I have some bamboo stems I'd like to trim to use as stakes, but I don't want to blunt my secateurs.....what should I use instead?

meridiefri. I would think that a good pair of secateurs (pruners, clippers etc.) should be up to the task of cutting Bamboo.

Mine do. I find that easier than other methods.

Make sure your stakes are dead before you set them in the ground or you will grow more bamboo.

I use the secateurs for the pieces no larger than about 3/4's of an inch - anything larger gets my anvil pruner or bypass lopper.

Is this really bamboo or cane? Cane makes much better stakes. I have used both and have a good supply of them. I no longer use bamboo for anything. It is either too large or rots too quickly. Cane lasts much longer and is just the right size for staking. Bamboo also takes an awfully long time to "cure".

Porkpal, the remedy for that is to make sure you plant them upside down

Yes, loppers/bypass pruner is usually needed for larger culms of bamboo. At least here.

Welcome to ATP, Meridie! I have large bamboo and small bamboo. I cut the small (1/2in or so) ones with my loppers. The culms of my large type are nearly 2in. diameter so much too large for pruners, even the big loppers. I use my DH's Sawzall (not a chainsaw, but a reciprocating saw with a nice size blade about the size of a large knife) for those. Works great and I can cut them at a nice angle so that they are easy to put in the ground. If you don't have something like that, a hand saw such as you'd use for wood will work fine, but be a little more labor.

Ken is right, bamboo does take a very long time to cure, and if you don't cure it, the part that's in the ground will rot quite quickly. I don't worry about this too much as I have a lifetime supply. I just use them until they rot, then cut off the bottom part and use them again another year.

I use loppers for most and a hacksaw for the larger ones. I let them age/die/dry before sticking them in the ground. The up-side-down thing is a good suggestion, thanks @Dutchlady1

When I was using the bamboo, I cured it completely and never saw one sprout. They rotted within a year though. I mainly used them to stake large plants, something like my plumeria. Now I have gone to metal stakes for those larger plants. I use the cane for orchids, fiddle leaf ficus, and bromeliads. Those plants don't get too large and the cane works well for them. The cane does not seem to rot nearly as fast as the bamboo but perhaps that's only because I don't put the in the ground. They are only used with potted plants.

Thank you Everyone! Very useful information. I found the bamboo dumped with old plastic pots behind an apartment complex, where some one moving house had jettisoned their gardening gear. So some pieces have started breaking down around their bases, some not.... I intend to use them for vegies in about 3+ months time. (It is the first day of winter tomorrow.) What is the difference between bamboo and cane?

Ken, what is "cane"?

Am I really the only one who doesn't know?

Well, cane is similar to bamboo but it is smaller. It may be in other regions of the US but it is pretty prevalent here. It typically gets 1/2" to perhaps 3/4" in diameter. This is what fishing poles are made from. It makes excellent potted plant stakes and like bamboo, it must be cured from its green state.

http://www.differencebetween.i...

Sorry, cross-posted.

Kind of what I said, Greene. Good (technical/scientific) info though.

Thanks so much Ken and Greene.
Two sides of the story that makes the explanation complete.