How do we make bamboos not here in the U.S. more available?

[needmore]

Fred, it's not my argument.....I was merely guessing....I know nothing about Strybing BOTA or Quail, so it seems to me like you are in a better position to know than I am.

I'm not sure how my answer could be a disappointment to you as I am not in a position to know, I thought you wanted my speculation as to why. Please don't treat me as a voice for the ABS. Maybe you should ask someone who is associated with ABS instead.

[needmore]

Fred, I've been trying to figure out your last post and I suspect that you must think that my import trip next month is somehow related to the ABS?

Not at all....my money, my time & effort and I have been able to secure an import permit from a private research facilty, who also has the quarantine greenhouse - no association with the ABS. So since everything about my trip is a private venture, I feel pretty O.K. with bringing back the species that I am able to grow as opposed to those that I can not.

I'll take your word for it that growers exert influence on what species come in with any ABS permits that may exist, but I have no knowledge/experience with this. I wouldn't even know who to suggest that one contacts to see if the ABS has a permit that can be used.

[BooKing]

Fredgpops brought up an interesting point here...Brad, thanks for your info.

[mito0]

i just found this thread and wanted to suggest something here. it looks like there is a small handful of people contributing a great deal while most enthusiasts are doing nothing to help. it seems to me that the entire bamboo community would benefit from a little cooperation.

the next time someone goes on an 'import' run, we really ought to pool our money. it seems like, collectively, we could save a little money per plant and folks from all over the country could end up with all sorts of new varieties. if we all contributed to something like this once every couple of years, it's likely that plants like parvifolia and shanghai 3 would already be fairly common in this country. i would hope this has already been suggested in a thread i haven't seen before.

is anyone else planning on bringing in some new imports any time soon? if so, please let me know. i'd like to help contribute. i hate sitting back and watching one person go through all this trouble/expense when it could be done much more efficiently with a little group participation.

btw, thanks for all your efforts, brad.

[Roy]

i just found this thread and wanted to suggest something here. it looks like there is a small handful of people contributing a great deal while most enthusiasts are doing nothing to help. it seems to me that the entire bamboo community would benefit from a little cooperation.

...snip......

btw, thanks for all your efforts, brad.

mito0,

You are are definitely correct in saying that only a small number of people are actually responsible for bringing in what little bamboo that is brought into the USA.

One would also think that if there was a national bamboo society of bamboo enthusiasts, that this society would be leading the group in the process of a collective group effort in importing bamboo into the USA.

But alas, I don't think we've have ever had a national bamboo society importing bamboo into the USA.

[va_highlander]

One would also think that if there was a national bamboo society of bamboo enthusiasts, that this society would be leading the group in the process of a collective group effort in importing bamboo into the USA.

But alas, I don't think we've have ever had a national bamboo society importing bamboo into the USA.

Why is that? From what Brad posted above, obviously there's a fair amount of time, trouble, and expense involved, but as has also been suggested here a collective effort could help overcome at least some of these difficulties.

[va_highlander]

I might also add that insofar as some members of this online group are involved in importing new species, and that part of this groups activities include mutual aid and the swapping of plants, the rudiments of such a national society are already in place.

[Roy]

One would also think that if there was a national bamboo society of bamboo enthusiasts, that this society would be leading the group in the process of a collective group effort in importing bamboo into the USA.

But alas, I don't think we've have ever had a national bamboo society importing bamboo into the USA.

Why is that? From what Brad posted above, obviously there's a fair amount of time, trouble, and expense involved, but as has also been suggested here a collective effort could help overcome at least some of these difficulties.

Definitely is a lot of work involved, but my point was if there was a national bamboo organization that was interested in taking the lead in organizating a collective effort on the importation of new bamboos to the USA, we would see a lot more new additions coming in. But alas, we don't have a national bamboo society that is interested in spearheading this collective effort and all the work falls on the few. More profits to them!

[mito0]

I might also add that insofar as some members of this online group are involved in importing new species, and that part of this groups activities include mutual aid and the swapping of plants, the rudiments of such a national society are already in place.

exactly. i could honestly care less about a national society. we're perfectly capable of organizing ourselves. if enough people commit themselves to pitching in the next time someone goes overseas to collect samples, we could immensely increase the number of new specimens imported.

[Roy]

I might also add that insofar as some members of this online group are involved in importing new species, and that part of this groups activities include mutual aid and the swapping of plants, the rudiments of such a national society are already in place.

exactly. i could honestly care less about a national society. we're perfectly capable of organizing ourselves. if enough people commit themselves to pitching in the next time someone goes overseas to collect samples, we could immensely increase the number of new specimens imported.

There are only a few people that have access to a quarantine station. Do you have someone in mind who can jump through all the hoops Needmore outlined?

[mito0]

There are only a few people that have access to a quarantine station. Do you have someone in mind who can jump through all the hoops Needmore outlined?

well, needmore for one. the point is, there are only a few people who have access to quarantine stations, etc. but they all have (presumably) limited financial means, and only have a desire for a limited number of species. if we all pitched in with money, we could make the process more painless, more efficient and more productive for everyone. i'm not suggesting that we should all invest in a trip overseas, go through the quarantine process, etc all by ourselves individually. only one person needs to go through all that. but, since the fruits of the labor of people like brad are eventually going to benefit all of us, it's only fair that we should all help bear the burdon financially. also, read brad's posts again. there were several species he passed up on importing because they wouldn't grow well for him. but if those same species grow well for you, it would be worth your while to pitch in extra money to allow someone to go ahead and import that species on an already-scheduled trip. and if several other people did the same thing, suddenly you have several times the number of species being imported, but only one trip and only one quarantine process was needed, thus the price per plant is much less than it would have been if several individuals went through the same process with only a small handful of plants.

[va_highlander]

Definitely is a lot of work involved, but my point was if there was a national bamboo organization that was interested in taking the lead in organizating a collective effort on the importation of new bamboos to the USA, we would see a lot more new additions coming in. But alas, we don't have a national bamboo society that is interested in spearheading this collective effort and all the work falls on the few. More profits to them!

Indeed.

One would think an agro school somewhere in this country might be interested in collecting bamboo species or at least facilitating such a collection. Some schools might already have an import license and quarantine facility, or access to one. There might even be grants available for this sort of thing, even for a private organization, if you knew where to look.

[va_highlander]

I might also add that insofar as some members of this online group are involved in importing new species, and that part of this groups activities include mutual aid and the swapping of plants, the rudiments of such a national society are already in place.

exactly. i could honestly care less about a national society. we're perfectly capable of organizing ourselves. if enough people commit themselves to pitching in the next time someone goes overseas to collect samples, we could immensely increase the number of new specimens imported.

Yes, of course. I don't know that there's any practical advantage in creating a formal group, though there might be.

[mito0]

One would think an agro school somewhere in this country might be interested in collecting bamboo species or at least facilitating such a collection. Some schools might already have an import license and quarantine facility, or access to one. There might even be grants available for this sort of thing, even for a private organization, if you knew where to look.

wow, that's an excellent idea! has anyone tried this?