OK, my yard is an oasis of gnarly invasive plants. Bamboo, ivy and especially, Morning Glory. Every couple of years I go in and try to hack it all out, but it ALWAYS grows back. From what I understand and have observed, it is somehow impervious to Roundup (One of the only non-genetically engineered ones).
Do any of you guys know how to get rid of this pestilence permanently? I prefer to not use herbicides, but if I have to use napalm or Agent Orange, I may just do it.
By the way, I live in California, this plant is the one with purple flowers and is a perennial.
It’s damned hard. If you’re going to go with straight physical control, just be persistent. An important thing to remember is that a very small segment of vine (less than an inch) will happily propagate, if it contains one of those nasty little nodes.
Just keep taking them out, and treat the remains like the Cursed Undead. Eventually the roots will die, if you don’t allow them to reestablish themselves. Get back out there every few days and remove anything that’s trying to come back.
Avoid cutting, if possible. Rip 'em up and don’t lose any bits.
I figured I should have commented it Gardening Help as to not waste Oasis fans’ time. And yes, I do have the CD.
Thanks, Larry, i was kind of afraid that that is what I have to do. Unfortunately, it grows along a shared fence, so I guess I’ll need the cooperation of the neighbors. I’ve been cutting it back every couple years rather than every couple of days. It actually started as a delicate little tendril, such a pretty little innocuous thing.
I’m wondering if there is some sort of relatively non-toxic substance that I can inject into the root that will disipate and not kill off my neighbor’s garden. My other neighbor is already accusing me of killing off his passion fruit vine when I emptied my hot tub.
There are direct-contact herbicides that you can paint the leaves with – if you cut 'em most of the way back, and then apply them, they’ll kill to the root.
They’re as toxic as all get-out, but if you don’t splash it around it should be targeted enough that you won’t poison any of your neighbour’s babies.
Check with your County Extension Agent or whatever they may be called in California. Giving the type of advice you want is what they are paid for.
There are a number of herbicides labeled for morning glory control, and if you get the proper one and use it according to directions, there should be no problems.
I know you said you prefer not to use herbicides, but herbicides are better than knocking yourself out for two years or more with this difficult weed. If you’re careful with chemicals and follow the directions on the label, there’s no reason not to use them.
Get some Round Up Pro You wont find it at Garden Centers, only at Landscaper Supply stores like Hydroscape. You dont need a special permit or license to buy it. It contains Round up AND a surfactant which makes it stick to the plant its trying to kill. It make a BIG difference.
Well I have to say I was expecting this thread to be about something completely different. But then I realised you yanks refer to it as ‘Morning Wood’ instead.
Probably just as well, since I was wondering why someone would need help :dubious:
It’s interesting how we all think differently. Some people might’ve come into this thread thinking it was about a plant, the band Oasis, or morning erections. I figured it was about the psychedelic.
Thanks gang! I’ve ripped out all I could get to. I’ll have to think about using some herbicide, but I’ll monitor the situation and then decide. I’ll spend some time researching the long term effects of the chemicals. And to be perfectly honest. I’ve used my share of Round up.
John Carter, I went to UC Davis as an undergrad, and a friend of mine is one of those California agricultural advisor guys, so that seems like a good idea.
On the other hand PetW, as my user name implies, I’m a fan of mind altering substances. I didn’t realize the active substance (Lysergic Acid Amide) in Morning Glory seeds was so closely related to LSD, but I’ve yet to try them. In the days before the internet, when I was a bit more adventurous about these things, I was under the impression that the proper dose was approaching toxic levels. More conventional alternatives were not difficult to come by.
As a matter of fact, the record store in Isla Vista (UCSB student ghetto) was named Morning Glory Records, and this was way before Oasis was around.
Just to give you another perspective, I’d prefer if our yard was overrun with glorious invasive species so that we would not have to cope with that archaic tradition of monoculture, the lawn. (We rent, BTW.)