Post #807679 by Prikli Pear on Mon, Jan 30, 2023 1:14 PM

Hey KCB, torching bamboo was my very first episode of A Moment of Tiki. You can check it out here: A Moment of Tiki: Bamboo.

Not to disagree with others here, because one should always go with what you find works the best for your personal situation, but I've found dried bamboo much more difficult to work with. It always scorches for me and it's hard to judge the color change. Just using a handheld torch I'm able to get dramatic color change fairly quickly, plus the resin bubbles up to the surface which can then be wiped down to provide a modest degree of weather protection and a glossy finish. You don't get the resin effect with dry culms.

Torching the bamboo won't kill any insects within, so if you live in California or Florida where bamboo weevils are a thing, you'll want to give them a borax treatment. I recently did an episode on that as well: A Moment of Tiki: Bamboo Redux