Growing Red Bamboo Plant in India

With its bold-colored stalks, Red Bamboo Plant makes quite an impression in the garden! Here’s everything you need to know about growing it!

Red bamboo is a cultivar of the fountain bamboo with red-crimson stems. Its leaves have a red tone when they are young and take a light green to yellow hue when they mature. The plant grows fast and makes for an excellent privacy screen for home gardens. Let’s have a look at how you can grow Red Bamboo Plant!

Here are the different heavenly bamboo varieties you can grow in India

Difference Between Red and Fountain Bamboo

During the initial growth, it is hard to distinguish between red and fountain bamboo as both are green during the early stages. But, as they mature, the stems of fountain bamboo get green-purple color, whereas, the red fountain starts obtaining a crimson hue slowly.

How to Grow Red Bamboo Plant?

The best way to grow a red bamboo plant is to get a well-grown specimen from a local nursery. You can either directly plant it in the garden or grow it in a 16-20 inch container. Locate the plant where it can receive full to partial sun for 5-6 hours.

Growing Requirements for Red Bamboo

Sunlight

The red bamboo plant thrives best when nurtured with 3-5-hours of full to partial sun. Save the plant from long exposure to afternoon sunlight. A location that gets 1-2 hours of the morning sun will be great for its growth.

Water

Water the plant regularly whenever the topsoil feels dry to touch. Also, increase the watering frequency during summers. Make sure to not overwater the plant, as it does not like sitting in stagnant water.

Soil

Red bamboo can tolerate a wide range of soil types, but it thrives best in well-draining loamy soil with neutral pH. If your garden has heavy or clay soil, then make sure to amend it using compost manure, gravel, or sand. For pots, any regular potting soil will do the trick.

Caring for Red Bamboo

Re-potting

Red bamboo has a fast growth rate, so consider repotting it every year. Use one size larger pot and fresh potting soil if the plant looks root bounded.

Fertilizer

Using organic compost or manure twice or thrice a year will give the plant the needed boost in growth. Alternatively, use a balanced fertilizer in a ratio of 10-10-10. Refer to the label for usage instructions.

Spacing

If you are growing multiple red bamboos in the garden, then plant them in rows with a distance of 3-5 feet. This way, they will be spaced out evenly and will look great as a privacy screen!