Is it possible to imagine a philippine farm without bamboo? Of course, the answer is: no! From touthpick to construction, the bamboo is useful for all. As we have only three small clumps of bamboos, we need to propagate this king of the family of the poaceae.The Bambusa spinosa we have is the most common bamboo in the Philippines, also called Kawayan (Kauayan) tinik. It can be used inside the windbreaks. For this first trial, we choose the culm cutting-1 node technique. After selecting the culm, it is cut at 2.50m from the soil: the middle third of the culm bears the best nodes for the cuttings. So the top of the culm is also discarded.
The longer branches should be cut at the second node and the secondary branches are discarded.
At the nursery, a medium is prepared with sand and vermicompost (1:1) and used to fill large strong polyethylene bags.
It is now time to cut the bamboo. It is important to have a very clean cutting and the saw for pruning is a better tool than the machete.
The cutting is then buried in the bag with an angle.
Last steps as usual: watering, mulching and spraying of microorganisms.
Our cuttings need now around 7 months of care (watering everyday, spraying,...) before replanting the news rhizomes with new shoots.
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