HENON Phyllostachys nigra cv.‘Henon’
located in Fort Valley, Georgia
Ha-Chiku in Japan
Max Ht Usual Ht Max diam Usual diam Min Temp
65‘ 50 4.5 2″ 0°F
USDA ZONES 7 – 8
Washington State University grew henon on their research farm in Puyallup, Washington, up river from Tacoma. Puyallup and all of western Washington is in USDA zone 8, the same as middle Georgia. Their henon averaged over 2000 pounds of shoots per acre. I managed a small henon grove from 1996 until 2003 in Kirkland, Washington, also in Zone 8. Yield varied from 1600 pounds per acre to 3700 pounds per acre. ( “Observations From a Grove of Henon Bamboo”, Daphne Lewis, August 2003.)
The Fort Valley (Georgia) henon grove is in Zone 8 also.
IDENTIFICATION
Henon is the giant gray bamboo. Its culms have minimal zig-zagging from node to node. Compared to moso of the same diameter, the internodes are longer. Henon has small leaves compared to Ph. bambusoides and P. vivax.
Richard Haubrich writes the following in “Journal of the American Bamboo Society” Nov. 1980.
“…(Henon) is distinguished from other members of the genus by the rough feel of the new culms which are at first covered with short stiff hairs, by the unspotted culm sheaths that are inconspicuously coated with spreading brown hairs, and by the well-developed culm leaf auricles that are fringed with lavender bristles.”
KNOWN FOR
Henon is hardier than most large bamboos. It is drought tolerant when established. Western Washington receives little rain in June, July, and August (1.42″, 0.63″, 0.75″). Poles are strong and straight.
HORTICULTURE
The two groves that I worked with in Kirkland, Washington, were on the same property. One was on the edge of a driveway made of fill. The other was on a property line. We came in once or twice a year with a volunteer work party and thinned poles. The henon was constricted space-wise and the poles were very close together. We took out the oldest poles. We left the younger culms. The older canes had dead branches and or yellow leaves. Clearly, older culms contributed little to grove vitality. Once the older culms were removed, you could see into the grove. The leafy canopy changed from yellow-green to healthy green. Thinning a dense grove makes for a far prettier grove. We used to joke, “The more bamboo we remove, the prettier the bamboo looks”.
“Mulch works miracles. Large shoots of 1.2 to 1 pound grew where I had mulched with grass clippings. Small shoots of 1/4 to 1/2 pound grew where I did not.” “Observations from a Grove of Henon Bamboo”, Daphne Lewis, August 2003. (Kirkland WA grove)
The graph shows yield per acre of my research groves in Georgia.
The henon Fort Valley performs poorly and gets worse over time.
I did not harvest shoots from Fort Valley henon in 2016. There were none to harvest. I may abandon this grove altogether. Each year its performance declines.
The soil at the Fort Valley site is too cold and wet. The slope is northerly and shaded by large oaks. A winter stream cuts through the grove at the base of the slope. For the first several years that I worked this grove, overflow water from the upslope nursery saturated the soil.
Henon needs soil that warms to 60+ degrees in late March or early April. Henon will survive in cool, wet soils but it will not be a productive farm crop.
POLES
Henon has strong poles. Its walls are thinner than moso. It splits well for weaving. After the pole dries, the thin grey skin falls off and the pole is a typical cured bamboo golden brown.
SHOOTS
Henon shoots toughen up sooner than some varieties with weaker poles. Harvest them for sale at a young plump stage before they develop fiber and get stronger for shooting high into the air.
Henon shoots are handsome. They present well at market. They have an acrid taste raw. Some people suggest dropping the peeled shoot into boiling water for a few minutes before cooking to remove the acridity. In Seattle, we just peeled them and added them to stir fries. We thought they were splendid.