Bamboo Petung(Dendrocalamus asper (Schults f)Backer ex Heyne)StripsFungal Test Using Soil Bed Method

Durabiliry peiformance is one of the important aspect of bamboo basicproperties. As a lignocellulose material bamboo is susceptibleto degrade fry various organisms includingftmgi. Durabiliry of bamboo is common!J assessed using wood laboratory testing procedure, such as agar plate method.an alternative soil bed test using unsterile soil is one attractive durabiliry test method as it is cheap and simple to set up. Thispaper studies bamboo strips durabiliry againstfungus using soil bed test method.Bamboo strip tested were taken radially from inner (i),middle (my) and outer(o)and also longitudinally from bottom (By), parts of Dendrocalamus asper cu/ms.The results show inner part strip (i) is moresusceptible tofungi than the middle (my) and outerpart (o). Almost all bamboo strips taken from innerpart (i)failed topin and hand bending test after six months exposure. S amp/es exposed in soil bed with 100% water holding capaciry decayed more severely than the 80% water holding capaciry.The bamboo stripsfrom bottom (BJ part were less susceptible than middle (MJand top (TJof bamboo height, boueuer, the differenceiuas not significant. Soil bed is an effectivetest methodfor bamboo strips durabiliry againstftmgi.