for comparison.
Bamboo is a perennial crop. Pecans and peaches are comparable. Pecans are expected to
produce 2,000 pounds per acre at $2 a pound. Peaches are expected to produce 6,000 pounds
an acre at 35¢ a pound. I expect bamboo to produce 1500 pounds at $2 a pound.
Pecans $4,000 per acre; Peaches $2,100 per acre; Bamboo $3,000 per acre.
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