Bamboo growing

I want to grow bamboo.. I live in south florida... I need to know how long after I take clippings how long do I have to plant them before they go bad.

Just a quick search suggests you can root them in water and then pot them up after roots form.  They don't immediately need to go in the ground.  When you say you need to keep them, do you mean you can't get them in the ground or you don't have anywhere to store even a bucket of water. The length of time the cuttings remain viable will be greatly affected by how you store them.

Bamboo is pretty tough.

If you're going to be delayed, why don't you drop your new plants into a pot and keep the soil moderately moist (not soaking/saturated, but a bit on the wet side).  Its important that the roots don't get too hot or that they don't dry out entirely.  I'd keep it out of direct sunlight until you're ready to plant it out for good.