Best Time to Cut Cane

[Joseph]

I've enjoyed reading this thread so far. It's interesting to see what people have to say about the cane harvesting process. I would have liked to added my own two sense to this topic sooner, however I was away on holiday in (where else) N. Ireland/Republic and London and just returned a few days ago.

Ted has already elaborated quite a bit, and since I learned much of my own harvesting, storing, and sorting tricks from Ted in the first place, I don’t need to be redundant.

I agree almost entirely with what Ted has already said. I also agree with Ted that cutting green cane doesn’t produce the best cane. In my own efforts to harvest green cane and then season it, I’ve never had it produce good stable reeds. I’ve made some nice sounding, good tonal reeds from my own green cut/seasoned cane, BUT within a week to a month they all became VERY unstable or collapsed. IMHO I believe that cane needs to die and then season where it grew. Something about the cane stalk still being connected to the plant when it dies allows it to cure or season correctly, instead of curing somewhat artificially when cut green and dried/cured in the sun. I believe when you do the later, the cane seasons prematurely and isn’t stable. However, that said, I’m still experimenting a little with green or partially green cane.

One great thing about cutting cane that is “dead-standing” is that you can cut it anytime year round. If it is properly “dead”, it will not have any green left nor any sap remaining, so it is good to harvest. So you are not waiting around “At midnight during a full moon….” etc (thanks for that Pat, I about wet myself). WARNING- don’t cut or harvest cane that is to dead (extremely soft and discolored or grayish). A way to tell this kind of cane is to cut a tube of it, and see if you can crush or break one end of the tube with your hand or both hands. Many times it will crush or fracture. If it slightly cracks with two hands of full pressure, then it should still be ok to use. (I learned this method entirely from Ted).

Ted said, "I let the dead cane I harvest sit up in the rafters for at least two years ( dead cane can be counted as having most of the first year of curing already) before shipping any out. I don't think Sampson cane has any additional curing time on it. (Joseph can set me right if this is not correct.) "

Once I harvest the cane, I don’t set it aside for an excessive amount of time (usually about 6 months to 1 year). However, this is for a couple of reasons.

1) Almost all of the “dead standing” cane that I harvest has been dead for quite some time. How do I know this? Well, when I go to retrieve a stalk from a stand or bush, approximately 9 out of 10 stalks simply pull free at the base of the stalk with a good tug. How is this possible? The cane has been dead standing long enough that the soil (and moister in the soil) at the base of the stalk has begun to decompose that part of the stalk. This method of just pulling the cane stalk out of the stand is actually the main way that I know the cane is ready to be harvested. If I’m harvesting and I come along to a stalk that looks dead but it doesn’t pull out without a lot of strain, then I know it isn’t ready to be harvested. Where I harvest, if I am patient there is more than enough good cane ready to be harvested. No need to harvest stuff that isn’t ready. Now, it would be my belief and estimation that in order for the soil to decompose the base of a stalk of cane that much, the stalk would have had to of been dead standing for at least 2-3 years and possibly even 4-5 years. So the cane I harvest almost always well seasoned when I harvest it.

2) In the last year and a half, I’ve sent cane to probably 50 or more different people. In that time, I haven’t had anyone contact me to say that the cane (or reed they made) changed unfavorably with time. As a reed maker myself, I know that cane reeds need to “break in” or “settle in” with time, as Benedict Koehler states on the NPU reed making video. But I’ve had no reports of drastic reed changes involving change over time.

3) In my own reed making experience using my “dead-standing” cane, it has proven very stable. I haven’t had any collapse or change, and I currently play a couple of my own reeds that are over a year old now. For example, as stated, I just returned from cool and humid Ireland where I played quite a bit (inside and outside). My reeds played fine and strong with only a slight bridal adjustment, even though they were all made and used to playing in dry 15-25% humidity Bakersfield.

Anyway, that’s just my two sense about cane and harvesting. HARVEST DEAD STANDING CANE THAT IS WELL DEAD BUT NOT TO SOFT.

All the best,

[Ted]

Glad to hear from Joseph. I am in No. California, while Joseph harvests in the drier So. Cal. The dead cane where I harvest is subject to fog. My most productive area has a lot of fog, so the dead leaves wrapping around the tubes can be moistened daily. This results in a lot of it having from small to greater amounts of grey mold forming on the tubes. A few miles away is a smaller source which is protected from the fog. That cane has little grey mold on the tubes. The foggier area cane has too much grey mold after the first year dead. I don't know how long the protected cane will remain useable. The cane Joseph is harvesting may certainly last in much longer standing dead in the field, than the cane I get, due to less mold producing moisture. The bottom line is the stability of the final tubes which are being used to make reeds. It sound like Joseph's cane is more field cured than that which I am curing indoors after being dead at least a year so it reaches stability. I certainly hope all this long rant about harvesting cane will stimulate others to search out their local cane and have the information needed to utilize it. Don't give up if the first cane you find seems too hard. Look in sandier soil and different locations to try to find the softer cane. The more producing areas the better off we will all be. Cane suppliers for wet reeds don't really focus on what works best for dry reeds. They have plenty of market for their product and the relatively small amount we use is of limited interest to them. Many have made reeds using the hard cane, but many UP reed makers prefer the softer cane which specialists like Joseph and myself supply. Keep on trying your local cane.

[ausdag]

Thanks everyone for the positive and highly beneficial input. Great discussion...