Schizostachyum zollingeri

Cultivation Details

Succeeds in any type of well-drained soil, preferring sandy loams or clay loams. Once established, the plant is resistant to long droughts^[1]. The rhizome of young seedlings is gradually built up by the successive emergence of new culms from the bases of preceding ones. Each culm that emerges becomes progressively larger until culms of full size are produced in mature clumps - a phase that is reached after some years^[1]. Culm cuttings take about 1 year to establish, and produce full size culms after 3 years^[1]. Shoots of natural stands emerge above the ground during the onset of the rainy season and develop to their full height in 5 - 6 months. The lateral branches develop subsequently. A culm becomes mature and suitable for harvest in 3 or more years. A healthy mature clump has 50 - 70 culms^[1]. Culms are usually harvested all year round but mostly in the dry season. Culms should be 3 years old or older. Harvested culms are air-seasoned^[1]. A well-managed, mature clump can produce 5 - 8 culms per year, or, with 400 clumps, 2,000 - 3,200 culms per hectare, weighing around 17 - 27 tonnes^[1]. Bamboos have an interesting method of growth. Each plant produces a number of new stems annually - these stems grow to their maximum height in their first year of growth, subsequent growth in the stem being limited to the production of new side branches and leaves. In the case of some mature tropical species the new stem could be as much as 30 metres tall, with daily increases in height of 30cm or more during their peak growth time. This makes them some of the fastest-growing species in the world^[PFAF]. Bamboos in general are usually monocarpic, living for many years before flowering, then flowering and seeding profusely for a period of 1 - 3 years before usually dying. Schizostachyum zollingeri flowers sporadically every year in practically all the areas in which it grows. Annual gregarious flowering during the dry season and over a 2 - 3 month period is reported from the northernmost part of Peninsular Malaysia. Fruit formation is rare when a plant flowers sporadically, but after gregarious flowering, fruits are formed abundantly. After flowering and fruiting a culm dies but the rhizome remains alive and regenerates new culms^[1].