Japanese Knotweed

[peds]

Yeah I know, knot exactly a tree, but you guys are just so bloody clever I know you can help with this.

 

I've just inherited the use of a polytunnel which has lain dormant for a couple of years, and a nearby clump of Japanese Knotweed has started to poke through the ground in places. It's not too bad, but the problem will only get worse, obviously. I'll try and get a couple of photos tomorrow.

I've got plans to move the tunnel in the future, maybe next season, maybe the year after... but for this year, what can I do to minimise the problem? I'm wary of cutting the stems out, but I'd much rather keep the ground that I have available instead of putting in raised beds or benches after putting down sheets or slabs or something, as I hope to move the tunnel in the future. How much of an extra problem am I creating by just cutting the stems now and pretending they don't exist for the rest of the season?

 

Thanks for any advice dudes.

[Stubby]

1 minute ago, peds said:

Yeah I know, knot exactly a tree, but you guys are just so bloody clever I know you can help with this.

 

I've just inherited the use of a polytunnel which has lain dormant for a couple of years, and a nearby clump of Japanese Knotweed has started to poke through the ground in places. It's not too bad, but the problem will only get worse, obviously. I'll try and get a couple of photos tomorrow.

I've got plans to move the tunnel in the future, maybe next season, maybe the year after... but for this year, what can I do to minimise the problem? I'm wary of cutting the stems out, but I'd much rather keep the ground that I have available instead of putting in raised beds or benches after putting down sheets or slabs or something, as I hope to move the tunnel in the future. How much of an extra problem am I creating by just cutting the stems now and pretending they don't exist for the rest of the season?

 

Thanks for any advice dudes.

Pour a couple of bags of dishwasher salt over the area .  I kills other weeds I have found . Cheaper than stem injection so worth a try .

[peds]

I'm sure that would work, but is there not something rather destructive about salting the earth? The Old Testament and history in general is littered with examples where whole civilisations were eradicated, their temples destroyed, their cities razed, and their farmland sown with salt so that nothing would ever grow again...

 

...which, you know, from a horticultural perspective, seems kind of counter-productive...

 

Edited April 7, 2019 by peds

[Stubby]

4 minutes ago, peds said:

I'm sure that would work, but is there not something rather destructive about salting the earth? The Old Testament and history in general is littered with examples where whole civilisations were eradicated, their temples destroyed, their cities razed, and their farmland sown with salt so that nothing would ever grow again...

 

...which, you know, from a horticultural perspective, seems kind of counter-productive...

 

Just the area of the knot weed . Miss out the temples and everything else ?

[peds]

Ahh right, being kind of subtle with it and specifically targeting the knotweed, instead of scattering it about by the bucketful? I guess that would be a bit more ecologically friendly. 

Any idea why dishwasher salt, instead of regular kitchen salt? By my understanding, dishwasher salt is just designed to dissolve at a more regular, slower rate... 

[Toad]

When I've been involved with it we've treated it three times a year with glyphosate, anecdotally the last treatment is supposed to be the most effective if timed so that it's as the plant is shutting down for winter. People seem to inject the stems, I'm not sure if this is better or is done to cause less collateral damage.

Edited April 7, 2019 by Toad

[Stubby]

6 minutes ago, peds said:

Ahh right, being kind of subtle with it and specifically targeting the knotweed, instead of scattering it about by the bucketful? I guess that would be a bit more ecologically friendly. 

Any idea why dishwasher salt, instead of regular kitchen salt? By my understanding, dishwasher salt is just designed to dissolve at a more regular, slower rate... 

It comes in bigger bags .

[peds]

3 minutes ago, Toad said:

People seem to inject the stems, I'm not sure if this is better or is done to cause less collateral damage.

Logically this does seem like it would be the least damaging to an area that I'd like to be planting vegetables in as soon as possible, but what if - and please, don't laugh here - what if I'm morally-opposed to glyphosate? And, more specifically, sticking to an organic growing system? 

[peds]

5 minutes ago, Stubby said:

It comes in bigger bags .

Fuck it then, I'll go for road salt, that comes in ton bags. Bloody knotweed won't know what hit it. 

[openspaceman]

1 minute ago, peds said:

Fuck it then, I'll go for road salt, that comes in ton bags. Bloody knotweed won't know what hit it. 

... but you won't be able to grow anything else in the treated patch!

[Toad]

11 minutes ago, peds said:

Logically this does seem like it would be the least damaging to an area that I'd like to be planting vegetables in as soon as possible, but what if - and please, don't laugh here - what if I'm morally-opposed to glyphosate? And, more specifically, sticking to an organic growing system? 

Just glyphosate, or all chemical herbicides? There's probably alternatives.