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A poll associated with this post was created, to vote and see the
results, please visit http://www.gardenbanter.co.uk/showthread.php?threadid=86984
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Question: How much are you willing to give for bamboo?
- $0-$20
- $30-$60
- $70-$100
- $110-up to $275
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Indeed some bamboos are reasonably common, but others are not. The cost
of importing a new bamboo into a country can run into $1K-$2K! In order
for people to be able to do this, they have to sell the initial bamboos
at a reasonable price. There is a good reason for these quarantine
inpections and this import process in that it helps prevent pests being
imported as well. I guess we've made a bit of a mess with the bamboo
mites! Combine this with the cost of perhaps trying to merely locate a
Phyllostachys Nigra 'Mejiro' (Black with green sulcus), and you get an
idea of where the costs come from. You try and locate one of these.
I've found 1 set of pictures and that's it! The fact that you have
access to the variety that you do is thanks to collectors being
prepared to pay these amounts in order to make them available, and you
and others should be grateful for this.
In addition, some bamboos are slow growing and very difficult to
propagate. Phyllostachys bambusoides 'Marliacea' springs to mind! I
have one plant that I have managed to be split once in 5 years.
Splitting it made it revert to Juvenile:( As a result, I'll not be
splitting it again in the near future.
Now consider many other plants that bear seeds. You can grow 10s, if
not 1000s of new plants from the seeds per year....rather than the
occassional split every other year. As a result you can charge
significantly less, and still make a profit.
Finally, you'd like to just go and chop a bit off another bamboo
somewhere. All I can say is have fun! Having done it myself, I can tell
you that on a mature plant it is very hard work. You have to nurse the
plant carefully for the first year, and 2 out of the 4 that I took
died! Add on the cost to you of locating the bamboo that you are after,
travel there and back, and the time and effort required to take your
cutting, and then nurse it for the first year. Now compare that to
going and picking up a pot containing a plant which has been nutured
and is healthy that you can plant straight away without worrying, and
you can see why $80 for a bamboo is not unusual. Of course, you time
may be worth less than $10 an hour?
OK, I acept that there are the odd 'exceptions'. Some of the more
agressive bamboos - Sasa for example are a lot cheaper. These agressive
bamboos tend to be more common, and as a result can be found moer
cheaply than the prices that you've quoted.
--
pjedmond
