I'm in Albuquerque, NM - Zone 7. Wife wants a bamboo tree(s), clump, bush, whatever term you'd like to apply. She got a single cutting from one and wants to start it growing but neither of us know anything about them. Will they start rooting if left in water like many other plant & tree cuttings do or do they require special treatment?
You might try asking in (rec.gardens bamboo). I'm not a bamboo expert but as I understand it some bamboo's will root from culm cuttings but I think they are mostly tropicals.
Some of the tropical clumping bamboos will root in water from a single node cutting with a viable bud....however, it is not the best way to go about it. I wonder if this is really a bamboo, or something like Dracaena sanderiana, which has been marketed extensively under the name Lucky Bamboo, grown in water and pebbles, perhaps.
the bigger answer is, propagation of bamboo is not generally done it water...because it does not work that well.
however, there is no reason why you cannot grow some real bamboo where you live. If you pick the right kind.
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Will they start
The tropical clumping bamboos, the Bambusas, Gigantochloas and the like, some more easilly than others. But still, not in water. One may take a two node cutting of Bambusa vulgaris vitata and drill a hole in between, fill with water and seal with grafting wax. this will then shoot stems and leaf out, i have seen this hanging in a friend's greenouse, but it needs to be planted in earth to root out. this is one of the easiest of all bamboos to propagate from culm (cane) cuttings. in a good year i have rooted branchlets this way. hermine
I have had very poor results trying to start new bamboo from cuttings. So no advice I have would be overly useful on that matter.
If you are interested in bamboo in general, there are two kinds of bamboo, at least in terms of growth. Clumping and running. Clumping bamboo tends to spread outwards very slowly, eventually forming a nice thick clump. Running bamboo is more aggresive in spreading outwards and sends out rhizomes, which new shoots sprout from. Running bamboo can be fairly slow to spread or extremely fast spreading and toublesome for gardeners who were not educated of the plants's behavior.
But there are plenty of lovely bamboos that are hardy in zone 7. Do a google search for cold hardy bamboo and start reading up on them if you want to grow any. Stay away from running bamboo unless you have adequate room to grow it and/or are willing to buy a barrier to put in the ground up to 36 inches deep in order to cointain the spread.
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