Guadua bamboo
| Guadua bamboo | ||||||||||||
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Guadua bamboo in the wild |
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| Systematics | ||||||||||||
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| Scientific name | ||||||||||||
| Guadua angustifolia | ||||||||||||
| Kunth |
The Guadua bamboo ( Guadua angustifolia , Syn .: Bambusa guadua Bonpl. ) Is a tree-like bamboo species native to northwest South America, in Colombia , Ecuador and Venezuela , which was named in 1822 by the botanist Karl Sigismund Kunth . In Colombia 51,000 hectares are covered by Guadua angustifolia , 5,300 hectares of which are Guadua plantations. It is one of the thickest and hardest types of bamboo.
description
The Guadua bamboo reaches a height of 20 to 25 (30) meters with a stem diameter of 11 cm on average. The wall thickness is 30 to 35 mm in the lower area of the straw and 10 mm in higher areas. The stalks are characterized by a white hairy zone on the node and thorny branches.
The number of chromosomes is 2n = 46.
Cultivation
The Guadua bamboo is grown at altitudes between 400 and 2000 m with a minimum precipitation of 1300 millimeters per year and an ambient temperature of 18 to 20 ° C. It grows an average of 10 centimeters every day for the first 120 days and reaches its maximum height after six months. At the earliest three years after cultivation, usually after four years, management can begin. The thorny branches often cause injuries during harvest. When cutting, make sure that water does not settle in the remaining piece and that the plant begins to rot.
With a daily growth of 10 to 15 cm, a stalk achieves a daily biomass increase of around 500 cm³. Approx. 6000 stalks can be grown per hectare. An annual increase of 700 stalks per hectare results in an increase in biomass of 60 m³ per year and hectare. With an average density of 0.5 to 0.6 g / cm³, this corresponds to a mass of 30 tons. One hectare carries a biomass of around 1100 m³ or 600 tons.
use
Guadua is the most widely used species of the bamboo family in South America. Due to the cavities, it is a light and elastic and yet stable raw material.
Guadua bamboo is mainly used in Colombia and Ecuador for building houses and bridges, including multi-storey buildings, but also for scaffolding . After the 1999 earthquake in the coffee zone, many destroyed houses were replaced with buildings from Guadua at a lower cost than a makeshift tent city. Buildings made of Guadua bamboo are often clad with cement, which is a protection from the weather and pests, but is also intended to hide the use of the cheap material. Buildings by the architects Simón Vélez and Oscar Hidalgo or the bridge construction by the architect Jörg Stamm in Pereira are internationally known . The Catedral Alterna Nuestra Señora de la Pobreza church in Pereira, built in Guadua, was exceptional, but had to give way to the construction of a car park.
In Colombia, Guadua angustifolia is also used to make paper. Other products made from Guadua bamboo include furniture, works of art, toys, musical instruments, and the like. a.
Guadua has a strong resistance to biological pests. This requires good drying, which takes place outdoors or in chambers. If stored incorrectly, the building material is susceptible to fungal attack. The smoking of damp stalks, adopted from Japan, is used to protect against pest infestation, but more often dipping processes that show a better effect. The straws are stored in a boron solution for at least five days , or air-dried straws in mineral oil with added insecticides . In order to soak the susceptible inner areas, the internodes are drilled or the nodes are drilled lengthways.
swell
- W. Liese: Guadua in Colombia. Bambus Journal, 16, 2005, 1, 4-6.