They take in carbon dioxide and release oxygen during photosynthesis, and humans and animals can breathe easier. You probably know that all plants serve as the lungs of the earth. How does it make the soil fertile again? The bamboo plant’s nutrient-rich leaves will drop off during growth or harvest and fall onto the ground below, where they will decompose and transfer those nutrients into the soil. When it grows in infertile soil, it provides farmers with an income (because they can now grow things where they previously couldn’t), and it repairs the land by making it fertile again. Get it? Because bamboo is a grass… never mind.īamboo plants can grow in infertile soil, which probably has some complicated scientific explanation, but it sounds like sorcery to me. Let’s look at some of the ways that bamboo is greener than grass. Some people are trying to play down the greenness of bamboo to suit their ends, but we shouldn’t let them win. Photinia – This evergreen shrub will provide beauty all year round.īamboo is one of the most eco-friendly materials on the planet due to how it’s grown, the method of harvesting, and how it gets transported to your door.Sunflowers – It’s no secret that these beauties shoot up over the summer months.Cucumbers – Plant now for summer salads.Evergreen Cherry Laurel – This can grow by 23 inches per year.Nasturtium – It’s great for natural pest control, so place near any fruits and vegetables.Castor Beans – These can grow up to 10 feet in one year.Morning Glory – It’s a flower, not a wood.Poppies – They’re classified as weeds, but let’s face it, they’re the nicest looking weeds.You might even want to use some of these in your garden for instant plastification! Check out this list of the fastest-growing plants on the planet. Of course, bamboo isn’t the only plant that can shoot up in the blink of an eye. It looks small when you first see it, but when you stretch it out, you’d be surprised how far it goes. But only trim back bushes every few months, and cut tree branches every couple of years.Ī bamboo plant is a kind of like a Slinky. This is common for grasses, and it’s why you need to mow your lawn every week. The cells are filled with water and causes them to expand quickly, like a balloon on a faucet. Unlike in animals, these cells don’t have to split apart while growing they streeeeetch out. That’s a fact worthy of a Snapple cap!īamboo plants create all the cells they need to grow when they’re still little buds. One bamboo species can grow a massive 35 inches per day (or 1.5 inches per hour). Some animals even g et drunk from the fermented bamboo sap, and they behave in much the same way as humans do when drunk, as you can see in the video below.īamboo is one of the fastest-growing plants on the planet, with some species can reach full maturity in just 90 days, and most taking just a couple of years. However, it is also a big food source for many animals, like pandas (obviously), lemurs, gorillas, chimpanzees, elephants, and caterpillars. The bamboo plant is widely used by humans: from making food to furniture to floors. Some scientists attribute this to an evolutionary “alarm clock” because the plant will flower regardless of the environmental conditions it is put under. There are over 1,400 species of bamboo worldwide, and surprisingly, all members of the same species will flower at the same time, no matter what part of the world they are in. Not only that, but it actually holds the Guinness World Record for fastest growing plant! It is native to many countries and most continents with humid and tropical climates, including Asia (most notably China), Australia, sub-Saharan Africa, and South America. This article will delve deeper into what makes bamboo so special.īamboo is a fast-growing grass with a hollow stem. Thus, bamboo has given a whole new meaning to the old adage “watching grass grow.” Blink and you might miss it! This is just a surface-level look at the benefits and growth properties of bamboo. To achieve this signature hardness, bamboo must fully mature, and that is why it can take years to grow for harvest even if it can visibly grow in a single day. Indeed, bamboo is an incredibly tough material – an alluring quality beyond its sustainable harvesting and incredible growth rate. This means that the stalks can be cut and replenished without needing replanting – unlike other types of wood.įunnily enough, bamboo is not even a wood itself: it comes from a sub-family of grasses! In terms of bamboo flooring, it is only a “hardwood” by virtue of the products it replaces. Perhaps the best quality of bamboo is that it does not have to be uprooted to be harvested. Chinese moso bamboo can grow up to a meter in a single day. Bamboo is targeted as a sustainable material because it takes only five to seven years to grow.
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