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Kudzu or Pueraria montana var. lobata, the miracle of Japan: with its ability to retain erosion, intoxicatingly sweet grape scented blossoms, and nutritious sources of food – unknowingly became a scourge of the South after its introduction to the US in 1902 by David Fairchild. Fairchild also witnessed the killer vine’s tendency to climb anything in sight, smothering it with leaves – not permitting light to reach the plant and sheltering the soil from rains. However, by 1935 Kudzu nurseries were popping up all around America, no doubt lured by a plant so easy to propagate, and so easily to sell as a “miracle plant” to farmers.
However, the promises that caused kudzu to be so popular then, have little to do with the need to for home gardeners to remediate its growth now. And although I advocate gardening “all naturally” – I am willling to recommend pulling out the heavy chemicals to rid kudzu.
I successfully eliminated kudzu from my property over a three year span. It was hard work; however, with newer chemicals it is easier. The first year we moved into our home, I dug all the kudzu I could, not knowing that the tubers could grow up to 12 feet underground! I continued the digging battle that year, until a friend explained that he made a “kudzu tea” of chemical brush kill that could really knock vines out in the fall. I decided to start the fight again, the next year, as soon as the vines emerged from the ground. Each leaf was painted with a concoction of total kill and Dr. Bronners soap, which helps hold the weed killer on the resistant leaves of kudzu. This quickly killed the vines back. New vines died, older, established vines were just weakened. I continued to apply this concoction – not spraying unless I had an area I could cover totally without harming underbrush. In the fall as the vine visually began to really weaken, I treated the vines to a nice drink of tea! I mixed a new “tough vine killer” with water – to the exact recommended rates on the bottle. Then I poured some of this into a very stable bottomed container and covered the container with foil, tying it in place. Now each of these cups was dug slightly into the ground for stability. Once tea was served, I took the kudzu vine tips and smashed them raw between two bricks, just about the depth of the cup.
Smashing them reveals their fibrous interior, which acts as a straw for moisture in the vine. I stripped this area of leaves, and stuck the vine in the cup. Two days later, the cup was empty. I filled the cup again. Vines withered; died back…it was hard for me to tell if this was just fall die back, or death.
As spring blossomed the next year, kudzu did not prosper. The vines that did regrow were visibly weakened. Only one or two sprouted. They were treated in the fall to another helping of tea. It has now been 5 years of no major kudzu invasion in my back yard. Once a vine did pop up, it was treated and the young vine died suddenly.
Kudzu monsters can be prevented from taking over the universe; it just takes time and patience!
Music, color and gardening - the three go hand in hand in my Electric Garden. I enjoy gardening organically for 12 months of the year in the South and am garden speaker and educator, retailer and occasionally work as designer. I write about rock'n roll, vintage fashion and of course, gardening.
Posted by Machikoneko (from Hometown, IL) on August 13, 2007 at 3:30 PM:
I didn't take cuttings of it when I was down South. They actually sell seeds on e-bay I had considered buying, but after reading the Plantfiles, and now this article, I'll NEVER bring this beast home!!!
Great article, and congratulations on your victory!
Marsha.
(And I thought dandelions were bad...) :/
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Posted by FlowrLady (from Olive Branch, MS) on August 13, 2007 at 4:48 PM:
No matter how bad someone tells you kudzu is, you can always remember, it's a little worse than that!
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Posted by scooterbug (from TwinLakes,WI Athens, TN) on August 13, 2007 at 5:53 PM:
Excellent article
Thank You .
Gives us hope to kill it off eventually.
Another concern is kudzu's connection to soybeans.
Because it is a legume like the soybean plant, kudzu serves as an alternate host for Asian soybean rust - a devastating crop disease first detected in the continental United States this past November.
The disease spread as far north as Missouri and Tennessee.
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Posted by terryr (from Bureau County, IL) on August 13, 2007 at 10:03 PM:
Soybean rust is alive and well in Northern IL. Kudzu isn't this far north, but soybean rust is.
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Posted by girlgroupgirl (from Atlanta, GA) on August 14, 2007 at 12:13 AM:
Scooterbug, I'm wondering how much of a factor GM has been with the spread of the soybean rust as well. There is such a mono-culture with certain crops, especially soybeans that an "irish famine" has been bound to happen.
I had not heard that the soybean rust was found in North America, nor that Kudzu may be a host.
Thank-you,
Glynis
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Posted by terryr (from Bureau County, IL) on August 14, 2007 at 10:22 AM:
Host Range
Phakopsora pachyrhizi infects over 95 species of plants from more than 42 genera (3), including soybean and related Glycine species (13, 15, 18). Included in the list are many of the wild and edible legumes. The full host range of both rust species has not been clearly identified and may be complicated by pathotypes and differential reactions within host species (5, 6). Included in the list is Kudzu (Pueraria lobata), which is widespread in the U.S. and could serve as an inoculum reservoir or bridge host for P. pachyrhizi in the southern U.S. Kudzu, growing along roadsides and in ditch banks in Brazil and Paraguay, was severely infected with rust and showed no apparent loss of plant vigor (M. Miles, pers. obs.). The broad host range of the two species of Phakopsora that infect soybean is unusual among rust pathogens, as most rust species have a narrow host range that is limited to a few plant species. The large number of host species increases the likelihood that this pathogen will survive and over winter in the southern U.S., as well as in Central America.
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Subject: How not to kill kudzu.
Posted by pajaritomt (from Los Alamos, NM) on August 13, 2007 at 3:26 PM:
A friend of mine decided to dig it up with his backhoe. He dug and dug and dug for a day and never got to the "yam" he called it. Finally gave up.
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Posted by KyWoods (from Melbourne, KY) on August 13, 2007 at 9:38 PM:
Yikes! I wonder if it would still come back if the "yam" gets buried beneath all that backfill??
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Posted by pajaritomt (from Los Alamos, NM) on August 13, 2007 at 10:46 PM:
No tellin'.
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Subject: Scary stuff!
Posted by KyWoods (from Melbourne, KY) on August 13, 2007 at 1:37 AM:
Thanks for the warning--and the recipe! I looked at the distribution list for the US, and it says it's here in KY, but I haven't seen any in our woods in northern KY--virginia creeper is bad enough. But I will keep an eye out for this bad boy, and if I see it, I will certainly nip it in the bud. Or smash it into smithereens and poison it, like you did, Ms. Ward. LOL, I can imagine the feeling of glee you had when you were murdering that monster!
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Posted by Dea (from Frederick, MD) on August 13, 2007 at 7:49 AM:
We've not had to deal with this monster, but have heard similar horror stories. Looks like you have dealt with it very effectively!
Thanks for a an eye opening article !!
Dea
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Posted by melody (from Benton, KY) on August 13, 2007 at 8:27 AM:
We've got it here, and while it's not the monster it is further south...it's still a thug. Once it gets a toe-hold, it's nearly impossible to get rid of...thanks for the great info...and it was written in a very readable manner!
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Posted by podster (from Deep East Texas, TX) on August 13, 2007 at 9:32 AM:
Kudzu is in e Tx and I've heard in parts of Arkansas. It is apparently not as invasive here as there have been small stands of it that have not spread.
This was an interesting article, thank you and info worth keeping and I love the Dr. Bronners soap. One more use for it! Thanks.
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Posted by JanetS (from Braselton, GA) on August 13, 2007 at 10:06 AM:
Glynnis, that was very informative! This is a terrible problem in Georgia for sure! There are buildings engulfed by this monster, and just a mile or so away from me there is a beautiful crepe myrtle (red) that is almost consumed by this WEED at the edge of some undeveloped property. It is so sad to see it taking things over and "blotting them out"!
I have often wondered how peopel kept it off their property or got rid of it when it was threatening. Doesn't it grow with the speed of light or something close...lol
Thanks again!
Janet
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Posted by McGlory (from Southeast, NE) on August 13, 2007 at 12:10 PM:
Good job, Glynis. Thanks for the info. We have a cucumber vine there that will eat whole groves of trees. I may try your recipe on little pieces that have started in our yard.
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Posted by podster (from Deep East Texas, TX) on August 13, 2007 at 1:59 PM:
On MidSouth Gardening, I had read this will work on poison oak too.
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Posted by peony01 (from Prattville, AL) on August 13, 2007 at 2:40 PM:
In central Alabama, it's a fact of life. Kudzu will cover anything. It will kill trees. In my experience, it behaves a bit like strawberry plants, in that it establishes "mother" plants which then spread to other areas where other "mother " plants are established. I don't believe you can control it without using chemicals. We mow it first, then as the new growth appears, we spray. There is one school of thought that suggests the new growth ingests the spray as moisture. I don't know, but it still takes 3 - 5 years to virtually (almost) eliminate it. It performed better than we thought. Thanks for the article.
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Posted by Islandshari (from Kwajalein
(Marshall Islands)) on August 13, 2007 at 4:40 PM:
Wow, what a terror! Great "stick with it" article Glynis!
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Posted by andycdn (from Ottawa, ON) on August 16, 2007 at 5:32 PM:
I guess our winters have kept this monster out of Canada... not that we don't have invasive plants in our own back yards to worry about (purple loosestrife comes to mind, destroying wetlands, where poison is not an option). Excellent article, Glynis.
