New shoots emerge from the ground at full diameter, so each year they are larger. Our current maximum is a little over three inches. On hot sunny days, they can grow more than an inch an hour. Some people say if you sit quietly in a bamboo grove, you can hear them growing.

The sheath covering the new growth gradually falls away and the shoot gains height, leaving a rich green in vivax bamboo. Note the increasing diameter in successive years, with the two forward culms new in 2008, while the next three are 2007, and the darker ones 2006.

Our timber bamboo canes grow about five feet higher than those of the previous year. This growth takes place in less than a month. Once they achieve maximum height for the year, they begin to leaf out. They are currently about thirty feet tall. Under ideal conditions, they should reach twice this height in time.