ISO Kudzu

[Zenmonkey]

Kudzu is a problem yes, but only in places where humans themselves are a significantly worse problem

I've personally witnessed native muscadine grapes defeat and swallow kudzu alive. If humans didn't kill muscadine and destroy the environment, then kudzu would never be an issue

Japanese knotweed is perhaps the closest thing like that in western PA. Not nearly so bad, but it can over run any damaged niche. The common response is to assist it with herbicide. This results in the death of the plants, but not the target impressive seed bank remaining in the soil. It also kills off all the competition. So the next year, the knotweed is worse than ever. So they already again.

The one successful solution I've seen is to over lay the knotweed with native sumac and grapes. We don't have muscadine, we've got the wild variety of concord or "fox" grapes. Within a few years the knotweed is gone, as it doesn't tolerate shade.

 

[No Coop No Problem]

Japanese knotweed is perhaps the closest thing like that in western PA. Not nearly so bad, but it can over run any damaged niche. The common response is to assist it with herbicide. This results in the death of the plants, but not the target impressive seed bank remaining in the soil. It also kills off all the competition. So the next year, the knotweed is worse than ever. So they already again.

Japanese Knotweed isn't really a thing down here, but I was under the impression that it's mostly a female only species in North America. There aren't any males around, so the seeds are sterile and the plant is restricted to spreading vegetatively

I've heard that in some areas it's hybridized with Giant Knotweed and made extremely fertile offspring though that they call Bohemian Knotweed. I'm not sure to what extent it's spread around yet

 

[Zenmonkey]

That's interesting. I wasn't aware that there was more than one species. I know I've seen it regrow from the roots and also sprout from seeds. Looking at pictures of both online, I know I wouldn't be able to tell them apart without a lot more study.

I've seen eradication plans for locations sind here, and it always addresses the issue of the seed back in the soil.

I'm suspicious though. Usually if there's a sterile form, it's the hybrid.

 

[No Coop No Problem]

I'm suspicious though. Usually if there's a sterile form, it's the hybrid.

Well it's not sterile genetically, it's sterile because the seeds aren't fertilized. Just as hens without a rooster lay sterile eggs

Here's the wiki article on the subject-

>In the UK, Japanese knotweed is a single female clone. However, it is able to readily hybridise with related species. >Bohemian knotweed, a hybrid between Japanese and giant knotweed that produces huge quantities of viable seeds, now accounts for about 80 per cent of knotweed infestations in British Columbia.

I could have sworn that I read the majority of plants in America are also female clones but I would have to go digging on the subject

 

[Zenmonkey]

Minnesota Ag Dep agrees with you. But you can't trust those people.

Bunch of crazy lunatics

Columbia University says the clone is in Europe. Again though, trust issues.

Ivory tower wackadoodles

Bio4climate says that the female clone is present in the USA, but other genotypes with male plants are also present. And since the makes me feel warm and fuzzy, I'll assume they are very intelligent people.

Really smart people with a cool name

There you go, Science! Or what passes for Science! when you're a crazy old redneck reading the first 3 links you find on the interwebs.

 

[Zenmonkey]

I don't know why I wanted kudzu. There's plenty of *some kind* of knotweed growing around here. I can just put that in my chicken coop.

I can feel that it's going to bug me that I can't tell one species of knotweed from another.

For those who just experienced a little pucker when I suggested planting a verboten, noxious weed, first, relax. I'm not going to. Not that I'm a wonderful, law abiding citizen. Not that I think it is a huge ethical issue. I'm just lazy.

There are, last I checked, 14 plants on the noxious weed list for my state. It's been a decade or two since I checked. If you're interested, two people linked it above.

The first one on the list, assuming it hasn't changed in the last 20 years or so, is cannabis. That always struck me as weird. So those politicians *really* think that I will believe cannabis is growing so well somewhere in the state that it can't be eradicated? I mean, I'm *sure* that it is growing somewhere. Probably inside college dorm room closets. It seems we have other laws to deal with that. You can be halt about that, or lament it, but if I wasn't so lazy and cheap I'd dig out what politicians wasted my tax dollars getting that at the top of the noxious weed list, and take out ads making fun of them. It's OK. They're probably retired by now anyway.

Japanese honeysuckle and Chinese rose are also on that list. And back in my teenage years, I planted a *lot* of those with the boy scouts. The Wild Turkey Federation would buy them as started seedlings (possibly from the state???) and us scouts would volunteer to plant them. Literally thousands of them, on strip mine reclamation sites.

Back then they were treasured keystones of a rebuilt ecosystem. Now they're noxious weeds. Times change. People change their opinions. The plants are the same.

In case it makes anyone feel better, I'm not going to go propagate kudzu (though I'm confident that it wouldn't be a problem here) nor knotweed (it grows in the area, and it is fairly tasty when young, but it seems like a headache that I don't need). And I actively destroy multiflora rose and asiatic honeysuckle on my property (annoying in the first case and not edible in the second).

Have a grand day!

 

[No Coop No Problem]

I don't know why I wanted kudzu. There's plenty of *some kind* of knotweed growing around here. I can just put that in my chicken coop.

Chickens would kill it within days. An infestation takes years to get strong. The abilities of invasive plants are often strongly exaggerated. Maybe an established stand could handle chickens for a while, but no new plant could handle chickens

I can feel that it's going to bug me that I can't tell one species of knotweed from another.

Japanese knotweed has 3-6" leaves with flat bases. They're spade shaped. Giant knotweed has foot long leaves that are heart shaped. A hybrid would be somewhere between these two

 

[Zenmonkey]

Definitely Japanese knotweed here then. Thank you!