I hate thee, poison ivy

[Toast n Jelly]

Here's a link that might help those of you who get poison ivy.


http://www.hbci.com/~wenonah/hydro/jewelwed.htm

 

[superchemicalgirl]

Yes, too bad the stuff isn't burnable or I would have napalmed it by now. That's how much I hate it.

The guy who is going to fence my run in won't come until it's "eradicated" - ok, sir, come back in 2040. I won't need a fence until then.

Those almost-5 week old chickens in my basement will just continue to basement-free range - no problem!

Thanks for all the advice and support.

 

[SillyChicken]

good luck with that!

 

[herefordlovinglady]

i have heard of poison ivy removal services. not sure of the price, i would bet it would be costly. really from what i have read, the only way to get rid of it is to pull it up. goats and chickens will eat the foliage and what is on top of the ground, but the root will still be there.

here is what i have heard: wet the ground where it is mushy, put plastic on your hands find the start of the vine and pull slowly until you have the root and all. keep it up until you have pulled it all out.

sounds like it will take you to 2040 to get rid of the whole lot of it.

sorry you are dealing with it. i have an outbreak now and just absolutely hate it. i did use a steroid topical solution last night that really helped

good luck.

 

[Knock Kneed Hen]

We also discovered patches of PI after buying our house. The main patches were in big areas of rock outcroppings. We suited up with long garments, wore gloves, masks, and taped bags around our feet and pant legs. We removed four truck loads of the stuff by hand. The next day I was fine . . . DH was not. He was one big blister from head to toe. Not a singe spot, NONE, was not affected. He became feverish and had to see the doctor.

I decided to go ahead and remove the rest by myself. Suited up as before. This time I did end up with some on my mid section. It was pretty bad and I got medication as well.

What we learned about it was that it sends runners underground for many, many feet. If you don't pull up all of the runners it just comes right back up. Of course, being in rocks were not going to be able to remove it all. We've sprayed with "Round-Up" and other products but it comes back. Luckily it doesn't take over the yard. Every once in a while my DH will get a small patch, brought in by one of the dogs. It is very dangerous to burn as mentioned by another poster.

There are people not affect at all by PI. You could advertise and see if they could come clear around the house at least. As far as the rest of the property I think goats are your best bet. I'm sorry it wasn't disclosed. We bought our house in June. It was beautiful, the previous owner had some lovely deck furniture and potted plants on the deck. What a view!!! Well, come October, the winds started whipping up and from October through May it blows like a hurricane. I now know that the "set-up" on the deck was for intended for "flatlanders" like us.

 

[A.T. Hagan]

My brother used to work for the state forestry department and he turned me onto this stuff:

http://www.teclabsinc.com/products.cfm?id=1F5604C8-9D05-4675-56129F6D83DF2417

It works better as a preventative, but if you can wash with it immediately after exposure it can work well then too. I've been able to find it in Walgreens and occasionally some other drug stores.

I have a couple of places on my property where the poison ivy is bad. I'll typically wear long sleeves and gloves when I mow.

 

[redhen]

Ohh.. dont be a sissy..
just go outside and start pulling it up, for crying out loud!

**just make sure you post the nasty, oozing blister pics for us to see...**

 

[superchemicalgirl]

I've spent 5 hours in the last 2 days after work out there pulling it up. My rash should be starting any minute now! Until the rash kicks in I guess I'll just scratch all the bug bites I got

And for those of you wondering, 5 hours worth of work has barely made a dent in one *small* area near the coop.

 

[Intheswamp]

It is interesting to note that it isn't the poison ivy that breaks you out in a rash but rather your body that does. People that break out into a rash are immune to poison ivy, folks that don't break out in rash are not immune. Strange but true.

As for killing the stuff I've found that Round-Up Poison-Ivy and Brush killer works pretty good. I've used it with success in combination with a surficant to break. This stuff has a different ingredient in it than regular Round-Up does. It also has a longer soil-life than regular Round-Up. If you think you will be planting any food crops where you spray the manufacturer told me to wait a year before planting (regular Round-Up only calls for a week or two, I think). The Round-Up Poison Ivy Killer is non-selective just as the regular recipe is, so use carefully. I had a large amount of poison ivy on a brick wall that was behind a large (20'), broad-leafed evergreen bush of some kind...the bush didn't make it even though it was a few feet away from the wall.

So, be careful if you use it!

Best wishes with the PI,
Ed

 

[rodriguezpoultry]

Try gasoline. We use it every time we see a new patch.