Bamboo species discussion

[WadePatton]

There's a place i now drive by regularly with about 2 dozen species of bamboo for sale-for landscaping primarily. I checked today and they do have some "timber" varieties that get quite large.

Anyone here with any experience in the structural application of bamboo by species?

I came home with 16' of 1.5" just for grins. Yes i have found the Wooden Boat page listing structural species and i also have 4 other pages open with similar such information at present.

I ask here specifically because not all structures are bicycles.

Thanks

no, i'm not mitering anything up real soon, but want to get a little (big) bamboo forest started for later, and don't want it to be the "wrong" stuff.

[jonathanb]

Whatever you do, make sure you contain the bamboo plants when putting them in the ground so that you don't wind up having them spread all over the place like an evil noxious weed. (Don't ask me how I know this.) A bamboo barrier installed at time of planting will be your friend for years to come.

[Dave Thompson]

^^true!^^ Bamboo will quickly take over your estate when left unchecked.

[WadePatton]

Yes it does grow here "native" and spreads like a weed (which it is, ain't it?). but these folks are getting 300 bucks a pop for anything over 2 inches diameter...that's valuable "timber" (rootballed).

at the very least i'm going to move some native river cane, Arundinaria gigantea onto my place, it's great for a privacy enhancer (and gets big enough for stays).

[false_aesthetic]

Not all bamboo spreads.

[WadePatton]

I don't want any that doesn't propagate via rhizomes.

I've found some more "informative" suppliers. I have a couple picked out to get started. 2 bigs and one smalls.

forests of tubing...i'll drag the names in here if discussion warms up.

[Mike Mcdermid]

I don't want any that doesn't propagate via rhizomes.

I've found some more "informative" suppliers. I have a couple picked out to get started. 2 bigs and one smalls.

forests of tubing...i'll drag the names in here if discussion warms up.

Whatever you do dont eat it ,one of these might be handy for controlling it if it gets out of hand

I'm Curious Too: How Do Pandas Survive On Bamboo?

[Freddy Salgado]

When it comes to structural application of bamboo by species in most cases it’s about which bamboo has been selected most frequently to achieve best result with whatever it is you intend making.

I like working with the stuff but I would never plant it on my property, to much work keeping on top of it and trying to rid of it when it goes crazy, I get quite a few calls asking if I remove the stuff in most cases looks like a nightmare. There is the clumping type I have considered but still more work than I care for when I get old, keep the garden for veggies and herbs.

If I were to consider planting a species to make bikes with it would be Iron Bamboo Dendrocalamus strictus - Iron Bamboo | plants / grass, grasses | About-garden.com, one of the strongest bamboo typically used for making fishing poles and furniture. This type of bamboo has concentrated fiber content and grows pretty solid internally, least likely to crack during drying process. Awesome choice for seat and chainstays but you will have to bore it out for seat, top, and down tubes to make a light bike, this gives you the ability to tune the tube for riding stiffness you prefer. You can get the same result harvesting the right age, size, “woody” type bamboo without all the work.

2nd 3rd and 4th choice of bamboo I would use all grow out here in the wild, I harvest enough and can find the right size tube to create any ride characteristic without spending heaps of time boring out material, bad enough waiting for it to dry. The real question in all of this is which species of bamboo has the best ride quality?

There's a place i now drive by regularly with about 2 dozen species of bamboo for sale-for landscaping primarily. I checked today and they do have some "timber" varieties that get quite large.

Anyone here with any experience in the structural application of bamboo by species?

I came home with 16' of 1.5" just for grins. Yes i have found the Wooden Boat page listing structural species and i also have 4 other pages open with similar such information at present.

I ask here specifically because not all structures are bicycles.

Thanks

no, i'm not mitering anything up real soon, but want to get a little (big) bamboo forest started for later, and don't want it to be the "wrong" stuff.

[Freddy Salgado]

Good on you for planting natives, haven’t heard of anyone trying out this bamboo species to make bikes with not that it wouldn’t work only way to know for certain if US native river cane is strong enough for stays is to dry it out and test it. Most of the bamboo I have encountered along the rivers in NZ just isn’t strong enough to make bikes with. Another type to avoid is black bamboo, Phyllostachys nigra looks nice but cracks easily.

The prevalent species of bamboo in Gisborne is dendrocalamus latiflorus, common name Taiwan Giant Bamboo. I have found a few well established healthy groves growing in diverse topography and climates here. Very broad variety in tube sizes, wall id/od, length and distance between nodes within this species that are the same age, one grove in particular yields solid thin poles the right age that are great for seat and chain stays.

Yes it does grow here "native" and spreads like a weed (which it is, ain't it?). but these folks are getting 300 bucks a pop for anything over 2 inches diameter...that's valuable "timber" (rootballed).

at the very least i'm going to move some native river cane, Arundinaria gigantea onto my place, it's great for a privacy enhancer (and gets big enough for stays).

[Freddy Salgado]

What did your supplier recommend, would it be Phyllostachys edulis , moso bamboo?

I don't want any that doesn't propagate via rhizomes.

I've found some more "informative" suppliers. I have a couple picked out to get started. 2 bigs and one smalls.

forests of tubing...i'll drag the names in here if discussion warms up.

[Kumo Cycles]

My dad loves bamboo. We grow many many different varieties on the farm.

Can't comment on structural qualities but I can offer a tip for containment.

What we do is get a hold of waste industrial rubber mat. think the thick heavy stuff that conveyor belts are made from.

Then we use a trench digger to cut a deep trench around where we want the bamboo to be contained.

We then drop the rubber belt into the hole so it makes a thick underground wall.

Then all you need to do it chop any wayward runners that hop over the barrier, this doesn't happen very often

[prolix21]

I've been told there is a bamboo forest near our new house thanks to some old guy who planted some bamboo in his back yard without knowing 100% what he was doing.

I haven't checked it out yet, but I'm crossing my fingers that it's Dendrocalamus Strictus

[WadePatton]

The most local supplier listing of Timber species: (they have some 4-5" specimens in their 8 year old plantings.)

Phyllostachys dulcis
Phyllostachys Bambusoides
Phyllostachys Vivax
Phyllostachys Vivax aureocaulis (Golden)
Phyllostachys Viridis (Robert Young)
Phyllostachys Nigra ‘Henon’ (giant gray)
Phyllostachys Viridis (Pigskin)
Phyllostachys Mannii (decora)
Phyllostachys Atrovaginata
Phyllostachys Bambusoides ‘Castillonis’

Also I'm looking at Phyllostachys Rubromarginata. (red margin) Available from other Southeastern US suppliers.

Not concerned with spreading. I have to work to maintain fields already. a little chopping/blocking ain't no big whoop. Invasive species is a natural thingmo. See Honeysuckle or Kudzu (both of which i co-exist with already).

The river cane (Arundinaria gigantea) has 4 sub-species. Not sure which one i have, but matters not. I'll test it for stay material. And of course it splits out for baskets and makes the best crappie/bluegill pole ever. 14' is about the tallest i get of that-rarely over an inch-it'll make great _free_ screening plantings.

Back to the large tubes (culms!): I bought some Henon and Robert Young from the lady (8' poles). Well, that's what she guessed they were, as a nursery they don't sell a lot of "building materials" so they don't keep dead/cut boo sorted.

Seen any of those species Freddie?

also thought i'd get some Arrow cane for testing. psuedosasa japonica.

and i'm in "zone 7" (climate)

[WadePatton]

it's not about the biggest/baddest/fastest/strongest at all. (which is where research tends to send a person.)

it's about suitability to the stresses of the structure and joinery techniques/weight+costs. thanks

[Freddy Salgado]

This is my short list of local bamboo I have tested that will work to make bikes with.

Phyllostachys aurea
Phyllostachys nigra var. henonis
Bambusa oldhami
Bambusa latifloris

Bamboo is very tricky material to make frames with a lot of different species look alike. You don’t have to use the strongest species to make a strong bike, but you do have to harvest loads to find usable material. Henon splits easy, but if you harvest enough you will find that some tubes will survive the drying process that’ll be suitable to make strong bikes.

Split cane fishing pole on my list, baskets I will take a pass on. The strongest part of bamboo lies in the outer diameter of the tube where the fibers are more concentrated, my guess is you will get a stronger rod using stripped outer pieces from Tonkin or Oldhami cane than skinny river cane. I am sceptical of river cane as most I have come across broke easier than bamboo of similar diameter on my short list. I also stay away from dark bamboo called nigra not to be confused with Phyllostachys nigra var. henonis, lots of variation black bamboo looks beautiful but cracks easily.

Most “timber type” bamboo species are pretty damn close strength wise once dried. Be careful with poles you buy from a nursery, they are generally dried in direct sunlight at uneven rate, makes them like ticking pipe bombs waiting to crack. If you must use dried bamboo from nursery an easy test is to cut a cross section of tube, take a chisel and split the tube. If the ring does not snap back nice and tight it’s a no go.

Don’t know what will grow well in your climate zone, a lot of the timber type bamboo grows in tropical regions. I did hear of successful moso bamboo plantation in Al, beefy stuff strong enough for bikes.

The most local supplier listing of Timber species: (they have some 4-5" specimens in their 8 year old plantings.)

Phyllostachys dulcis
Phyllostachys Bambusoides
Phyllostachys Vivax
Phyllostachys Vivax aureocaulis (Golden)
Phyllostachys Viridis (Robert Young)
Phyllostachys Nigra ‘Henon’ (giant gray)
Phyllostachys Viridis (Pigskin)
Phyllostachys Mannii (decora)
Phyllostachys Atrovaginata
Phyllostachys Bambusoides ‘Castillonis’

Also I'm looking at Phyllostachys Rubromarginata. (red margin) Available from other Southeastern US suppliers.

Not concerned with spreading. I have to work to maintain fields already. a little chopping/blocking ain't no big whoop. Invasive species is a natural thingmo. See Honeysuckle or Kudzu (both of which i co-exist with already).

The river cane (Arundinaria gigantea) has 4 sub-species. Not sure which one i have, but matters not. I'll test it for stay material. And of course it splits out for baskets and makes the best crappie/bluegill pole ever. 14' is about the tallest i get of that-rarely over an inch-it'll make great _free_ screening plantings.

Back to the large tubes (culms!): I bought some Henon and Robert Young from the lady (8' poles). Well, that's what she guessed they were, as a nursery they don't sell a lot of "building materials" so they don't keep dead/cut boo sorted.

Seen any of those species Freddie?

also thought i'd get some Arrow cane for testing. psuedosasa japonica.

and i'm in "zone 7" (climate)

[WadePatton]

Thanks Freddy. All of those i listed grow fine here. The nearest supplier has 8 year old groves of nearly each one listed. It probably doesn't grow as fast here as some places, but that's not a concern. I'll get some Henon started sometime.

nothing fancy for fishing, just whole poles, line, bait, hook. no splitting and composing of the fancy casting type rods (not yet).