"The Vine that Ate the South,"

[achtung_circus]

http://www.ars.usda.gov/is/pr/2009/090716.htm

Kudzu, "The Vine that Ate the South," could meet its match in a naturally occurring fungus that Agricultural Research Service (ARS) scientists have formulated as a biologically based herbicide.
By one estimate, kudzu spreads at the rate of 150,000 acres annually, easily outpacing the use of herbicide spraying and mowing, as well increasing the costs of these controls by $6 million annually.
But in Stoneville, Miss., ARS plant pathologist Doug Boyette and colleagues are testing a fungus named Myrothecium verrucaria, which infects kudzu with an astonishing speed of its own. In fact, the fungus works so quickly that kudzu plants sprayed with it in the morning start showing signs of damage by mid-afternoon, according to Boyette, with the ARS Southern Weed Science Research Unit in Stoneville.
He first began working with M. verrucaria in 1998, when a Louisiana Tech University scientist furnished him with isolates from diseased sicklepod specimens. In greenhouse experiments, spray formulations killed 100 percent of kudzu seedlings and 90 to 100 percent of older plants in outdoor trials. Myrothecium also worked its anti-kudzu magic under a wide range of conditions, including the absence of dew.
Additionally, host-range tests in 2005 showed that Myrothecium caused little or no injury to many of the woody plants known to occur in kudzu-infested habitats, including oak, cedar, pine, hickory, pecan, sassafras and blackberry.
A few companies expressed interest, but only if the fungus' production of toxins called trichothecenes could be reduced or stopped. Boyette's group examined several approaches, settling on a method of growing Myrothecium in a fermenter on a liquid diet instead of a solid one. Not only did this stop trichothecene production or reduce it to acceptable levels, the method also extended the fungus' shelf life and potency under field conditions.
Besides kudzu, Myrothecium also showed potential as a pre-emergence bioherbicide, controlling purslane and spurge in transplanted tomatoes.

[HopeHoops]

1. The really sad thing is that kudzu is not only edible but highly nutritious.

But just as most people don't eat another highly nutritious plant, dandelion, kudzu suffers from the stigma of being a "weed". Curiously, there is one "weed" in high demand. :hippie: :smoke:

[msanthrope]

2. I eat dandelion....my heritage is Sicilian, and I remember as a

little girl going with my mema to pick dandelion stems in Central Park.

Now, I have an Italian grocer who keeps me supplied.

[HopeHoops]

3. I have a back yard that keeps me supplied ;}

We don't use lawn poisons and we're careful to pick the ones near the center of the yard so as to be as far away from the poisoned lawns as possible. The young tender leaves are wonderful in salads and stir fries.

[sarge43]

5. If you're an omnivore, try the leaves with bacon -- yum. n/t

[HopeHoops]

8. No, vegehegian - but I've heard that's good.

The bunny likes them too! He also likes the clover, and we've got a shitload of that. WHOO HOO! There are honeybees EVERYWHERE in our yard this year. Sadly, we have the only yard where they congregate. Most of the others are poisoned.

[sarge43]

12. That's a real shame about the neighbor's herbicides.

Sounds like you have a beekeeper or feral hives in your area (honey bees can work a max of 6K acres relative to their hive) and they're smart. They're hanging out in the safe yard. Plus your gardens will thrive; bee pollination can increase plant production by 40%. Just don't walk around your yard barefoot. :nuke:

[HopeHoops]

13. My middle daughter does all the time.

We watch the ground anyway. Between the honey bees and bumbles, you really have to be careful not to accidentally kill one. The clover is all over the place! They work the flowers within an inch or so of us while we're weeding or tending to plants. None of us has ever been stung by either kind of bee.

[sarge43]

15. When the honey flow is on (lots of nectar and pollen producing plants),

their hostile level is fairly low, focused on bringing in the harvest. When it isn't (beginning and end of season or after heavy rains), they will get cranky.

[dropkickpa]

17. My guinea pig grazes almost every day

Dropkid takes him out whenever it's nice. Our yard never gets treated (neither do the neighbors yards), so he gets a nice safe treat.

[LynneSin]

4. Not sure if I'd want to eat dandelions from Central Park

Fearful it would have an extra piss flavor to it.

[hedgehog]

6. Sounds like kudzu would be an excellent source for local bio fuels!

It even has it's own advertising slogan already -


KUDZU! IT'S GOING PLACES!

[Orsino]

7. That slogan beats:

"Kudzu--it's what's for you and your goat's dinners."

[HopeHoops]

9. Hell yeah - plant it in the trunk with a feed to the engine.

The stuff grows fast enough that you would never have to stop!

[Zomby Woof]

10. I'm bullish on kudzu, it's going places!

:hide:

[Swede]

11. You should start a thread.

It may be get popular.

[lildreamer316]

18. .

.
.
Here we go again...

[Shell Beau]

14. It actually looks quite pretty on the hills in Yazoo.

It is amazing how much of it there really is though.

[sarge43]

16. I once ran across a mid 1920's seed catalog that sold it as

a decorative vine plant.

[Shell Beau]

19. That is scary!!

:o

It is decorative all right! It decorates the whole town.

[sarge43]

20. Certainly ate the houses it decorated. n/t

[trof]

21. Growing kudzu: Mulch with concrete blocks.

[Kali]

22. has it reached Canada?

:P

will livestock eat it? seems like finding a use for it would be better than more misguided efforts to poison it somehow.

My experience with yard/houseplants is that if you decide you like it, want to have it around and start trying to take care of it, it will die quickly:rofl:

[X_Digger]

23. Interesting solution.. until m. verrucaria mutates..

I keep hearing the refrain from "There was an old lady who swallowed a fly.."