How can I keep bugs from eating my bamboo?

The culprit is probably the bamboo powder post beetle. The best and fastest way to treat the bamboo is to cut it and immediately treat it with a boron salt. The least expensive product is a fertilizer, Biobor, often found in garden centers and agricultural suppliers. The same material is sold as a wood preservative under the name of Timbor. The same manufacturer makes both.


To work, the bamboo has to be very fresh, no more than one day since harvesting. The 5% by weight solution is then forced through the vascular bundles under pressure. The pressure of about 15 pounds works. It is best to dye the solution with vegetable dye so that you can tell when it is all the way through the pole. This will require a flexible hose clamp between the piping of the pump discharge or pressurized accumulator and the bamboo pole. This is called the Boucherie Process.



An alternative method soaks the bamboo in the boron salt solution for many days (often a week). Then you must dry the bamboo again. Other products also work, but are toxic to animals and people in varying degrees. One is pentachlorophenol, 5% in kerosene. It is not to bad if proper care is taken in handling and applying. It can be used on dry bamboo.