Only Moso created the spreadsheet below. I obtained it in May, 2018, when I attended a workshop for farmers given by Only Moso at North Carolina Agriculture & Technical College. My comments on the spreadsheet’s accuracy are listed below the spread sheet. To comment, I am using my figures for 2014 from my research grove in Bonaire, Georgia. My research plot is 1000 square feet or 32 feet by 32 feet. To get per acre figures, I multiply 1000 times 43.56. I do fertilize and add mulch (bales of straw) to my research plot. However, I am unable to irrigate it. Its care therefore is not maximum. Both Only Moso and I advocate maximum care for maximum productivity.
My data is from 2011 to 2017. My moso produced the best by far in 2014. I am using data from the best year (2014) in the comments below. In 2015 my moso produced nothing at all: not one shoot. Only Moso’s spreadsheet predicts uniform productivity each year.
I think that moso has the potential to produce sustantial income for a farm. I don’t see how it can produce as quickly, as much, or as regularly as Only Moso claims.
A representative of Only Moso told me that the prices here have been changed. For up to date, pricing contact Only Moso.
SpreadSheet by Only Moso 5/2018
Column 1 – TimeLine
The consensus of opinion among bamboo growers is that moso needs 10 to 12 years to mature. It is best to not cut any poles or shoots for the first five or more years. Even thinning the small initial poles slows growth. (Observations from comparative thinning on my bamboo farm in Hawkinsville GA) In Unadilla GA, moso planted in 2011 was not mature enough to harvest shoots in 2018 when it was seven years old. However, this planting has not had good care. At my farm in Hawkinsville, Georgia, my four year old moso is growing well with irrigation, mulch, and some fertilizer. It may have a few shoots to harvest in its fifth year in 2019.
Column 2 – Shoot Weight in Pounds
In 2014 my mature grove in Bonaire, Georgia, had its best year. The average weight of my shoots was 1.38 pounds. I leave the biggest shoots unharvested in order to have them grow into larger poles than the existing ones. I try to manage the grove to maximize the size of the average pole.
Column 3 – Total Shoots per Acre
I don’t have figures for total shoots per acre. I leave more shoot to grow up into poles than I harvest. Some of these shoots die before growing up. Even if I did count the remaining shoots, some would die after I counted them. It would be hard to get a number for total shoots per acre. The number of new poles per acre was 1,045. This is the equivalent to number of new shoots. In 2015, the number of new poles was 130 or an eight as much as the previous year. Moso bears in alternate years.
Column 4 – Number of Shoots Harvested
My Bonaire grove was the equivalent of 2,875 shoots harvested per acre.
Column 5 – Number of Shoots remaining
See Column 3.
Column 6 – Shoots in Pounds
My Bonaire grove was the equivalent of 3964 pounds. Shoots sell for $3 a pound. $11,892. (Large ones at specialty restaurants can sell for $5 a pound.)
Column 7 – Trunk Size in Pounds
I can not comment on this as I have never weighed the poles harvested from the Bonaire grove. I also probably did not count them. At this time, I do not have a buyer for them. I did make some really cool gutters and downspouts with them.
Column 8 – Total Number of Trunks
The density of my Bonaire grove is the equivalent of 2,222 standing canes per acre. I have been wanting more density because I would have a denser canopy, but have not achieved it yet.
Column 9 – Number of Trunks Harvested
Moso bamboo will not produce canes that are 2 and 3 inches in diameter until the fifth or sixth year. My moso at year 4 has some 1 1/4 inch canes that are branched high enough to be useful. I expect to have 2″ canes in year five.
Moso canes take 4 to 6 years to harden and become good wood. This is because a new cane has cells that are full of water. The canes need four years to replace the water with lignin. When harvested before full lignification, poles will split as they dry because the water filled cells will shrink. My point is that the first useful harvest of canes will be four years after year five.