How To Propagate Bamboo

Start by observing and evaluating the conditions of your clump, which is where you’ll be harvesting your cutting from. If your clump shows symptoms such as wilted leaves, brownish-gray stains, unusual presence of insects, or broken culms your bamboo might not be healthy enough to take the propagule. If this is the case, choose a different clump.

Cut a healthy bamboo branch using a handsaw. We recommend leaving at least 3 - 4 nodes length of culm in the ground to ensure a healthy clump. If you are interested in harvesting bamboo to use directly for construction (not for propagation) have a look at this step-by-step guide on how to harvest bamboo sustainable.

Remove any excess branches and leaves. In the illustration, we leave the main branch and remove the other three sub-branches. You use a sharp knife, handsaw, or pruner to do this. The reason to do this is to ensure all energy is going towards one main branch to grow into a healthy strong culm.

Take some of the soil surrounding your bamboo clump, mix it with some compost using a ratio of 1:1 and with a trowel, and fill a container/ polybag halfway with your soil mixture. Next, put the propagule on top of the soil and submerge the cutting until all the meristematic areas of your cutting can be covered by soil. Finally, fill up the rest of your polybag with your growing medium.

Water the cutting in the growing medium. When the seedling is still young, it is vital to keep it well hydrated so make sure to water it regularly, even daily if necessary. It is important to remember that soggy soil will be problematic and can cause irreversible root decay. But it should be moist enough especially during the first month after planting. You can use a soil moisture meter to test the moisture or feel the soil and observe the dryness of the leaves, dry leaves will begin to curl.