What conditions and methods are needed for growing bamboo shoots?

Many people have eaten bamboo shoots, and perhaps many have also witnessed the growth process of bamboo shoots. When I was a child, I often saw how the bamboo shoots in front of my door grew into towering bamboo. But as people's understanding of bamboo shoots has grown, the bamboo shoots no longer have time to grow into bamboo before they are dug up.

What are bamboo shoots

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 stout shoot or rhizome tip. Bamboo originated in China, has many types, strong adaptability and a very wide distribution. Worldwide there are 30 genera and 550 species, growing abundantly in tropical, subtropical and temperate regions. China is one of the countries producing the most bamboo in the world, with 22 genera and more than 200 species distributed across the country, most abundant 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.

Propagation methods for bamboo shoots

Good mother bamboo must be selected. The mother bamboo should be “narrow-leaf bamboo”, which is characterized by smaller, narrower bamboo leaves, light green blades, flat nodes, fortress-shaped shoots, thick flesh, early shoot emergence, a long shoot season and high yield. Two-year-old “Luohua bamboo” is best as mother bamboo. Old bamboo more than three years old should not be used as mother bamboo, because the buds on the rhizome of old bamboo are fewer, its shoot-producing ability is poor, and the transplant survival rate is low. Mother bamboo with a diameter at breast height of about 3 cm, a shallow root crown, low branching, no pests or diseases and vigorous growth is best.

1. Rhizome burial propagation: choose 1- to 2-year-old new bamboo and take the rhizome; it is best to bury the rhizome together with the bamboo culm for propagation, leaving 1-2 live branches on the culm. Bury 3000-5000 rhizomes per mu, which can produce 15000-20000 seedlings.

2. Seed sowing propagation: sow 10-15 kg per mu, which can produce 30000-40000 seedlings. The key is that during the seedling stage the seedlings must be shaded to reduce direct sunlight, which causes seedling death. Also strengthen the prevention and control of pests and diseases.

Cultivation techniques for bamboo shoots

1. Site selection and land preparation

For propagation, whether by rhizome burial or seed sowing, the soil should preferably be loose, light yellow soil. Soil with a layer more than 30 cm deep, and yellow soil or yellow-brown soil that is not too heavy and clayey, can all support growth, but growth is best on fertile, loose, deep, slightly acidic soil. Land preparation is mainly done by digging pits, with a specification of 60×60×50 cm. After the pits are dug, the topsoil should be put back into the pits, and the backfilled soil should reach more than two-thirds of the pit depth. Where conditions permit, farmyard manure based mainly on organic fertilizer can be applied in the pits together with the backfill.

2. Reasonable planting

1. Choose an appropriate planting density. The planting density is mainly determined by the type of seedlings used. Because square bamboo is a mixed bamboo species, the rhizomes of 1- to 2-year-old seedlings are not well developed, and after transplanting the rhizomes spread slowly. Propagated seedlings of square bamboo have thick rhizomes and large buds, and after transplanting they can spread more than 1 m per year, forming a forest quickly. To enable a square bamboo forest to obtain good returns within 5-8 years, the planting density should be more than 100 seedlings per mu. For rhizome-propagated seedlings, more than 74 per mu. According to local economic conditions, the planting density can be appropriately increased.

2. Planting time. The highest transplant survival rate, reaching more than 90%, is achieved by planting during the one-month period from late February to mid-March each year, after the last snow.

Planting methods for bamboo shoots

Because the root system of bamboo seedlings is highly lignified, leaving them for too long after lifting can easily cause the seedlings to lose water and affect the survival rate, so long-distance transport is not easy. To ensure the survival rate, from lifting the seedlings to finishing planting generally should not exceed 72 hours; planting within 48 hours gives a relatively high survival rate, and it is best to plant them as soon as they are lifted. After lifting, the roots should immediately be coated with mud slurry. If long-distance transport is needed, the roots should be wrapped with straw in bundles of 30 seedlings. When planting, different planting methods can be used according to the size of the bamboo seedlings. For 1- to 2-year-old seedlings, central planting can be used, and the culm should be kept upright. For seedlings more than two years old or rhizome-propagated seedlings, the culm must first be cut; after cutting, the seedling height is about 60 cm, and after planting the culm of the seedling is tilted toward the downhill side of the slope at an angle of 45° to the horizontal, leaving only 1-2 live branches above the soil to reduce water transpiration and improve the survival rate.

Judging from the current demand market for bamboo shoots in China, wild bamboo shoots are already far from meeting everyone's needs, so growing bamboo shoots has become a project favored by many people. However, growing bamboo shoots still requires certain cultivation techniques, and mastering its cultivation techniques can achieve twice the result with half the effort.