Complete Guide to Growing Tall Bamboo Inside
Bamboo is one of those plants that are versatile all-round plants that can look stunning inside and out. Unfortunately indoor bamboo options are limited to small lucky bamboo sticks, or small pots of pygmy bamboo. But what if you want to grow tall bamboo indoors? Is it possible?
Yes – growing tall bamboo indoors is possible. However, there are particular growing techniques that you will need to apply to encourage vertical growth. For example, using
- a large-sized pot will encourage a bigger root system that will produce bigger bamboo shoots.
- Regular pruning also encourages stronger, taller growth.
- At a bare minimum, you will need to set your bamboo up for success with the optimal conditions, like lighting, humidity and air flow.
We’ll cover the optimal ambient and care conditions for your indoor bamboo in a bit. But before we do, let’s find out more about how to grow tall bamboo indoors.
How To Grow Tall Bamboo Indoors – The Facts
Growing bamboo indoors is achievable, but it isn’t like growing your typical indoor plant.
Bringing an outdoor plant, like bamboo, indoors requires certain adaptations to be made to accommodate for the lack of stability in resources an outdoor plant may have access to.
Start on the Right Foot – Use a Mature Bamboo
Usually, when bamboo grows outdoors, they have vast root systems that can stretch for meters around the main plant to support the tall bamboo shoots. When they are grown indoors, they only have a small planter container, meaning they are less likely to produce such tall shoots.
This means if you try to cultivate young bamboo into a tall plant, it is unlikely to achieve the same height that it would normally have outside.
The easiest way to overcome this height challenge is to transplant bamboo that has matured outdoors, into your home.
This way it will have an instant impact on your room with its skyscraper-like shoots, and you can be certain of achieving the height that you envisioned.
Give it Some Time Outdoors
If you do choose to relocate an outdoor bamboo plant inside, we suggest, now and then, giving it the occasional recreation time outside to reinvigorate it.
After all, you have moved a plant that is used to outdoor conditions, inside to a neutral setting.
Repot Your Indoor Bamboo Regularly
Bamboo plants tend to become root bound when they’re potted up too early in their life cycle. They may also experience nutrient deficiencies if they’re grown in poor soil conditions.
It’s important to water your bamboo regularly and make sure the roots aren’t getting too crowded. For this reason, we recommend you repot your bamboo at least once a year to avoid problems.
When you go to repot, it will also give you an opportunity to divide the root ball to propagate new plants and plant them into more pots.
What is the Best Tall Bamboo Variety to Grow Indoors?
There are so many varieties of bamboo available, sometimes it is hard to know which one is right for your circumstances.
For tall indoor bamboo we suggest the following varieties:
- Pseudosasa Japonica – also known as Arrow Bamboo. It is a fast-growing bamboo that can grow up to 4 meters in height, and is known to throw out runners in every direction. Since we are growing bamboo in containers, runners won&