Bamboo is a perennial evergreen and is the largest member of the grass family. It is widely distributed in tropical and subtropical parts of Asia,Africa and America and grows from from sea level to 15,000 ft. the highest bamboo may reach 120 ft in height. Another economic factor of importance in the. life-history of bamboo is the extraordinary rapid growth of the culms. Bamboos vary in height from a few feet to loo and 120 feet. An example of the latter is the giant bamboo, Dendro calamus giganteus, of the Asiatic tropics. A tall deciduous forest tree or a giant conifer takes two or three hundred years to grow to similar proportions, but it is a fact that a single culm, depending on the kind, will reach its full height in from 40 to 60 days. Indeed the growth-rate is so rapid that it is measurable by the hour.Bamboo has many uses, its seeds and young shoots are used for food, in Asia it is often used for scaffolding, simple suspension bridges.
Bamboo may also be cut and laminated into sheets and planks. This process involves cutting stalks into thin strips, planing them flat, boiling and drying the strips which are then glued, pressed and finished. this has been long practiced in China and Japan . Entrepreneurs started developing and selling laminated bamboo flooring in theWest during the mid 1990s.
video on how to grow bamboo
When bamboo is harvested for wood, care is needed to select mature stems that are several years old, as first-year stems, although full size, are not fully woody and are not strong.
bamboo basics
Bamboo canes are normally round in cross-section, but square canes can be produced by forcing the new young culms to grow through a tube of square cross-section and slightly smaller than the culm's natural diameter, thereby constricting the growth to the shape of the tube. Every few days the tube is removed and replaced higher up the fast-growing culm.
Bamboo has been used to make paper in China since early times. A high quality hand-made paper is still produced in small quantities. Coarse bamboo paper is still used to make spirit money in many Chinese communities.
Bamboo's long life makes it a Chinese symbol of long life, while in India it is a symbol of friendship. Its rare blossoming has led to the flowers' being regarded as a sign of impending famine. Several Asian cultures, including that of the Andaman Islands, believe that humanity emerged from a bamboo stem. Malaysian legends include the story of a man who dreams of a beautiful woman while sleeping under a bamboo plant; he wakes up and breaks the bamboo stem, discovering the woman inside. In the Philippines, bamboo crosses are used as a good luck charm by farmers. In Japan, a bamboo forest surrounds a Shinto shrine as part of a sacred barrier against evils. Also, bamboo is considered second in the rank in the order of "Matsu (pine wood), Take (bamboo), Ume (prune)" and this order is used when ordering a sushi course or getting a room in a traditional inn.The shoots (new bamboo culms that come out of the ground) of bamboo are edible and are available in supermarkets in various sliced forms. However, the shoots of some species contain toxins that need to be leached or boiled out before they can be eaten safely.
Bamboo floors are manufactured from the bamboo plant. The majority of today's bamboo flooring products originate in China and other portions of Asia. The species of bamboo used for flooring is commonly known as "Moso". Bamboo has also gained a reputation as an eco-friendly, highly renewable source of material. Compared to wood it grows much faster because bamboo is a grass not a wood.
A quick overview of bamboo flooring including many pictures from bamboo forests and bamboo flooring factories
Bamboo Flooring - 5 Things To Do and Not To Do
Bamboo Cutting Boards
This video explains why an end grain bamboo cutting board is better for your knives, shows how to clean and sanitize a bamboo cutting board and how to oil bamboo cutting boards for longer shelf life
Bamboo Salt Toothpaste
Jukyeom is a Korean folk remedy that consists of sea salt derived from bamboo plants. The salt is extracted from the bamboo by burning the bamboo trunks. also to make toothpaste because it will help to heal certain tooth diseases very quickly.
Bamboo Fly Rods
A bamboo fly rod or a split cane rod is a fly fishing rod that is made from bamboo also referred to as cane. With more than 1,000 different bamboo species and nearly a hundred different kinds, Tonkin Cane (Arundinaria amabilis or Pseudosasa amabilis) is most often used for fishing rods; Calcutta cane has also been used extensively.
bamboo fly rod making
Everything the aspiring gardener needs to know about growing bamboo successfully in North American climates
