We have poison ivy growing behind a wooden fence. Every once in a while the vine squeezes under or through the wooden slats. I can spray over the fence with a hose sprayer but would like to know what to use.
Thanks for your help.
Bruce
Use Roundup then leave it alone, remember poison ivy even dead can remain active for over a year.
Check
Bill
I just finished "poison ivy hunting" on my property. I use the RoundUp concentrate, but I add an extra tablespoon to a quart of water in a spray bottle. When used as directed, it just is not powerful enough. An established plant will probably need a second spraying after a few weeks.
Works after a fashion, but there are many better and lower cost concoctions at any farm supply store.
Good advice. Why not pay a lawn service outfit to do the whole job and avoid going to work covered with blisters? HTH
Joe
Once I cleared an area, I also pulled it off trees as it grows as a vine, then I burnt it and breathed it. Well it ruined my summer, up to
300 blisters Dime size on my arms 10 yrs later I still have it in me, I didnt know it was poison Ivy.
Ortho Weed-B-Gone is very effective on poison ivy: rapid and thorough kill. Don't waste your money buying Ortho Poison Ivy - Poison Oak Killer. It's
*exactly* the same stuff as Weed-B-Gone, but higher priced.According to Phisherman :
Tip from a professional botanist (not me):
When making up the Roundup (tech name "Glysophate") solution, make it a bit stronger than the directions (note that there are a number of different strengths given on most labels. You don't need the strongest).
Then add a bit of liquid dish soap. Like, a teaspoon to a quart of solution.
The active ingredient in poison ivy is an oil called "Urushiol".
Water based herbicides will bead up and run off like it would on any other "oily" object. Adding a bit of liquid dish soap helps the herbicide penetrate thru the oil and get to the plant.
We're generally achieving a kill with only one application (as long as the weather cooperates).
When dealing with difficult infestations (eg: poison ivy amongst desirable plants), the trick is to apply it directly without spraying. The easy way to do this is to wear a pair of cotton gloves over decent rubber gloves. Dip your fingers in the solution, and basically lightly grab the exposed portion of the plant and pull, letting the cotton gloves douse the plant. But not touch anything nearby.
Roundup is neat that it immediately inerts itself on contact with the dirt. So as long as you don't get the stuff on desirable plants above ground level, it won't transfer underground.
Supposedly Roundup has been tested more than virtually any other pest/herbicide, and the active ingredient is rated non-toxic to anything _but_ plants. Theoretically, you can drink the stuff with no ill effects. But, needless to say, I don't feel the urge to test that ;-)
Interesting that everyone is recomending the chemical spray route. The articles I've read (and a bit of personal experience) indicate that it's a waste of time, since the thing with poison ivy is that it's got creeping roots. Round up doesn't do so well in the ground, so the poison ivy quickly comes back.
The thing we do is wait untill after (or preferably during) a rain storm, which washes the worst of the oils off the plant. Weaing full coverage clothing, With disposable gloves, and small kitchen garbabge bags over the gloves, pull up the poison ivy. You'll be amazed how far the roots travel as you start pulling. Just keep pulling gently to get the most of the root as possible (the rain soften soil helps this) and that small patch you found may well be very much larger than you thought. Bag everything up, Tie it up, then peel off the gloves and rebag everything once more.
Then march straight to the washing machine: strip and put everything into the machine, then go straight to shower and wash with a poison ivy specific soap. (There are prewashes you apply to your skin if you expect to get into poison ivy, use those if you can fine 'em.) It works well, and the reoccourance rate is much better than with any spray.
If you've got an area that's infested with the stuff, I've heard of folks using sheep to do the clearing. The sheep will hapilly eat poison Ivy up, roots and all down to bare earth, but the person who tried this warns that sheep are cute, and the kids may not be mindfull that the sheep has been wading in poison ivy before the hug and pet the animal. :)
John
Strange. Round-up works because it gets into and kills the -root-, not the top growth. The top growth then dies due to lack of food, not the chemical. That is why it takes a week to 10 days to show results. At least that is what used to happen before they started including other stuff so the top would show results quicker. Too many people would spray then a few days later think round-up was no good because the weed still looked healthy.
Harry K
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