Harvesting California Bagpipe Cane (Arundo Donax)

[CRHG1946]

Most informative and extremely helpful.

[manar144]

wow mr.sampson

[hananokuni2580]

A. donax rootstocks should be dug up and transplanted during the winter, preferrably during a cold snap. In the spring, they will send up new shoots and within 3-5 years a new stand of A. donax will establish itself.

CA has a Mediterranean climate much like that of Southern France and Italy, so good cane can be produced there.

In CA the reed is so common and difficult to extirpate that its replanting is prohibited by law.

[hagenreeds]

Well - you're supposed to harvest live cane a short time after the year's first cold snap. That draws the oils and liquid into the root of the plant. You want to get live cane - set it in the sun so it dries and turns brown, and then cure it for - I think - 2 to 3 years an open air drafty building preventing mold and rot. At least - that's how to get the best cane.