BAMBOOS: Seeds to grow Bambusa Textilis (GRACILIS) + a Tip for You...

IVI on 28/01/2021 - 10:09
Last edited 28/01/2021 - 10:32

1.We've Not Yet found Seeds for GRACILIS - an Easy to Grow, Clumping (read: Non-Invasive) bamboo plant - seeds of which are known to be Importable into AU, if sender does the right things.

Of course, we'd prefer to buy from an AUSSIE vendor, if prices for Seeds are fair.

(No one - in AU - has been willing to sell Seeds, only Costly, if partly, grown plants, with high shipping costs!

Such high-prices seems to have been the motivation for the seed co. that we're considering, below. They say they were tired of paying "too much" for plants &/or seeds, so they built a business of the kind, that they like to buy seeds from.)

2.And, we may not need to import seeds, IF we decide to go with (reportedly Clumping): Bambusa Bombos, is, until we can find fair-priced Gracilis.

Does anyone know this Bamboo?

3.In fact, altho we've not rec'd any seed Orders from them, a Melbourne-based seed co. looks (so far) like a reasonable one to deal with:

  • The Seed Vine (TheSeedVine.com.au) <= Has any1 dealt with them before?

(They're on eBay, but I think you'll pay less ordering direct.))

The only -hints- of possible Red Flags, so far:
- Catalog still in the works (per last status: Done up to 'M' - earlier in Jan.)
- Our alternate Bamboo choice is said to be Clumping [ except in Cuba, where it's considered Invasive.]

4.(Does it put us at risk if we grow it in AU, & it decides to "invade" a neighbour's, under the fence? It can be costly to undo an invasive plant's spreading, we're told.)

5.So, if No One tells us they were disappointed with them… That's your Tip from me, today. ;~)

Poll Options

  • 1
    The Seed Vine has ALWAYS been good to buy from
  • 0
    The Seed Vine has MOSTLY been good to buy from
  • 1
    The Seed Vine has SOMETIMES been good to buy from
  • 4
    The Seed Vine has NEVER been good to buy from
Home & Garden

Comments

  • ozhunter on 28/01/2021 - 10:19

    thanks…

    • IVI on 28/01/2021 - 10:27
      -3

      You're welcome.

      Haven't you done bus. w/ them?
      Or has it never gone right, when you did.

      I may need to change the last choice…

  • resubaehtgnolhcs on 28/01/2021 - 10:26

    I liked it better when you wrote 4 words to a line…

    • Belgarath on 28/01/2021 - 10:29
      +1

      Hes resorted to putting capital letters in random places instead.

  • Adredocto on 28/01/2021 - 10:34

    Haha I started reading and scrolled back up to check if I guessed the author correct.

    I've been looking for bamboo recently too and the prices are ridiculously expensive. WAIT… Does that mean I agree with an IVI post?? Ok enough OzB for today then.

  • bargain huntress on 28/01/2021 - 11:30
    +3

    i don't trust anyone selling bamboo seeds anywhere in the world - if someone knows definitively of a reliable place then i would also be interested to know

    why? because getting bamboo seeds ranges on a spectrum from a pain in the bamboo to impossible

    first of all a lot (most? all?) bamboos flower and seed rarely

    second of all they take many months or years to reach a size where you can easily identify what they are (unless you are a botanist)

    thirdly because of the second problem it is easy to be scammed and/or mislead about the seed you are buying by people intentionally selling the wrong seed or people mistakenly selling the wrong seed

    fourthly importing seeds is a complicated process and often not possible

    it appears that most (frankly possibly all) bamboo in australia is cultivated from clones not seeds - culm cuttings, root divisions, or laboratory stuff

    the first thing to ask anyone selling bamboo seeds is where they the got their seeds. i can almost guarantee you any australian seller is a reseller not a collector or producer.
    so even if they are honest, how do you know they haven't been scammed?

    the next thing to ask them is if they have grown any of the seeds from that same source? how about from that exact particular batch of seeds you're interested in buying? you can be pretty sure they won't have done either. but if they have; how long / how big they are? ask for photos. if they send you one of tiny plants and you're not a botanist can you really tell what it is?

    what you would be looking for would be photos of the right bamboo at various stages of growth - germinating to large enough to identify - and check with google image search that they haven't stolen them.

    another option is to buy seeds from multiple sources, plant them immediately in labelled pots, ask for a refund within 90 days if there is no germination. if they do germinate keep them in pots on pavement for months or years until you can positively identify them. if they are wrong it will be too late for you to get any refund. but at least you won't have to dig them out.

    final option is to buy one of the large expensive positively identified bamboo plants from a registered nursery, and then attempt to propagate more plants from it by division or cutting.
    as far as i can see it is the only way to get actual bamboo in australia, let alone clumping bamboo.

    seeds of which are known to be Importable into AU, if sender does the right things.

    how do you know this?

    (Does it put us at risk if we grow it in AU, & it decides to "invade" a neighbour's, under the fence? It can be costly to undo an invasive plant's spreading, we're told.)

    it's a concern
    https://www.burkesbackyard.com.au/fact-sheets/in-the-garden/…
    "If plants from your garden damage a neighbour’s property, it may be seen as a breach of your civil duty of care (or a ‘tort of negligence’). You may be liable for the damage, even though the negligence may not have been deliberate."

    Our alternate Bamboo choice is said to be Clumping [ except in Cuba, where it's considered Invasive.

    the whole clumping versus running thing is useful but not definitive. i don't know that there is actually a real physiological difference. i'm think it's a label applied somewhat arbitrarily based on form in some cases but also just based on speed of spread and personal opinion. some more open form bamboo run very slowly in particular climates and will be called clumping there.

    • IVI on 30/01/2021 - 22:56
      +1

      So, I'm not the only Bamboo enthusiast on OzB. ;~)

      To answer one of your Q's… You'd know an overseas
      vendor has done the right thing, eg, if you receive
      your order… with a pile of customs documents. :~)
      There should be a purity certificate, from an ap-
      proved Lab.

      Some UK vendors just send a pack of seeds, & if you
      don't receive it, they may (assume Customs grabbed
      it, in Oz &) resend another, at least if it's a cheap & a
      common plant's's seeds.

      I once rec'd a "2nd pack" w/ No Doc'ts… but never
      planted the seeds.

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