The following points are important:

• Seed collected in the morning before sun-rise is desirable as humidity is high and chance of seed cracking is less.

• The seed can germinate easily
• Storing the seed reduce the fertility rate.
• For long storage, it must be sterilized with insect killer.

•  It is desirable to keep the seed at low and dry temperature i.e. 0 ~250 C and 20 % humidity.

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Vegetative propagation / rhizome plantation:

• Rhizome or layer rhizome may be used.

• 2 or 3 years old rhizomes shall be used. For monopodial bamboo, 30 ~40 cm long with 8 ~10 nodes with sufficient soil coverage shall be used.

• Seedlings will appear on the nodes.

• The rhizome can be then used for plantation

Nodes for seedling:

• This is mostly for clump forming or sympodial bamboo.

•  Cut one or two or three or more nodes. Best time is beginning of rainy season.

• Not more than 3 hours shall lapse between cutting to burying time. Bigger culms are greater survival chance.

• Ditch to be made and cover the culm with 3 ~5 cm thick soil and water to be done to keep the soil wet.

• Shoots first develop followed by roots.

• After 6 ~8 months, planting can be done.

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Branch for seedling:

• Suitable mostly for clump forming or sympodial bamboo

• Main branch or secondary branch can be used.

• Bigger size has better chance of survival

• Cut or slip the branch and dip in a soil with 5 ~10 cm cover.

• Shoots and roots develop.

•  After 5 ~7 months, ready for plantation. 

Tissue culture:

• Seeds or buds or leaves are used for tissue culture.

• Not easily available as sophisticated equipments and special know-how is essential.

• The method is suitable for large scale seedling production.

• When roots develop, transfer to the nursery and hardening unit.

• After 4 ~ 6 months it is ready for plantation.

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B.  SYMPODIAL OR CLUMP FORMING BAMBOO
Growth and Development of Sympodial Bamboo:
Growth of rhizome bag:

There is no proper rhizome in sympodial bamboo but only rhizome bag which includes culm base and stipe. The internode is only short bamboo root without proper rhizome.

Buds for sprouting, developed at the middle of culm base are usually plump and has stronger vitality. Hence shoots out of these buds are bigger, and the quality of bamboo growing form these are better. But, buds at the culm base are smaller and feeble and sprout later. All buds tend to grow into bamboo. The 1-2-year-old buds are strong, the sprouting ability decrease when it is of 3-4 year-old. So they are not good to be used as mother bamboo.

Sprouting period of Sympodial bamboo normally lasts for 3-4 months. It begins during May-June (early stage), peak production during July – August (middle stage, the quantity accounts for 50% of all) and then decrease in early September and stop in October. Based on this, the sprouting time id divided into three periods: early stage, middle stage and later stage. In the first two stages, the bamboo shoots are strong and grow fast and in the later stage the bamboo shoots are feeble and small and are easily die.

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The Growth from the Bamboo Shoots to Young Bamboo:

The period starting from the appearance of bamboo shoots up to the time when growth in height is stopped but developing leaves is called shoot-culm growth. It may also be termed as early stage. This early stage may again be also divided into 4 sub-stages.

• The first sub-stage - young bamboo grows slowly and the bamboo root begin to grow.

• The second sub-stage - the height growth accelerates and the main root begin to branch.

• The third sub-stage - the rate of growth height-wise is highest, more than 10cm one day,  and sometimes the 30-40cm one day, during which we bamboo shoots shall be  harvested, else it will be too old and hard to eat. For making shoot can, the shoots should be harvested in the second sub-stage.

• The fourth sub-stage - the rate of growth height-wise become slow until it stop.

The growth of the Adult Bamboo

The growth pattern of sympodial is divided three stages: young bamboo, grown up bamboo and over-aged bamboo.

The young bamboo – when it is around 1-year-old bamboo. The tissues are tender and water content is high. Branches, leaves and root systems have yet not fully developed. With the increase of age, the absorption and assimilation capabilities increase step by step and the physiological metabolism enhance gradually.

Grown up bamboo- when it is 2 years old the sprout capability attains its peak and continues till it 3year old. When it is 4 years old, it holds less water and the bamboo culms achieves its peak strength.

Over-aged bamboo- After the 5th years, leaves of bamboo start defoliating and other properties become declining. Afterwards it starts withering away.

From the above, it can be concluded that the reasonable time for harvesting  is 3 ~ 4 year-old bamboo.

The growth of sympodial bamboo rhizomes is outwards in nature with the older bamboos stand in the center of the clump while younger ones are outside around the old ones. The culm stipe of young bamboo is higher than the culm base of mother bamboo and it is rising year by year. Unless the soil around is dug up, culm bases will become exposed. This will hinder the growth of young bamboo. So over-aged bamboo and bamboo bag should be cut out. This shall be followed by exposure of the roots and the scientific application of fertilizer.

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The Cultivation Methods of Sympodial.
Cultivation
Cultivation of bamboo sapling. There are different methods of breeding for new bamboo like stem burying, nodes burying and burying of branched and secondary branches.  In some places,  branch cutting and burying is very common and popular.

Branch cutting: The branches of Sympodial take root easily using healthy bamboo from main branch or secondary branches. The buds at the base of main branches can be used as slip for propagation by way of cutting. At the base of their main branches and secondary branches, there are dormant buds which can sprout into branches. The survival rate is normally high during a period when bamboo begin to sprout but the shoots yet to come out. When the bamboo shoots have come out, the nutrient is less and by cutting during this period, it will easily sprout for branches but not for roots, hence, the survival rate is low. The success of branch cutting also depends on factors like health of the main or secondary branches, size, length and strength of internodes, branch bag, root joint, plump buds on the nodes. A nursery with loose, fertile and rich soil and proper drainage is better.  

Burying culms: There are some dormant buds at the base of lateral branches without any sprout on culm nodes. This kind of culms can be buried to breed saplings depending upon the adoentitious roots grown from node. A healthy bamboo with 2-year-old shall be selected and cut it into segments with 1 or 2 nodes. After these, holes on both sides are made with between the internodes. Pour some water into the holes before burying, close with bamboo piece to prevent hole from earth into it before burying. If the nursery bed is moist making of the holes only may be sufficient. 

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Plantation area selection:

Ecological environment suitable for sympodial varies from species to species. For example, D.latiflorus munro favors warmth, as they have no resistance to cold. So, annual temperature of 20 – 220C with the minimum temperature above 40C and annual rainfall of 1400 – 1800mm. is desirable. In case of D. oldhami keng, an annual temperature of 18-200C with minimum temperature –50C and annual rainfall of 1400-2000mm. is desirable. It can survive even limited frost during winter. D.latiflorus munro and D.oldhami keng are generally planted on fertile hill side, tableland and other similar plots.

Ground Preparation: Depending on the vegetative cover on the plantation field, selection of suitable clearing method shall be selected before ground preparation. In case of wild land with grass growth, they must be first cut off and laid them on ground in strip or can be cleared by burning after they get dried. In case of a wild land with growth of the grass, they shall be will cut off them first and put them on the ground in strip. Slashing and burning practice may also be used. 

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Plantation season and methods

The season suitable for plantation is when the physiological changes is inactive. In the earlier season, root growth is slow and takes time as the soil temperature is low. In the later season, the buds of culm base have been grown into bamboo shoots and the sprout is prone to injury during transplant, which decrease the survival rate. The appropriate time for plantation is during rainy season and the mother bamboo should be planted immediately after digging of the soil. After planting, the soil shall be kept moist which will prevent breaking of the stem.

Mother bamboo transplant: A bamboo with 1-2-year-old or less as mother bamboo with robust, healthy and   well developed sprouts shall be selected. Mother bamboo with 2-year-old may also be accepted in case of want of young bamboo but 3 years or more old bamboo is not suitable for the mother bamboo.

After selection of mother bamboo, it should be dug out carefully. During the digging, all care shall be taken not to damage the culm base, buds and the root systems. In case where long transportation of mother bamboo is required, it should be packed with grass of plastic with some soils coverage to prevent injury to the sprout.

The mother bamboo should be planted immediately after its arrival. A small pit should be dug and filled up with topsoil before planting the mother bamboo and the mother bamboo shall be planted slanting. Drill hole in the bamboo up to catch rain, can pour water into cut open and wrap it with plastic to provide against withering due to want of water. Then cover it with grass to avoid fast drying.  

Use seedling and Slip for Plantation: The seedling is normally small and is in clusters. They must be separated them carefully after they are dug out of the soil. One clump shall be a group of 2-3 mother bamboos depending on the size of the seedling and the number of branches and leaves. Cut off  most of the leaves leaving 1-2 leaves remain per each bamboo.  

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Tending and Management of Young Bamboo

Protection, tending and Fertilizer application: It is necessary to prevent newly planted bamboo against displacement by wind and disturbance by animals or man. It is necessary to inspect the orientation of the cut surface, if it faces the ground, fresh cut facing up shall be made. It is also necessary to water every 5-6 days if it is not raining. A month after plantation, inspection for development of sprout should be done. After a month and half, application of fertiizer shall be started with 3 ~ 5 times a year.

It is recommended to plant some leguminous plants like peanuts, legumes etc. along with new bamboo planted to fertilize the soil by decomposition of leaves of these leguminous plants. Else, removal of weeds before sprouting is necessary. It may be noted that if the mother bamboo does not take shoots in the year following the plantation, there are something wrong with the mother bamboo and shall be removed.

Maintaining the mother bamboo :After the plantation, they will sprout in June-July in the same year. If careful tending is done and a good structure of bamboo stand is kept, the output of bamboo shoots will increase in the first three years. The first bamboo shoot in the first year should not be selected as mother bamboo because its nutrient has almost been used up. Also, bamboo shoot of early stage is small and compare to the later stage, which are strong.

In the first year mother bamboo, the two strong bamboo shoots should be preserved. In the next year, two or three shoots should keep for each clump. In the third year, it should 2 or 3 new bamboo per each clump shall be again preserved and the total numbers should not exceed 10 or 12 each clump. In the fourth year, 2 or 3 mother-bamboo should be again be preserved and the old 2 or 3 bamboo shall be harvested or cut off leaving limited bamboo per each clump.  

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Management of adult bamboo

Expose buds to the sun, apply fertilizer and dug out of soil: Expose buds of bamboo bag to the sun during February – March every year. This will stimulate buds to sprout earlier and increase their sprouting potential. During this time, attention should be paid to buds and roots to protect them against damage. After 6 ~ 10 days of exposure to the sun, apply organic fertilizer around the bamboo clump. Fermentation of organic fertilizer in the soil raises the soil temperature. Making the air circulation and with water retention in the soil will help shoots sprouting early thereby increasing the output of bamboo shoots.

Usually, application of more fertilizer results higher shoot-production. During the early stage and the middle stage, quick acting fertilizers are recommended. If mixed fertilizer (N:P:K=5:3:2) is used, they should not come in contact with the new sprouts to avoid being injure.

Covering with soil: During the beginning period when the shoot is inside the soil, the shoot is tender and delicious for eating. After the shoot comes out of the soil, shoot sheath become green or brown and the shoot becomes bitter and sour and stringent, and its fibers become old. Thus, before the bamboo shoots come out it should be frequently covered with soil to make them under ground for a long time, so, the shoot will be bigger and the quality will be better. In covering with the soil, the reasonable thickness is 15-20cm. If covered with thicker than this, the temperature of the soil will decrease inhibiting sprouting of shoot.

Bamboo shoots harvesting: Shoot output of some species is high. For Example, for high yield D.latiflorus munro, the annual output of bamboo shoots is 22.5 – 30 tons per hectare. For commercial shoots, they must be cut out when they are 20-50cm high, else they become old and bitter. For dried bamboo shoots, bamboo shoot of height 1-1.5m may also be acceptable.

Due to low temperature and high humidity it is better to cut off bamboo shoots before the sun rises. This is good the mother bamboo and seedlings.

All shoots in early stage may be cut. However 3-4 be left from later stage. After cutting off, the cut portion is easily infected and thus should not be covered with soil until it is dry

Weeding, soil loosening and providing shades: The bamboo forest should be weeded soil loosened for 1-2 times every year. Weeding may not be necessary for few grass under bamboo stand, however, soil loosening should be done. In addition, covering with some straw or plastic film to maintain moisture and temperature is recommended.  

Removal of old bamboo and adjustment of the bamboo structure: Defective, tiny, broken bamboo that is not well-developed shall be cut off during winter and leaving only healthy bamboo. Bamboo above 4 years old or more should also be cut off. To improve the productivity of bamboo reasonable density must be maintained.

Digging out of old bamboo bag for promoting regeneration: After the shoots are harvested, bamboo bags are left in the soil and are not easily rotten even after 9 years. These old bags hinder the growth of new sprouts. So they must be dug out for better sprouting and young bamboos.

High-yield Structure: With proper management, bamboo shoot production may reach upto 400-500 kg in the first year of afforestation, 800-1000kg in the next year, 1300-1500kg in the third year and become high yield stand in the fourth tear.

The bamboo stand structures of high yield vary depending on the management objective and intended products. If the management objective is shoot, the density of shoot-used stand is 2100-3300 individual bamboo per hectare for D. latiflorus munro. If the soil is rich, because mother bamboo is big, the density can be a little less, and the and the products of shoots may be 18t/hm2. If the management objectives is culm, the density of culm-used stand is 3600-4500 individual bamboo/hm2, and the output of the culms is more than 20t. If the management objectives is both shoot and culm, the density of shoot-culm-used stand is 2700-3000 individual bamboo/hm2, and the output of the culms is 40-50kg, and the output of the shoots is 12-15t.

Age structure : Cut off 4 years or more bamboo and some 3-year-old mother bamboo, and keep 40% 1-year-old mother bamboo respectively, and 3-year-old mother bamboo accounts for 20%.  

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Common pests:

Common pests damaging bamboo shoots, standing culms, bamboo timber and bamboo products: