Kudzu #4: The Pine on the Point Traditional Cache
Kudzu #4: The Pine on the Point
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While you are not figuring puzzles, we thought you might want to learn about KUDZU.
For successful long-term control of kudzu, it is not necessary to destroy the entire root system, which can be quite large and deep. It is only necessary to use some method to kill or remove the kudzu root crown and all rooting runners. The root crown is a fibrous knob of tissue that sits on top of the root (rhizome). Crowns form from vine nodes that root to the ground, and range from pea-size to basketball-size. The older the crown, the deeper they tend to be found in the ground because they are covered by sediment and plant debris over time. Nodes and crowns are the source of all kudzu vines, and roots cannot produce vines. If any portion of a root crown remains after attempted removal, the kudzu plant grows back.
Mechanical methods of control involve cutting off crowns from roots, usually just below ground level. This immediately kills the plant. Cutting off vines is not sufficient for an immediate kill. It is necessary to destroy all removed crown material: Buried crowns can regenerate into healthy kudzu. Transporting crowns in soil removed from a kudzu infestation is one common way that kudzu "miraculously" spreads and shows up in unexpected locations.
Close mowing every week, regular heavy grazing for many successive years, or repeated cultivation may be effective, as this serves to deplete root reserves. If done in the spring, cutting off vines must be repeated as regrowth appears to exhaust the plant's stored carbohydrate reserves. Cut kudzu can be fed to livestock, burned, or composted.
Late-season cutting should be followed up with immediate application of a systemic herbicide to the cut stems, to encourage transport of the herbicide into the root system. Repeated applications of several soil-active herbicides have been used effectively on large infestations in forestry situations.
.Prescribed burning is also used on old extensive infestations in order to remove vegetative cover and promote seed germination for removal or treatment. It is usually done to prepare for treatment of the root crowns. Landscape equipment, such as a skid loader ("Bobcat"), can also remove biomass. While fire is not an effective way to kill kudzu, equipment such as skid loaders can remove crowns and thereby kill kudzu with minimal disturbance of soil.
Efforts are currently being organized by the U.S. Forest Service to search for biological control agents for kudzu. Several fungi are pathogenic to kudzu. Colletotrichum gloeosporioides is one tested example.
The city of Chattanooga, Tennessee has undertaken a trial program using goats and llamas that graze on the plant. The llamas serve double-duty as defense against predators due to their aggressive nature. Currently the goats are grazing along the Missionary Ridge area in the east of the city.
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