Hi again guys!

For February, our university decided to help the environment by planting a lot of bamboo seedlings to help ease the effects of the El Nino phenomenon in our city. Most of you probably live in places far from the range where bamboo usually thrives.

You may know bamboo as the plant that pandas eat, associate it with China or see it in NatGeo or Discovery Channel as an invasive species. Bamboo, which grows to rapid proportions in a short span of time, is an important catchbasin for conserving groundwater, and due to its rapid proliferation, is used mainly here in the Philippines for reforestation and conservation efforts. Bamboo is actually a grass species, which explains its slender leaves and rapid growth, but here in our country bamboo serves not just as panda food (we have them, in zoos hahaha) but also as an important food source for many people. Bamboo shoots are a real delicacy here, and when served in a curry with dried fish, is called gata dabung. In Third World countries such as ours, its also used primarily in scaffolding, and you can often see painters or window cleaners narrowly dangling in high rises using this flimsy structures.

 So, back to my point, bamboo is important because, it is hardy and versatile. We previously planted mangrove seedlings in a salt pond and it dried out during the El Nino. So, our university decided to plant bamboo seedlings for transplantation in a forest of choice in the city limits.  So HOW DO WE PLANT BAMBOO?
Simple!
- Fill a pot about 3/4's deep with soil, mulch or a mixture of both
-Water the pot till moist
- Using the cut bamboo stalk, fill the first node with soil and water. This node will face upwards
-The other node of the stalk will be buried in the soil
AFTER A WEEK, a seedling will appear in the node filled with soil. And you now have a viable bamboo seedling! Hurray!

Afterword: Bamboo planting is one of the many environmental awareness programs our university has initiated to make students aware of the hardships our city is now facing. All our watersheds and the rivers feeding them are in critical level, and we have to deal with 12 hour water shortages everyday. As we also get our power from hydroelectric stations, the volume of water to generate electricity is at an all time low. Hence, I have to deal with power outages almost everyday here. Sprinkling systems in lawns are now ordered shut and preventive measures to conserve water are in place . Till next time EcoGen community ! :)