Propagation in a nutshell: Any established bamboo growing in the ground can be divided by digging out a small section from the perimeter of the clump or grove. Any well rooted and stabilized bamboo in a pot can also be divided by cutting it up into appropriate sections for the size of the divided section and the new pot you want to put it in. The most important aspect of a good division is making sure you have rhizome with buds attached to the culm/s to insure the plant can recover and make additional culms and rhizomes the next season. It's very important that you balance the top growth (leaves) with the size of the divided root ball section. It takes some practice and experimentation to achieve good results because the techniques also vary according to the species you want to propagate. 

Some of the clumping bamboo we sell are micro-propagated divisions from tissue culture. In fact the names; Asian Wonder™, Green Panda™, Green Screen™, and Great Wall™ are all registered trademark names of Bamboo Select®. Pioneer Plants, LLC owns the exclusive right to produce bamboo propagations under the Bamboo Select® name in the United States. Plants bearing the Bamboo Select® label are the result of a discriminating selection of elite mother plants from which these propagations are created from.

Micro-propagation (or tissue culture) is simply taking a very small piece of a plant and multiplying it to make more plants from that one small piece. Millions of plants are propagated through tissue culture each year (for example: asparagus, strawberries, hosta, ferns, trees and hundreds of other plant species.) In fact tissue culture is the number one method used today to propagate the majority of nursery plants, although it is still relatively new for bamboo production.

BambooSelect® plants are micro-propagated from small branch cuttings. Because micro-propagation via axillary branching mimics the natural growth of bamboo, the propagated plants are genetically identical to the mother plant. Because the bamboos begin their life in a test-tube, they are clean and disease-free. From young plantlet to rooted plug, they receive a balanced diet to provide all their nutritional needs, and are full, robust plants upon delivery to the nursery. The plant quality is truly exceptional. 

North American Plants, a locally owned tissue culture lab in Lafayette, Oregon micro-propagates our Bamboo Select® label plants. When I purchase them from the lab they are small 6" tall plants that look just like seedlings. I've grown them on to various pot sizes and nurtured them in my greenhouse and backyard garden. I have good sized specimen plants growing in the garden for you to check out.