Poison something...

[amiejh77]

After remodeling the inside of our house, we decided to work on the outside. I don't know what all is growing, but there is too much of it, and it looks like a jungle. There was some type of poison something (not ivy) growing up the drain spout. Tried Round-Up and pulled it all down, but it keeps coming right back. There also is poison ivy growing in the backyard around my rose bushes. Is there anything I can use on that without killing the roses? I want to get rid of the stuff so I can plant some things this fall. Help!

[kaybyrd]

boy, i need help with this too. i'm to the point where i'm going to use some stuff that kills all vegetation for 2 years. i had a bush that had so much poison ivy growing around and through it that i had to cut the bush to the ground. the biggest problem is that the poison ivy or whatever has stalks that are 1" in diameter and roots so deep that i can't pull them up! i was just going to kill everything along that wall and start fresh in a couple of years.

i'm not sure what to do around plants that you want to keep. i will be looking forward to seeing more posts on this topic!

kay

[amiejh77]

My husband works for a fertilizer maker, so he wants to bring home the stuff you are talking about, but I am afraid to let him because we live in town and if it gets onto the neighbors property we could be in trouble. I also don't want to have a bare yard for the next two years, so I am hoping someone can help. I have also been told Kerosene or motor oil will work, but I'm not sure if the will kill the roots, or just take care of the problem this year.

[kaybyrd]

i haven't tried kerosene, but i have tried the motor oil. the poison ivy, oaks and others keep coming back. it seems to only kill the roots on the grass, and some weeds. maybe the poison growths roots are too deep for it to be effective?

kay

ps. i'm going to run some searches through several engines and see if i can't come up with some ideas.

k

[kaybyrd]

http://poisonivy.aesir.com/control.html

above it a link to a site that talks about using RoundUp and BrushBGone. one of the posts recommended painting the chemical on the leaves of the plant to keep it from misting surrounding plants. this post also states that even with luck using RoundUp, the poison type plants return.

maybe we're just going about it wrong?

kay

[amiejh77]

I guess I'll give the round-up another whirl, although from everything I have read it seems like the best answer is the manual answer. I hate that, you wouldn't believe the size of the bush in the back yard.

[kaybyrd]

i also went to www.ortho.com and to www.roundup.com to see how they recommended using their products (brushbgone and roundup, respectively).

i wonder if we cut these things down and then 'paint' the top of the stalks would it work down to the roots? i really didn't want to kill this bush next to the house, they are pretty in the spring and tolerable during the other months. it would be nice to get rid of them. i'm not allergic to poison ivy, oak or sumac, however my husband is....therefore i am the only one who gets to do yard work around here. it would be nice to have some help with the yard work in the future. mowing is about all he can do, but can't get near the poison plants, or help with the weed-eating.

kay

[marturo]

Yes I too went . What? It seems according to my latest Growing For Market, that the USDA researchers at the Agricultural Station in Beltsville MD, say that the old home remedy of spraying vinegar on weeds really works.

They hand sprayed the weeds with various solutions of Vinegar. Uniformly coating the leaves. The Reseachers found that a 5 to 10 percent concentrations killed the weeds in the first 2 weeks of life.

Older plants required a higher concentration to kill them. At the higher concentration Vinegar had an 85 to 100% kill rate.

Several Commercial vinegar weed killers are based on this formula. Burnout & Nature's Glory. The ARS researchers found that the Canada Thistle, one of the Worlds most tenacious weeds to kill, proved to be the most susceptible. The 5% concentraion had a 100% kill rate.

I think this is worth a trip over to the USDAs site for a better look see.

I just the other night read about a new Slug bait that is called Sluggo, that is non toxic to kids & pets. It stops slugs feeding in two hours and kills them in less than a day. When the pellets finely go back into the soil it is just a fertlizer.

I will Post any links I find for the Vinegar weed killers and the nontoxic slug bait Sluggo.

Marturo

[ByronB]

Brush B Gone = Agent Orange..

Cut it to the ground, cover with black plastic for rest of season

Byron

[howiek]

Hello All

Here in Toronto (and Southern Ontario), we have two distinct types of Poison Ivy - a 'bush' type (for lack of a better way of describing it - will often form mounds 3' high and 20' - 30' across) and a climbing or trailing one that will grow 30' or more up trees, fences, etc.

We've had moderate success with Killex in the City (Poison Ivy is the only thing we can use this stuff on now due to Environmental lobby groups/Politicians). About the same or slightly better efficacy as RoundUp. The advantage with Killex is that it can be applied in scrub grass areas without totally reducing the groundcover. We don't have Poison Sumac or Oak here, so don't know how it would work on them. And it does knock the growth back, but often will require a second application if sections are missed...

It WILL affect any desirable broadleafed ornamentals, too, so the same precautions as RU are necessary.

Kay, my understanding of both RU & Killex is that they need to be translocated from the green parts of the plants to the roots to be effective - if you prune back the topgrowth, there'd be nothing to absorb the product. Fresh new growth will absorb better; so if you wait for it to re-generate, might work better, but by reducing surface area of absorption, you might not get enough product to the roots to eliminate the plants.

Motor oil and kerosene can have very profound impact on the environment if allowed to leach into the water table. Like many soil sterilants, the effects even at the surface can last for years, so I'd be inclined to stay away from all of these 'solutions'.

Everyone should already know this, but it can't be emphasised too much... Be careful when using ANY chemicals - Read and understand the label, paying particular attention to mixing and application directions and cautions and warnings: be observant of weather conditions to avoid drift; use your Personal Protective Equipment; keep children, pets and bystanders clear while spraying; don't smoke or eat or drink while spraying and clean up promptly after you've finished.

Marturo, I like what I'm hearing from your posts about vinegar - if it does work, it'll be a boom to the industry... I'll be keeping my fingers crossed for positive results

Cutting back and smothering as Byron suggests should work as long as you've got the time to wait and you aren't chronically allergic to exposure - remember to wash all your clothes very thoroughly and separately from the rest of the wash to get rid of the volitile oils from the plants after you have finished (better yet, wear a disposable tyvek or similar suit and disposable gloves, etc while working around it) - the residual can stay around a long time unless eliminated with a good detergent.

Good Luck

Howie

[marturo]

Thanks Howie,

You have made many good suggestions, that we all should heed. I wanted to mention something that I ran across while reading the instructions that came with my Solo Backpack sprayer.

It seems there is a special nozzle that allows you to apply herbacides and pesticides with a foaming action. The Mfr. says to use this with sprays that you don't or can't afford to have spray mist drift.

I don't know how many sprayer Co. offer this special spray tip but it is a great idea for keeping over spray down.

BTW if you are in the market for a back pack sprayer I have 2 Solos that I have & would reccomend them over many other sprayers, I have owened. Many accesories, rebuild kits, and a provision for pumping it up to higher pressure to spray trees with the extra long spray wand.

Also remember you can buy the light, white head to toe throw away spray suits at any farm supply. While the sprays I use may be natural and safe for the consumers produce. I am the one in the most danger by getting it, on or inside of myself. You can never be too safe when it comes to any products, that are made to kill.

Marturo

[kaybyrd]

I'll have to wait to try anything on the poison stuff at the side of the house since I chopped everything to the ground trying to figure out what it was growing around. A bush of some sort, I think its like the one by my mailbox. I will try the vinegar approach on the stuff growing up in the middle of my shrubs in front of the house. I hate to pull up all the azaelas just to get to the poison plants.

I'll post back with the results.

Kay

[twelvepole]

For woody stemmed plants, brush killer is effective. It can be brushed onto leaves if they are near ornamentals on which you do not want overspray.

[kaybyrd]

I got a little messy with the vinegar and it got on a branch of the azaela's. All the leaves turned brown by the end of the evening, however I can't tell any different about the effect is has had on the rest of the plant. I'll post back later in the week to let you know how the poison oak is reacting to the vinegar, and the bush, too.

I'll be out of town, online, but not here to check the status of the plants.

-kay

ps. I used the vinegar full-strenth, brushing it onto the leaves of the poison oak...trying to avoid getting it on the bushes around it.

K

[twelvepole]

http://www.agry.purdue.edu/turf/tips/2001/ivy622.htm

http://res2.agr.ca/ecorc/poisivy/eradice.html

http://forestry.msu.edu/extension/ExtDocs/posioniv.htm

[marturo]

Kay said:
I will try the vinegar approach on the stuff growing up in the middle of my shrubs in front of the house.

Hi Kay,
On the Vinegar, the product you will need to find is Natures Glory, as you will need to mix this highly concentrated citric acid + vinegar.
The instructions should tell you how much & for what plant.


(Just my .02 cents)
Now I know that this is 2002 & we have come a long way since the 60s/70s.

I am also aware that we don't open 55 gal drums of plant killer & spray it over vast areas of jungle, in our gardening experience.

However I will never forget what happened in Vietnam, with agent orange & the results of exposure to a weed killer. Many of the products we spray today are direct decendants of Agent Orange.

Agent Orange is still in use today by the Branch of the USDA, the US Forrest Service. With special permission of course, by who I have no idea.

I won't try and tell you what you can and cannot use on your own land, that's not my job. However don't you think that in a time 2002 when we know so much more about the link between Petro Chemical Pesticides, Herbacides & Cancer.

Common sense should teach us, to at least try the less toxic forms of plant & Insect control before going for products that will have lasting efects on our Grand Children.

I only have one Son & I have tried to teach him that for every product, that we have come up with to save time & work, there is a payoff. There is no such thing as a free lunch.

Do you really know why people did not want Human dung allowed in the new Organic produce that the agribiz companies will be churning out from here on?

It was not the manure, it was the things we pour down or drains & Toliets. Paint, health & beauty aids, almost anything you can think of is going down our drains & into those bags of Milorginite.

Toxic metals that are picked up by the plants and consumed by us that go on to wreck our health. I have read enough stuides to say yes, I believe that many of the Chemicals we use in our food production today, can help lead to Cancer & other health problems.

Is it really only a fluke that some of the countries like Mexico & China are still using Pesticides & herbacides that the USA has banned as long as 17 years ago.

These known Cancer causing petrochemicals are banned here, but it is ok to bring the Produce back, from these Countries & feed it to our Children. What a great idea that was. Don't write the Government & ask why, they will not answer you.

That's right also they ( Mexico & China ) are buying the banned chemicals from Companies that have never stopped making them right here in the USA.

Then feeding them right back to us. Where have we made progress in helping to keep the Americans safer? Why are so many Children coming down with Cancer at younger ages?

Thank you for letting me rant. Sometimes I just have to get it out of my system.

Marturo

[kaybyrd]

Don't apologize for voicing your opinion on something as important as this. I'm amazed at how many younger people are being affected by things that were once only known to adults, and mature adults for that matter.

I don't want to be responsible for poisoning the ground around here. I love my house, and hope to grow old here...however, it may not happen that way I don't want to be the one who poisoned the land, forgot to tell the new owner and them plant, oh say, something as simple as a tomato plant there. I know that it probably wouldn't kill them, however, if I were the cause of a child having a mere stomach ache due to my negligence...well, I just would like to avoid that scenerio.

Kay

Ps. So vinegar in itself will not work? Just thought I'd try.
These poison plants really look nice to me all shriveled up!

k.

[twelvepole]

http://www.care2.com/channels/solutions/outdoors/437

http://csf.colorado.edu/perma/lists/nov97/msg00935.html

"Two years ago I began, in desperation, to spray household vinegar on poison ivy and found that it works beautifully! Everyone was so surprised, so I was glad to hear you recommend it. We are on the bank of the beautiful Llano River, and I did not want to chance using a herbicide that might run off. I put it in a spray tank strapped to a small luggage carrier, the metal kind that folds up. Some vines, such as sawbrier, are too heavy to kill with vinegar." Letters. Texas Co-op Power. May, 2002. Texas Electric Cooperatives, Inc. Retrieved 07/21/02. http://www.texas-ec.org/tcp/502letters.html

Railroads and power companies spray right of ways with salt water. The vegetation temporarily turns brown but returns from the roots. To eradicate the vegetation requires frequent reapplications as new growth appears, eventually starving the roots and eventually eradicating the plants.