What are the key points of bamboo shoot cultivation techniques? A detailed explanation

Bamboo shoots have been regarded as a "rare delicacy among vegetables" in China since ancient times. Bamboo shoots are a traditional Chinese delicacy, fragrant in taste and crisp in texture, with an extremely long history of consumption and cultivation. In the Book of Songs there are verses such as "the offerings added to the bean vessels, pickled bamboo shoots and minced fish sauce" and "what is that sound, it is bamboo shoots and cattails," indicating that the people have a history of eating bamboo shoots of 2500 to 3000 years.

Bamboo shoots are the young shoots of bamboo, also called sun. Bamboo is a perennial evergreen herbaceous plant, and the edible part is the newly born, tender, plump, short and sturdy shoot or rhizome. Bamboo originated in China, has many types, strong adaptability, and an extremely wide distribution. Worldwide there are a total of 30 genera and 550 species, abundantly produced in tropical, subtropical and temperate regions. China is one of the countries producing the most bamboo in the world, with a total of 22 genera and more than 200 species, distributed throughout the country, with the most in the Pearl River basin and the Yangtze River basin; north of the Qinling Mountains, where rainfall is low and temperatures are low, only a few dwarf bamboo species grow.

Bamboo shoots are delicious in taste; besides containing crude fiber, they are rich in 19 amino acids, among which the 8 essential amino acids that are of great importance to maintaining human health are all present, making them a very nutritious vegetable. In the Yangtze River basin, the spring shoots of moso bamboo and early bamboo come on the market in the early spring off-season (around April), while in the Pearl River basin and Fujian, Taiwan, China and other provinces, the ma bamboo and green bamboo, etc., are supplied in the high-temperature summer off-season (July-August), playing an important role in enriching the market.

The Jiangnan region of China is suitable for bamboo growth, and mountain and hilly areas can be fully utilized for cultivation. Bamboo grows faster than ordinary trees, forms forests early, has dense branches and leaves, and has underground rhizomes and a large number of roots that can prevent soil erosion on hilly slopes. Bamboo timber has many uses and high economic value, and is a plant worthy of vigorous development.

Cultivation management:

(1) Weeding and loosening the soil. Newly established bamboo forests easily grow weeds before canopy closure, and weeding and loosening the soil must be done twice a year. The first time is after the new bamboo branches and leaves have unfolded and before the plum rains arrive; at this time the grass cut is tender and easily rots and dies. Too early is unfavorable to the new bamboo, and too late easily injures the rhizomes; the second time is in August, when most weed seeds are not yet mature, and after the grass is removed it will not spread and sprawl. After the bamboo forest canopy closes, weed once a year between July and August. When loosening the soil near new bamboo, one should stay 33 cm away from the plants to avoid injuring and breaking the roots of the new bamboo.

Loosening the soil should be relatively deep, thickening the plow layer, which benefits the development of rhizomes and roots, allows more rainwater to be stored, and reduces drought damage. During soil loosening, blackish-brown old rhizomes, bamboo stumps left after cutting, as well as tree stumps and stones, etc., should all be dug out, so that the bamboo rhizomes and root groups can extend smoothly.

(2) Burying rhizomes and spreading soil. Because most new rhizomes are distributed in the soil layer above the old rhizomes, if left to nature the soil layer where the bamboo rhizomes are located becomes shallower year by year, so that the range in which the rhizomes and roots absorb soil nutrients and water shrinks, affecting the growth of the rhizomes and the entire plant. Therefore, when loosening the soil, one should dig out senescent rhizomes and shallow rhizomes, induce new rhizomes to develop deeper into the soil, and also spread soil to thicken the plow layer. If thick, sturdy rhizomes are found extending into the shallow soil layer or exposed above the soil surface, immediately dig a ditch more than 30 cm deep beneath them and bury them, and apply fertilizer in the ditch. In bamboo forests built into terraces, each year shave off a layer of soil from the terrace wall and spread it on the terrace surface of the level below. On gently sloping land without terraces, because the soil moves downslope with rainwater, when spreading soil one should take soil from the lower slope and carry it to the upper slope.

(3) Tip hooking. In October-November of the year when new bamboo grows, the top tip of the bamboo culm is cut off, which is called tip hooking. This measure can reduce wind and snow damage, inhibit the apical dominance of the bamboo culm, and promote rhizome running and shoot sprouting. Therefore, shoot-producing forests pay special attention to tip hooking. In order to give the bamboo forest a reasonable leaf area, when hooking the tip one should retain about 15-17 whorls of branches and leaves.

(4) Selection, retention and renewal of mother bamboo. In newly established bamboo forests, within the first 5-6 years, during the peak shoot-emergence period one should retain as many sturdy spring shoots in suitable positions as possible, letting them grow up to form the forest, so that the standing bamboo throughout the forest is evenly distributed. Shoots that emerge early are mostly produced from shallow rhizomes, and the bamboo that grows from them roots shallowly and grows weakly; shoots that emerge late often become degraded shoots due to insufficient nutrient supply, and even if they grow up they cannot become good bamboo.

For moso bamboo shoot-producing forests, retain 100-150 mother bamboo per mu, and after the quota is full, each spring retain 20-30 new bamboo per mu that are robust in growth and suitable in position. In the winter of the same year, cut down the same number of old bamboo, so that the standing bamboo in the forest always maintains a certain density, and sturdy-aged bamboo makes up the majority. The age of standing moso bamboo can be identified by the color of the culm: before three years old it is green, at four to five years old it is yellow-green, at six to seven years old it is green-yellow and has a relatively thick grayish-white waxy layer, and after eight years it gradually turns patina bronze and the waxy layer gradually falls off. Generally, after seven years old the growth vigor of bamboo weakens and it can be cut. Old bamboo to be cut should be chosen from those whose leaf color is turning yellow and which will change leaves the next year; one must not cut the “shoot-brooding bamboo” whose leaf color is deep green. When cutting old bamboo, one should also cut the dense and leave the sparse, so that the standing bamboo throughout the forest is evenly distributed and the utilization rate of sunlight is improved.

Fertilizer and water management:

(1) Fertilization. For newly planted bamboo forests, between spring and summer apply diluted human and livestock manure or urea in several applications near the bamboo plants, to promote root group development and shoot emergence and new rhizome growth. In autumn, combined with weeding and loosening the soil, apply barn manure or compost and turn it into the soil. After the forest is established, each year after spring shoot harvesting is finished, use about 1000 kg per mu of human and livestock manure, apply it into the holes left by digging shoots, and open holes at other locations for fertilization, so that fertilizer is evenly distributed throughout the forest. After the fertilizer is applied, cover it with soil. This fertilization mainly promotes the growth of new bamboo and the development of new rhizomes, and enables the mother bamboo to quickly recover vigorous growth. In autumn, apply 1000-1500 kg per mu of barn manure or compost evenly by broadcasting, and turn it into the soil, to promote the development of shoot buds on the bamboo rhizomes. In winter, apply another 1000-1500 kg of barn manure or compost, or 2500-5000 kg of pond mud or river mud, spread on the soil surface, which not only supplies nutrients but also has a warming effect on the rhizomes and roots.

(2) Irrigation and drainage. In southern regions, during the plum rain period and between summer and autumn when there are typhoons and rainstorms, drainage work must be done well to prevent water accumulation in low-lying areas from rotting the rhizomes. When autumn drought occurs, irrigate in time to prevent the soil from becoming too dry, which would hinder the formation and expansion of shoot buds and affect the next year's shoot yield. In regions with little rainfall, special attention must be paid to irrigation, with the focus on spring shoot emergence or summer rhizome growth, and before the soil freezes in winter.