Micanthus Giganteus

[scott44]

Last year I planted a screen of Micanthus to screen a crop field, I planted 2 rows about 110yds long. I planted the rhizomes in a 3' X 3' square alternating them. Last week I received another 200 rhizomes and I'm planting them today for screening and I'm going to plant a couple double row 8' circles for ground blinds.

Trying to screen the crop field on the right, micanthus is where the pop bottle is and I planted egyptian wheat on the left, plan on planting e-wheat until micanthus fills in.





Last week I took a look at the micanthus and it's starting sprout.



2 rows of micanthus on the left, kinda hard to tell in the pic and the e-wheat on the right.



Received my rhizomes on thurs. and planting today




If I had to do it all over again I would plant them 12"-18" apart instead of 3' and have a full screen sooner.

 

[Bill]

[QUOTE="scott44, post: 4318, member: 75"If I had to do it all over again I would plant them 12"-18" apart instead of 3' and have a full screen sooner.[/QUOTE]
With good moisture this year you won't feel that way by next June. You're going to have a wall at 36 inch spacing in year 3.

Where did you order from?

 

[scott44]

Thanks, I know it'll be a screen in 3yrs but like anything else you always want it quicker. I purchased them from Maple River farms. http://www.mapleriverfarms.com/ the rhizomes were .70 apiece.

 

[Bill]

Good to hear. I've have some on order from there and the ones in your pic look really good.

 

[dipper]

How does this stuff do on sandy soil low in om?

Looks like it produces pretty rapidly, I'd consider starting some in my nursery

 

[scott44]

Not sure on the sandy soil, I have real heavy clay and it seems to do well. Maybe somone else can weigh in with sandy soils. I noticed some yesterday that had 4 sprouts last year and this year there are 10 sprouts coming up.

 

[dipper]

I just bought a guy out of them. He only had 39. I'm gonna put them in my nursery that has an om of 10% and it is irrigated. These babies will put on some growth. How many rhizomes could I expect per plant?

 

[scott44]

Last year I had anywhere from 1 to 5 stalks out of each rhizome, this year so far it looks like they have doubled or tripled the number of stalks per rhizome. I'll get some pics up later, it's amazing how fast these are growing in the last week.

 

[dipper]

I'm not in a rush, egyptian wheat doesn't set me back much. So if I could get 5 off each plant....195 in 2015, 975 in 2016. Even getting 3 off year plant is 350 by 2016.
I know this is probably subjective, but how many years for a screen at 2' apart?

 

[scott44]

This one had 4 last year and now I see 14 coming up this year



Here is one that had just one and this year there are 5



I am planning on 3 years for a full screen, here's u-tube video from Maple River farms

they are saying about 7 the second year and up to 25 the third year.

 

[Bill]

I'm not in a rush, egyptian wheat doesn't set me back much. So if I could get 5 off each plant....195 in 2015, 975 in 2016. Even getting 3 off year plant is 350 by 2016.
I know this is probably subjective, but how many years for a screen at 2' apart?

Dipper
You shouldn't harvest rhizomes until year 3 when the mother is mature. Which also answers your other ? The first 2 years there pretty sparse. Third year they get thick. I have had some that I could water that were pretty decent in year 2.

What you can do after year 1 is harvest cuttings and plant or pot them in late August. When I get some time I'll do a write here like I did at the other site. They are very easy to propagate from cuttings.

What I like about this stuff over EW is when their mature they are 7 foot tall by mid June. With the right moisture they will grow a foot in a few days.

 

[dipper]

Dipper
You shouldn't harvest rhizomes until year 3 when the mother is mature. Which also answers your other ? The first 2 years there pretty sparse. Third year they get thick. I have had some that I could water that were pretty decent in year 2.

What you can do after year 1 is harvest cuttings and plant or pot them in late August. When I get some time I'll do a write here like I did at the other site. They are very easy to propagate from cuttings.

What I like about this stuff over EW is when their mature they are 7 foot tall by mid June. With the right moisture they will grow a foot in a few days.

Good stuff Bill, that would be great.

 

[Da U.P. 'eh]

I have ordered from Maple River Farm for the last two years and I have been very pleased. They are great to work with and the rhizomes have been very nice. I highly recommend them.

 

[dipper]

I got mine in the ground. Ordered 39 and I got 50 for $65 including shipping. I put them in my nursery. Planted in a raised mound for easier removal. The soil got protected by used calf bedding straw. It's awesome using that stuff, it's like a mat. There's manure in there and the calves compress everything together when they lay down. These things should explode, in this 10% om irrigated soil.

 

[scott44]

I got mine in the ground. Ordered 39 and I got 50 for $65 including shipping. I put them in my nursery. Planted in a raised mound for easier removal. The soil got protected by used calf bedding straw. It's awesome using that stuff, it's like a mat. There's manure in there and the calves compress everything together when they lay down. These things should explode, in this 10% om irrigated soil.

Sounds like a very great plan Dipper and they should do really well in your nursery.

I also got all my rhizomes planted last weekend, lots of rain here in Michigan this week and maybe frost tonight.

 

[strawhead]

Will this stuff grow in zone 3b, northern forest region of Wisconsin?

 

[scott44]

Will this stuff grow in zone 3b, northern forest region of Wisconsin?

Not sure about zone 3b, I live in 5b and it seems to do well here. Sorry not much help here.

 

[scott44]

This stuff has doubled in sized from last weekend, must be all the rain because it can't be the warm weather. And no I don't have any affiliation with Mossy Oak, just happened to be the hat I was wearing haha

 

[scott44]

Took this pic last night, most of my Micanthus is 18-24" tall.

 

[scott44]

Couple pics, first one is the micanthus as of last night probably 3' tall and the second is looking across the farm field towards the micanthus, e-wheat is planted behind the micanthus. The grass to the right of the e-wheat in the second pic I mowed and sprayed last weekend prepping it for switchgrass.