Killing Morning Glory

[rrausch]

I am out in So. Cal., visiting a friend, and she has a huge Morning Glory problem in her back yard. That stuff has killed one Live Oak tree and is trying to kill some Eucalyptus trees. I've pulled down about 3 dumpster loads of vines, but there is a literal carpet of MG roots, some of them 3/4" in diameter in that area and I can't pull everything out. Is there any herbicide that I can brush or selectively spray on the vines that are laying on the ground to kill the darn things?

 

[Labman]

So what else is there? In trying to clear out nimblewill, cinquefoil, and some other things under my osage orange tree, I asked Ortho. They say Round up only kills what you spray it on. You can kill weeds under a tree without killing the tree. Never did do much with it. If there is grass, a broad leaf weed killer should spare it. A combination of cutting vines off at the base and mowing the area might even work.

Never saw the like of such morning glories, but I don't live in California.

 

[rrausch]

I'll try to post a picture tomorrow, but there is just no way to get a mower into that area--it's a jungle. The MG vines in that area lie on the ground and the roots lie about 1-2" beneath the surface--they are fairly easy to pull up, but the area is a jungle and I just can't get to all of it. I have heard there is a herbicide that you can spray onto the bark of a tree that will kill the tree, so I am wondering what the name of it is, and whether it will work on MG vines.

 

[rrausch]

This was taken a few days ago. As you can see the entire top half of the hedge is covered in Morning Glory vines. That stuff chokes off all sunlight.

 

[dingeryote]

Hello!!

I spend a good bunch of time controlling and killing that damned weed every year in the Blueberry fields.
Soon as you get one bunch cleaned up, another bunch shows up thanks to the birds.

Two ways to go about it.
Yank it all up and wait, then spray what comes back up with Round up/glyphosate and pray, or snip and paint the ground vines with Crossbow and hope the tree/bush can take getting knocked back a bit.

There is no easy solution without risking the Tree.
Glyphosate works inside the target. Crossbow and 2,4,D circulates through all the targets tissues including the external surfaces that are likely in contact with the tree roots. Crossbow and other 2,4,D based herbicides can kill trees/bushes if the concentration is high enough.

Another option that is temporary is burning with a weed torch, but that will ultimately lead to more vines.

Can you rent or borrow a good brush cutter and just go medival on the immediate area? If you can, and then follow up with repeated applications of glyphosate, you can get control without risking the tree.

Little trick we use to kill the primary vine is to snip several runners and stick the ends into a baggie with straight 48%Glyphosate/AMS soaked paper towel.
It works most of the time.

If all else fails, buy a pygmy goat. Seriously.
Those little boogers wont waste any time cleaning the MG up.

Stay safe!
Dingeryote

 

[rrausch]

Thanks Dingeryote! Here are some pictures I took this morning so you can see what I'm up against.

Can't go medieval for several reasons, although I'D LIKE TO! Pygmy goat is probably out too.

Just about every vine in this picture is a MG vine. It extends like this for 40-50 feet, about 10 feet out from the fence, but in most areas there is just too much brush to get in there and pull it all up/out.

Here's another picture of the area... if you look at the very first picture--the one with the pool in it, this picture below was taken between the pool ladder and the red flower pot on the right. I just stuck my camera in and snapped the picture.

 

[Labman]

Check the rental yards. I forget what they are called, but there are 2 wheel mowers with. 24'' blade out front. They will go through almost anything. You can also mount a 24'' circular saw blade on them. I have used that mode for cutting Christmas trees. You can go right down the row whacking them off in a minute.

If it is the right guy, tell him the problem and listen to him.

 

[turnkey4099]

I'll try to post a picture tomorrow, but there is just no way to get a mower into that area--it's a jungle. The MG vines in that area lie on the ground and the roots lie about 1-2" beneath the surface--they are fairly easy to pull up, but the area is a jungle and I just can't get to all of it. I have heard there is a herbicide that you can spray onto the bark of a tree that will kill the tree, so I am wondering what the name of it is, and whether it will work on MG vines.

Sounds like Round-up or its copycats would work. It only kills stuff that is green and growing so should be safe sprayed on/around barky areas on the trees. It works by not killing the leaves but being absorbed and killing the roots. Takes at least 10 days to even show any effects then a day or two later all the green is now yellow and dead.

Morning glory is bad as it will come back from seeds so repeated applications for several years is needed.

Harry K

 

[rrausch]

Well, I ended up just getting out there with a pair of gloves and a ladder and I just pulled every single vine down and ripped as many roots up as I could find. I filled ELEVEN of those green L.A. garbage collection containers with packed vines and roots! I done good! I'm keeping an alert eye out for the MG I couldn't get out to send up some vines and leaves, and I'll knock 'em down with Roundup.

 

[pdqdl]

You might consider treating the area with pre-emergent herbicide to cut down on emerging seeds this spring.

You could cover many of your problem plants with black plastic, then throw some mulch over that. When any of the vines manage to erupt through the cover, treat immediately with roundup.


***************************************************************
"Damn the torpedos, full speed ahead" approach: get some Tordon RTU and treat each cut stump for each vine. Brush onto any that continue to come up in the spring. Not many dicots can survive a direct hit from Tordon.

 

[dingeryote]

Pdql,

Which pre-emerge have you had luck with?

Terbacil, Simazene, and oryzalin don't even slow them down.
Velpar gets 'em but kills everything including mature trees.

Agreed on the scotrched earth approach with Tordon but in the heavy soil, wont the likelyhood of affecting the tree be an issue?

Stay safe!
Dingeryote

 

[pdqdl]

You are a bit more intensive with your inquiry than I am prepared for. Quite frankly, I have never seen morning glory vines that were difficult to control; I suspect that the perennial vines don't like it around here. I've seen the annual vines, but never woody nor very problematic.

My initial internet search prior to giving my answer suggested that "morning glory" vines may be of several completely different species, depending on whom you are talking to. Wikipedia says there are over 1000 specie, so I think what we get around here are not so vigorous. Wikipedia also suggests that they are not very cold tolerant perennials, so that may account for my observations.

I get pretty good results for almost everything with Barricade (prodiamine) or Dimension (dithiopyr), but these are principally turf herbicides that don't attempt to list pre-emergent control of woody plants.

We do get the field bindweed around here, but it is non-woody, and we get rid of it with broadleaf weed control. It usually doesn't persist in competition with trees, and it is quite the pest growing over shrubs. Non-woody, our variety is easy to hand weed. Barricade seems to keep this out of the shrub beds.

Obviously, Velpar would come close to killing anything in its path.

I use quite a bit of Tordon (22k! I mix my own -RTU), and have never seen injury to adjacent plants from careful stump treatments. The problem is that most operators don't trust the herbicide, and apply too much. Tordon is much slower to affect the plants than normal broadleaf herbicides, and this inclines some folks to put on too much also.

Get a sponge, dip it in some -RTU, then daub each cut stump (freshly cut, while actively growing) until it is blue from the marker dye. Dead !

 

[dingeryote]

I was wonderin' how you were getting control with pre-emerge. LOL!!

Our "Morning glory" is woody and very similar to poison Ivy vine...which is how I end up torn up all dadgum winter. Painting with Glyphosate/AMS is only about 50% effective and pulling them up by hand would take a small army of Gym Rats on Crack. It's a constant fight without an approved herbicide that isn't a threat to the desireables.

I didn't realize there were so many subspecies..holy cow!

Tordon is not labeled for my primary application(MDA/USDA restrictions) but for control elsewhere it has always been a question.
Thanks for the hands on. I'll have to give it a run on some problematic areas.

For the rest, I have my eyeballs on a weedbadger.

Thanks!!

Stay safe!
Dingeryote

 

[pdqdl]

More research on field bindweed:

The seeds are claimed to survive for as long as 20 years! That would sure account for some pre-emergent herbicide failures.


recommended control measures: Field Bindweed Management Guidelines--UC IPM
"Ornamental Areas. In ornamental landscape settings, field bindweed grows between and up through the canopy of plants. For control, products containing trifluralin, oryzalin, or pendimethalin applied before emergence will reduce emerging perennial shoots and control the germinating seedlings, but they will not kill established bindweed plants."


Most of the plausible recommendations that I have stumbled across seem to focus on the sun-dependent nature of these deeply rooted plants. Control measures (apart from chemical attack) all rely on persistant weeding or depriving the plant of sunlight.

COVER THE AFFLICTED AREAS WITH BLACK PLASTIC! Diligently weed out and chemically kill the survivors.

 

[pdqdl]

Get one of these:

Fill with Tordon, and just start slapping vines.

 

[pdqdl]

I should mention that roundup as a stump treatment isn't very effective (compared to Tordon), and much less effective in winter than when applied to an actively growing plant.

Wait 'till spring to do your vine cutting and herbicide treatments.

 

[dingeryote]

I should mention that roundup as a stump treatment isn't very effective (compared to Tordon), and much less effective in winter than when applied to an actively growing plant.

Wait 'till spring to do your vine cutting and herbicide treatments.

LOL!!! It IS a timing thing.

Spring is too late. We prune in winter and clean up the vines in the process.
Any that we catch greening up later, get snipped and painted while running down Irrigation in the early spring.
Then everything gets hit with a pre-emerge on rotation, combined with a post emergent depending on which nasties show up or not. Usually Glyphosate/AMS with some spots getting Glufosinate or Paraquat if needed.

It's the late spring when the MG really comes on hard, and the PHI limitations for everything but Glyphos limits options. To make matters worse 2-4-D was dropped a couple years ago.


I completely agree on Tordon for stumps. Glyphosate just dosn't do it, but unfortunately Tordon isn't labeled for use in Blueberrys.
But killing the Invaders on the margins is wide open.

Tordon works through the vines without cutting them?
LOL!!! temptations...

I'll try the pot scrubber and see how they hold up. Can't hurt.

Here's one for you..this guy stole the thunder on the Grant, from a local grower who had been making and using the things for years. Ya snooze, ya loose. Works great if you're doing lots of Sassafrass.
YouTube - making a lop and duab


Thanks!

Stay safe!
Dingeryote

 

[pdqdl]

...
Then everything gets hit with a pre-emerge on rotation, combined with a post emergent depending on which nasties show up or not. Usually Glyphosate/AMS with some spots getting Glufosinate or Paraquat if needed.

It's the late spring when the MG really comes on hard, and the PHI limitations for everything but Glyphos limits options. ...

You just spouted off a whole bunch of obscure chemicals. That reveals some pretty deep experience with herbicides. Most folks don't ever come across glufosinate, and I don't know anybody that uses paraquat. I'll bet you really meant Diquat?

Even mixing in the AMS seems to be an agricultural limited practice. None of the lawn jockeys that I know are familiar with the practice.

You must be quite the Blueberry Baron!


[anecdote: I bought what I thought was some ammonium sulfate once for mixing with Roundup; I got it at a great price. It turned out to be ammonium sulfamate, which was an ancient "lost in the warehouse" chemical that had some soil sterilization properties. It was so old, it was not listed with any of the chemical vendors, and I had to dig real hard to find out what I needed to know about it. ...seems it fell off the market abruptly when there were threats of being a carcinogen. Never documented, but the rumor was enough to kill the product.]

 

[pdqdl]

...

Tordon works through the vines without cutting them?
LOL!!! temptations...
...

No temptation problems, bud; take the cure!
http://www.fs.fed.us/r5/eldorado/documents/freds/WEB Only/garlon_4_label_rev_100708.pdf

Use Garlon mixed with diesel fuel. Basal Bark treatment in the fall & winter, kills 'em dead, if you are willing to wait a while. No cutting or pulling down necessary. Among other things, it lists field bindweed as a controlled weed.

related research: http://www.ncwss.org/proceed/2006/abstracts/189.pdf

 

[pdqdl]

If you want to mix tordon and Garlon for a really nasty brush killer, they are incompatible unless you want to come up with the necessary adjuvant. Fortunately, someone has done this for you: Access herbicide, complete with instructions for mixing with diesel.

http://www.dowagro.com/webapps/lit/litorder.asp?filepath=au/pdfs/noreg/012-10031.pdf&pdf=true
(this is an Australian product listing; I haven't searched for the American equivalent)