Biology: Roots Tounderstandthebiologyofroot crowns,Iharvestedseveral fromakudzupatchinDover,DEandgrewtheminpots.
Biology: Roots Asinthe^ield,newvinesgrewfromtherootcrownsandstemnodes.Thishasimportantimplicationsformonitoringand controlstrategies targetingkudzu.
Control Because newgrowth appears onrootcrowns and
stemnodes,kudzueradicationeffortsshouldidentifythesestructuresinthespringbeforevinesbecomeatangledmess(andtheywill).
Control:StemNodes& RootCrowns
Toeffectivelykillandremovekudzuplants,youmustremovetheentirecrown.Unfortunately,pullingvinesdoesnotusuallywork.Eventhoughthisnodeisdamaged,meristematic tissueis stillpresenttogeneratenewvines.
Control:StemNodes& RootCrowns
Instead,useloppers,hand clippers or ahand sawtocut below thecrown.Removethecrown,killtheplant.
Imagecourtesyof“KnockOutKudzu”(KOkudzu.com)TheCoalitiontoControlKudzuWithoutChemicals
Youmightask,doesthis work,or is there nostoppingkudzu?
Itworks!Letmeshowyou.
Aspartofmyresearch,Igrew105kudzuplantsfromhandscari^iedseedinthegreenhouse.
Inearlysummer,pottedplantsweretransplantedtoanagricultural^ieldattheUniversityofDelawareFarm.Eventhoughhebattled“thevine”everysummersince1974onhisownproperty,mydadwaswillingtohelpplantkudzuatUD.
Ifyouthinkkillinginvasivespeciesisdif^icult,trygrowingthem!Wenotonlydripirrigatedtheplants,butalsoinoculatedthemwithRhizobiumtohelpthemgetstarted.
Inthisagriculturalsetting,plantswererelativelyfreefromnaturalherbivory and lightcompetition.Plantsweresubjecttooneoffourdifferenttreatments:leafcutting(either50or75%removal)andshootclipping(removalof50or75%ofallshoottips).Treatmentsweredesignedtomimicdamagebypotentialbiologicalcontrol
agentsfromChina.Oncetheplantsgotgoing,theyreallytookoffgrowing.
Can it becontrolled?
Farmpictures
AndImeantookoff!Notethenewplantsintheforegroundcomparedtosecondyearplants.Ourdesignincluded35one-yearplantsthatwereplanted and harvested after onegrowingseason,and35two-yearplantsthatgrewfortwoseasons.
Youcanimaginewithkudzu’sreputationthatthefarmstaffwasnotthrilledtolet35plantsoverwinterinoneoftheir^ields…
Forscale,youcanseethatoneplantis(much)largerthanonekudzuresearcher.
Attheendofeachseason,abovegroundbiomasswasharvestedbyclippingvinesfromtherootcrown.Eachbagbelow representsoneplant.
Aftertakingmeasurementsandrecordingdata,plantmaterialwasdriedinagreenhouseandweighed.
Dryingplantsinthegreenhousewassuf^icienttokillthem.Plantmaterialwasdiscardedonacompostpileandnonewkudzuplantsregeneratedfromthisdiscardedmaterial.
Ma#Frye