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Post by swilk on Sept 22, 2014 7:18:23 GMT -5
This is starting to show up more and more on my property ... at first I feared it was Kudzu but the leaves look different than the leaves I have found in pictures. So far I have not been able to positively identify it .... help?   |
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Post by dadfsr on Sept 22, 2014 8:20:11 GMT -5
I've wondered about it too....sent your pic to our weed people here on campus-hopefully we'll both get an answer.
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Post by swilk on Sept 22, 2014 8:25:09 GMT -5
Thanks.
I have seen several leaves that look close in online searches but none that match exactly. One guess (only guess so far) on the QDMA forum was wild cucumber.
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Post by swilk on Sept 22, 2014 8:27:21 GMT -5
When (if) I find out what it is the next logical question will be "do deer like it?". If the answer to that is "no" then itll move on to "how do I kill it".
It likes sunlight. It is very sprawling .... one area along the ground was just a blanket of the stuff smothering out any other undergrowth.
It does climb as well ...
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Post by esshup on Sept 22, 2014 8:34:01 GMT -5
I think it's wild cucumber or something like that. Very fast growing, sprawling and has quarter sized XXXXXly fruit. I had something like that description growing around the outbuildings. I hit it with Glyphosate and it took care of it. But, it wants to keep coming back, so it's a monthly thing hitting the new ones that pop up.
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Post by drs on Sept 22, 2014 9:09:53 GMT -5
Thanks. I have seen several leaves that look close in online searches but none that match exactly. One guess (only guess so far) on the QDMA forum was wild cucumber. Just a guess here, but it looks like a variety of wild grape. |
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Post by featherduster on Sept 22, 2014 9:47:53 GMT -5
I am in the wild cucumber camp on this one,nightmare to farmers because it will plug up a combine or rip down crops as your picking.
It will die with a good frost and can be controlled with 24D early in the year.
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Post by drs on Sept 22, 2014 10:22:25 GMT -5
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Post by ridgerunner on Sept 22, 2014 11:00:05 GMT -5
x2
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Post by chubwub on Sept 22, 2014 11:23:06 GMT -5
That would be wild cucumber. It's flowers smell absolutely wonderful, but it can be a pretty aggressive vining plant, it loves to overwhelm trees. It is easy to control but hard to eradicate. Mowing it down before it can spread seeds is very effective along with spraying shoots with round-up in the spring. If you spray Round-up on it now, it's going to be a waste of money. You can also use a pre-emergence herbicide to kill the seeds before they sprout as well, or a nice thick black tarp will do the trick as well.
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Post by swilk on Sept 22, 2014 12:10:54 GMT -5
Its not in areas I can easily mow .... so spraying will be the ticket.
Hopefully 24D will do the trick ..... if not glypho may be necessary. I would prefer to just kill it, or as close to just it, as I can.
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Post by DEERTRACKS on Sept 23, 2014 6:37:27 GMT -5
Looks like Wild Cucumber to me!
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Post by dadfsr on Sept 23, 2014 9:09:24 GMT -5
Here's what I got back from my inquiry-gives you a little more background on possible control:
I looked at the picture that you sent me very closely and admit that I didn’t recognize it at first. My initial thoughts were that the leaves look very similar to those of a cucumber. After some exploring through all of my weed resources I thought I found a weed with a similar leaf shape to the one in the photo. To be sure, I also sent the photograph to Dr. Patton, along with a couple of other Purdue weed scientists that specialize in agronomic weeds and the consensus appears to be the same, we all think that the weed in question is either a wild cucumber or a burcucumber. Unfortunately we can’t determine which one it is based on the leaf shape alone. Burcucumber will have a clusters of ‘fuzzy’ yellow fruit that range from 0.5 – 0.75 in long and are covered in XXXXXly bristles, while wild cucumber fruit are oval-shaped, green, roughly 2 inches long, and are covered in sharp spines (thicker than bristles). Also, neither plant is edible despite closely resembling cultivated cucumber plants.
For the most part, wild cucumber and burcucumber are a problem in agricultural crops such as corn, soybeans, etc. They are generally not an issue in home landscapes but they can spread from infested adjacent areas. Like other climbing vines, it has the capability of growing very fast and quickly taking over the area in which it is growing. If you have photographs of this weed invading lawns or more detailed photographs of fruit, flowers, etc. we would be happy to take a closer look! As for control measures, neither I nor Dr. Patton have any experience in controlling this weed in lawns firsthand and most of the extension resources that discuss wild and burcucumber typically address weed control in agricultural settings. According to The University of Minnesota Extension, control options in home landscapes include the cultural practice of physically mowing or pulling the weeds in the spring whenever they appear. These weeds are summer annuals, so they grow back from seed whenever the spring temperatures start to get warm enough. Repeatedly pulling or hoeing the young emerging plants will reduce the seed bank in the soil over time. As far as chemistries go, dicamba (the active ingredient in most 2- or 3-way herbicides) will control both weeds. However, you want to be careful using this ingredient if the vines are located near trees, shrubs, or other desirable broadleaf plants. Another option is to apply round-up on young plants as they emerge in the spring for enhanced control. Applying round-up to the large mature plant in the photograph that you sent probably won’t achieve complete control. You may try multiple applications, or physically removing the plant and applying round-up as it recovers, but unfortunately those options seem to be your best bet.
I hope this answers your questions! As I mentioned previously, if you have any other questions or if you would like to send additional pictures so that we can try to further investigate this weed please don’t hesitate to contact me (especially if people are starting to report infestations in their lawns!). Hope you have a great day!
Leslie Beck, Ph.D.
Postdoctoral Research Associate
Purdue University
Department of Horticulture & Landscape Architecture
Horticulture Hall
My side note....Leslie had done a presentation on lawn weeds at a Lawn Diagnostic seminar I attended last month at Purdue's Turf Center. I was teasing her about using my garden to find all of the weeds that she was using for her hands-on ID class. Lots of people here that are more than willing to help out if you ask them!!!
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Post by swilk on Sept 23, 2014 9:21:04 GMT -5
Thank you.
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Post by throbak on Sept 23, 2014 12:43:33 GMT -5
Look up Bur Cucumber
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Post by esshup on Sept 24, 2014 9:12:57 GMT -5
From reading that description, Burr Cucumber is what I have around here. Once the major infestation was taken care of, now I just pull out what few plants I find. I'm down to less than 10 plants per year yanked out of the ground now, and I'm getting them before they set seeds.
Thanks for the update!
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