How Fast Does Bamboo Grow? The World's Fastest Plant

Short answer: Bamboo is the fastest growing plant we know of. The fastest species can grow up to 90 centimetres in a day under the right conditions, and a stem reaches its full height in two to three months. After that it grows no taller.

How fast it actually goes

The record is measured at about 90 centimetres in one day in the species Phyllostachys edulis under ideal conditions. Most species grow more slowly, but even an ordinary species can add several centimetres a day in the growing season.

Why it goes so fast

Bamboo does not build new tissue at the top the way a tree does. All the segments of the stem are already formed in the shoot below ground, and growth consists of each segment stretching out. It is like extending a telescope rather than building a tower.

The height is set from the start

A bamboo stem never becomes thicker or taller than it is once it has finished stretching. The thickness the shoot has when it breaks through the ground is the thickness the stem keeps for the rest of its life.

The roots stay in the ground

Bamboo is harvested by cutting the stem, while the root network stays in the ground and sends up new shoots. The plant does not have to be resown and the soil does not have to be turned, unlike a crop such as cotton.

How long until harvest

A stem has to stand for three to five years before it is hard enough to use. It finishes growing within months, but the fibres mature across several seasons, and a stem harvested too early gives a weaker fibre.

What it means for clothing

Fast growth means the raw material is easy to obtain. In itself that says nothing about how the fabric feels, because that is decided by the process. See bamboo clothing for women for the qualities we carry.

Where it is grown

Most bamboo for textiles is grown in China, where the climate suits the species with the thickest stems. See bamboo underwear for men, where the material comes from exactly that kind of stem with the most cellulose.

Forest certification

Bamboo can be grown in plantations certified to a forestry standard. Our certified items sit under FSC, where the label says something about how the forest is run and nothing about how the fibre was made afterwards.

What the numbers do not say

That a plant grows quickly says something about the raw material and nothing about the finished fabric. The quality of a garment is decided by the process, the share in the blend and the stitching, none of which relate to growth speed. See also guide to bamboo and the environment.