Introduction:

Bamboo plant has diverse uses and evergreen market.

• In gardening, landscaping and Horticulture

• It is one of the important constituent of forest plantation

• Construction of houses, agricultural implements, etc.

• Reduce soil erosion. Popular in reforestation and social forestry.

• Artifacts and musical instruments like flutes etc.

Besides these uses, bamboo sticks are important resource

material in Plant propagation nursery as it can be used to support

seedlings, construct frameworks of various propagation structures

and hatching the potting yards etc.

Methods of Propagation in Bamboos

• Sexual Propagation: By Seeds

• Asexual Propagation: By Cuttings, offsets or tissue culture.

Gregarious Flowering in Bamboo Seeds of Bamboo

Bamboo flowers once in 40 to 80 years and classified in to two

type: Gregarious Flowering and Sporadic Flowering.

A. Gregarious Flowering: The entire plant flowers at once and

dies off after, produces Large quantities of seeds with short

viability ( few weeks to few months).

Examples: Schizostachyum dullooa , Bambusa arundinacea ,

Arundinaria aristata and Bambusa tulda.

B. Sporadic Flowering: The Plant Flowers in lesser quantities

and the plant manages to survive after the flowering.

Examples: Dendrocalamus strictus, Dendrocalamus hamiltonii,

Bambusa nutans and Bambusa. glaucescens.

Sexual Propagation:

Method of Seed Propagation:

• Bamboo Seeds are collected and sown immediately so that the

seeds remains viable and germinate soon. The seeds are

sown on nursery beds or in poly bags and covered with very

thin layer of soil or compost.

• The seeds sown are watered daily as per requirement with the

help of a fine rose can. Seed starts germinating from 3-7 days

and may continue up to 15-25 days.

• Seedlings with 3 cm height are transplanted into poly bags and

are allowed to grow for 8 to 12 months. Bamboos establishes

better in the fields when transplanted at 1 year of age .

Nursery Management:• Labeling: Seedlings of different bamboo varieties and species

resemble each other and therefore tagging should be done to

avoid confusion in identifying the right kind of variety / species.

• Weeding: Regular weeding reduces competition and improves

plant growth and vigor in nursery.

• Shading: Direct sunlight on bamboo seedlings may cause

scorching and therefore Seedlings must be protected from direct

sunlight.

• Watering: Seedlings must be watered once or twice a day as per

the season.

Nursery Management:

• Plant Protection Practices: Spraying Copper Sulphate fungicide

helps to avoid fungal attacks.

• Fertilization: Bamboos are hardy plants which require only farm

yard manure in sufficient amounts.

• Hardening: The bamboo seedlings are often shaded and

watered in nurseries to attain optimum growth. Direct

transplanting into field should be avoided to reduce mortality. The

shade and watering frequency is gradually reduced in 1 to 2

months and then the hardened seedlings are transplanted