[Syrupmakers] Thinning out of sugar cane?

[Richard Hash]

This question is for sugar cane, not sure if it is relevant for sorghum or
not.  I'm about 20 miles south of Houston, TX, growing an unknown variety
of some Asian green cane. This is all hand-harvested with a machete, no
mechanization at all.

The question is - should I be thinning the sprouts out? At the end of each
year I cut all stalks down flush with the ground, and then even more
sprouts back the next spring.  This is unfertilized, unirrigated, untended,
I basically just ignore the whole patch until November. But my sprout-back
rate is getting ridiculous and even though it sounds labor intensive, I'm
wondering if I should be thinning things out. I can't even get to the
"interior" stalks without cutting down everything on the "outside" down
first.

Here is a photo of the current clump from what was a single stalk 5 years
ago - see https://goo.gl/photos/Ysg4QneD838QRUv58
And here is this years growth from just two stalks from last year only -
see https://goo.gl/photos/Ysg4QneD838QRUv58

I have had one agricultural extension agent tell me "definitely without a
doubt you will ruin your yield without thinning them out", but I thought I
would see what kind of experiences other people have had....

Thanks,
-- 
--/Richard
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