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Join Date: 07 May 2010
Location:  United StatesPosts: 23 |
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Household mixtures to kill poison ivy plants |
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Household mixtures to kill poison ivy plants
Here is one I found. Mix 3 pounds salt with 1 Gallon soapy water; spray the solution on the plant's leaves and stems. I have also used a combination of roundup and letting nature choke the plant (ie. wild rose) myself. --Editor (July/27/1999) I'm an environmentally sensitive landscaper and landscape designer with a good deal of experience in eliminating poison ivy from the landscape. And, little as I like the prospect of using an herbicide, out of considerations both for my personal health and for the environment, the only way I've found to get rid of substantial colonies of poison ivy is by the careful and responsible use of herbicide. You can remove a single young plant or two by grasping it through a plastic garbage bag and pulling it up root and all. Turn the bag inside-out over the plant, and it's done. (You may have some growth return from broken roots, but can get rid of them in the same way.) Glyphosate--the active ingredient in Roundup and Rodeo--is sometimes recommended for killing poison ivy. Because its active ingredient breaks down quickly, I initially tried to use Round-up, but found that plants could recover from as many as six applications over two years. Others with whom I've compared notes also describe similar experiences. I've only used the product as sold, with glyphosate. The only thing that seems to work, in my experience, is a herbicide containing triclopyr. I've used Ortho Brush-b-Gon with a great deal of success. If I'm careful, I find I can spot-treat individual plants without doing much damage to what's growing around them. For greater accuracy, instead of spraying you can paint the herbicide directly on the leaves. I hate to sound like a spokesperson for Monsanto. This company has many sins to answer for. And, as I've said above, I'm reluctant to use herbicides. But this product really does the job. Use it with respect. Read the label and follow the directions religiously. Wait for a day when the winds are still. Don't use it in or within ten feet of a wetland. Use rubber gloves, and be careful not to breathe the spray. Wash up thoroughly afterwards, and put your clothes in the wash right away. I strongly recommend against using salt to kill plants. Yes, we use salt in our food. But in the environment, in the quantities required, it's toxic and persistent--much more so than Roundup or Brush-b-Gon. It does not break down, and will continue to kill anything planted on the spot until it's thoroughly leached away--a matter of years even in regions of high rainfall. And even then, it continues to be a hazard, as it leaches into the groundwater. Using it is much more environmentally damaging than using herbicides whose sale for the purpose is allowed by the EPA. --Don Galbreath submitted 23/Dec/2000 Editor: Thanks Don for an excellent discussion! I have been using Roundup exclusively here on a little more than 2 acres and while it takes repeated spraying I ha |
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