Protecting Container Grown Bamboo for Winter

[Susan BBPM]

Variety: Phyllostachys aurea
Container Size: 60L
Climate: West of Scotland (Typically between 35f - 44f, with shortish spells below freezing. It CAN occasionally get as low as 20f for short spells).

This variety is well suited to our climate, but I'm told that when in containers you need to take extra care to make sure the roots (rhizomes) don't freeze.
So how much insulation is needed? I have some thin (3mm) polystirene (sp?) sheet. I have bubblewrap. I have about 20 x 50L bags of compost.

What about the top of the pots? What about underneath? Currently they're raised off the ground (slabbed patio) on a slatted wood platform. There is also slatted wood around the pots (so a slatted 'casing' around the 4 pots - making it look like a single raised bed).

What about watering with warm water during very cold spells? Or popping in some 2l plastic bottles of hot water?

I want to do this well as the bamboo plants were expensive.

 

[oneeye]

As long as you stay above 20 degrees or -6 C you will be ok. Let the plants go dormant during Winter and cut back to the soil in the spring. Warm water won't make any difference because the water cools so fast. I wouldn't keep the bamboo wet during Wjinter, only water a few times during a drought.

 

[Susan BBPM]

Thanks. It's still looking healthy - we had purchased lots of bags of compost during an Autumn sale so we piled them up around the containers. That seems to have got us through the extended cold snap in December.