Comments on: What’s Shooting?

By: jp

jp — Tue, 08 May 2012 23:58:18 +0000

Does it depend on the time of year? Can you add fresh rabbit manure when the bamboo is just starting to shoot?

By: philinshelton

philinshelton — Fri, 04 May 2012 23:59:01 +0000

I have added both fresh and aged rabbit, horse, and steer manure right on top of my bamboos, and the bamboos love it!

By: jp

jp — Fri, 27 Apr 2012 16:44:43 +0000

Can you add the rabbit manure directly to the bed or does it have to be aged?

By: philinshelton

philinshelton — Mon, 18 May 2009 23:10:38 +0000

The bedding isn’t just sawdust, but has urine and rabbit manure in it too, so it adds nutrients to the soil (stuff in the pic was added last summer). I mulch with grass clipping and I chip up the thinned out canes and mulch with that as well. Adds organic matter and suppresses weeds too.

By: Pete Bray

Pete Bray — Mon, 18 May 2009 06:24:50 +0000

Cool… but for what purpose? I sort of get the sense that once a shoot has broken ground, pretty much nothing will stop it. So I guess the mulch is just to visually reduce unsightly weeds, etc?

By: philinshelton

philinshelton — Sun, 17 May 2009 16:01:07 +0000

Actually, those are wood pellets I used for bedding for an indoor rabbit, litter box. They disintegrate after it rains. The rabbit manure and the urine fortified bedding make great top dressing for the bamboo. Thanks for the comment!

By: Pete Bray

Pete Bray — Sun, 17 May 2009 07:30:33 +0000

Cool pics… why do you put sawdust around the shoots???