Control Bamboo with Roundup Pro Biactive
Bamboo is widely planted both for its ornamental value and as windbreaks, but like any perennial, rhizomatous grass it can sometimes creep too far and become an invasive and troublesome weed.
Control with Roundup Pro Biactive
Spray the foliage between July and September for maximum effect with a dilution of 25ml per litre of water in a knapsack sprayer or alternatively use a hand-held weedwiper such as the Microwipe®, with 2 parts water to one part Roundup Pro Biactive if there is vulnerable foliage nearby.
The main factors for good control are:
- Achieving maximum leaf area to rhizome area ratio
- Not starting too early in the spring, when the sap flow is strongly upwards.
It may be necessary to retreat several times to eradicate all parts of the plant, because some rhizomes go into a dormant phase in a very mature, thick colony and will only produce leaf when the first cover of shoots has been removed.
Treating in mid-late summer should eradicate the majority of the plant in one go - so long as there is active leaf growth at the time. Some of the taller varieties will be too tall by then to reach with a standard knapsack sprayer. Use of an extending lance may help; alternatively use the stem filling technique over winter.
Stem filling technique
Treatment in the dormant season between October and March is also possible via the cut stem method used for treating Japanese Knotweed and based on the label recommendation for treating cut stumps. Here 10 ml of a 20% solution of Roundup Pro Biactive in water is introduced straight into the cut stem a few cms above the ground.
Roundup timing in relation to perennial grasses
Rate and Water Volumes
| Dose rate | Application Tips |
| Foliar spray 5 l/ha, or in waste ground & amenity situations in 200litres of water per hectare |
Spray as weed is flowering, but before die-back. Typically June/July, depending on species. Spray any re-growth at 5 l/ha before end October. |
| Weed-wiping Hand held weed-wiper * Or paintbrush |
1 part Roundup Pro Biactive to 2 parts water |
*The Microwipe, hand held weed-wiper is available here
Most knapsack sprayers are supplied with a set of 4 deflector nozzles giving different swath widths but all delivering 200l/ha of water at 1 bar pressure and a walking speed of 1 metre per second.
Spot treatment in knapsack
(Standard 200 l/ha nozzles)
| Area sprayed | Volume of Roundup Pro Biactive | Volume of water |
| 50m2 | 25ml | 1 ltire |
| 500m2 | 250ml | 10 litres |
| 1,000m2 | 500ml | 20 litres |
For more information on Roundup Pro Biactive click here or see "Total Weed Killers"
