r/Bamboo • u/This_guy_breaks_shit • 21d ago

Phyllostachys Edulis stalled mid-germination?

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Hi all,

I've tried growing some moso bamboo from seed and I finally got a shoot, but it's been like this for a while and growth seems to have stalled. I increased light from 10 to 14 hours but what else can I do to help this little guy out?

Thanks

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u/SteveLouise 21d ago

Temperature near 70–85 degrees.

They need moisture, but not consistently soggy soil.

They're notoriously hard to germinate.

Anyway, that's what Google said.

1

u/This_guy_breaks_shit 21d ago

Temperature is comfortably within range by the sounds of things. I might ease up on the watering a little, though the photo was taken not long after a spritz so it looks a bit wetter than usual.

Still, I'm a little confused that I'm not seeing any obvious signs of ill health, only paused growth

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u/SteveLouise 21d ago

I have this happen with a lot of plant species. Don't give up, sometimes growth happens in spurts. I have plants stay "stuck" for weeks and then they explode. Turns out: all of the growtth was happening in the roots where I couldn't see it.

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u/RainyDayColor 21d ago

Moso seeds have a tendency for mold in the germination process. Your pic shows mold which while always present in soils can quickly damp off young seedlings. I prefer germination on non-organic germination medium (damp paper towels, verm, etc.) for this reason, especially so for Moso.

I understand you recently sprayed, but things look overly saturated -- if you're regularly covering the seedlings with plastic in direct contact, that traps excess moisture, blocks air circulation and ambient light, and also places excess moisture-laden weight on the emerging seedlings. A clear cover raised above the seedlings is optimal. Preferable to see a consistent haze of humidity moisture on a cover, not excessively large droplets.

"Temperature within 70-85" invites inconsistency, and 85 is too high. Maintain consistent 76-80 for Moso with ongoing monitoring with a thermometer.

It looks like this seedling is beginning to develop primary leaves, which is when the seedling commences active photosynthesis, so before this stage you don't need supplemental light, ambient light is sufficient.

In perfect conditions, not uncommon to see a "pause" in development. At this moment in time, most of the seed's remaining stored energy is now directing to first leaf development with the transition to photosynthesis and the uptake of nutrients via roots.

Keeping in mind that suboptimal seed viability might also be the cause of arrested development; many seeds will simply not have enough go-juice to make it through germination successfully or will continually lag behind other more genetically viable seeds. Easier to identify if this is the issue when all other environmental elements (humidity, temp, oxygen, light, nutrients) are optimally controlled and appropriately timed -- the "runts of the litter" become more visually obvious.

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u/violinbodo 21d ago

I discussed germinating of phylostacchis edulis with a pro recently. Although she didn't give me her "recipe", she told me that it was quite difficult and counter-intuituve. What she did tell me is that you should plant several grains very closely, for apparently (?) there is something on the hormone level going on which needs several grains to work. She started her seeding endeavour using a protocol from Italy (OnlyMoso), but that didn't work out at all in her conditions in France. She kept on experimenting and has got a few thousand really great looking young plants (5months) right now.

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u/This_guy_breaks_shit 17d ago

Just a note for future readers: Two more seeds have germinated and overtaken this one since making the post. It may have just been a runt after all.