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  • From: Todd Lister <toddlister1 AT gmail.com>
  • To: Market Farming <market-farming AT lists.ibiblio.org>
  • Subject: Re: [Market-farming] Poison Ivy!
  • Date: Mon, 31 May 2010 22:27:35 -0400

I have gotten severe cases of PI more times than I care to recall. About ten years ago a doctor friend gave me a sheet of paper with some VERY valuable info on it from a med journal.
It stated that the worst thing you can do when you have made contact with PI is wash it with warm water. Warm water spreads the oil without destroying it's punch. COLD water will neutralize the poison. No soap, no problem. I found this hard to believe. I tested it with a quick rinse after I had come in contact and some of the oil rinsed between my fingers and I still got the curse. Later,Ireally wanting this to work  I pulled a bunch of PI vines out of the ground barehanded and very thouroughly rinsed my hands (including between my fingers) and got no reaction. Period. I have used this approach many many times over the years now. IT WORKS. I never use soap or worry about PI if I can get to cold water within about ten minutes. The article stated about ten minutes as the time limit. I still get a bad reaction when I inadvertently come in contact with the dreaded plant and fail to know it. Today I pull PI plants bare handed and it has become easy to maintain. Hard to believe but true.                                                                                                                                                        Todd Lister

On Mon, May 31, 2010 at 9:58 PM, maury sheets <maurysheets AT verizon.net> wrote:

Deb,

 

With poison Ivy, you WILL consider any option including tactical nukes.  I have it, I get it and also poison sumac.  The sumac is growing like a weed and gets 6 to seven feet high ( it’s the small low stuff that sneaks up on you).  Washing with soap and water  when in contact will take care of the problem, but you have to wash cloths that came in contact also.  I just dig the Ivy out whenever I see it.  Good luck, I hate it with a passion.

 

Maury Sheets

Woodland Produce

South jersey

I don’t think we are put here to see through each other, but are here to see each other through.

 

From: market-farming-bounces AT lists.ibiblio.org [mailto:market-farming-bounces AT lists.ibiblio.org] On Behalf Of Deb Taft
Sent: Monday, May 31, 2010 7:08 PM
To: Market-farming AT lists.ibiblio.org
Subject: [Market-farming] Poison Ivy!

 


Hi All.

 

I hope you had as gorgeous a weekend as we did here.

 

At my new little farm I have just discovered a wealth of poison ivy.  I have a small mowed section where I'm keeping my bees and in the last week the PI has exploded.  I guess it was being kept in-check by all the stuff I just mowed.  I'm also finding bits of it returning in the areas I've cultivated.  It isn't big and woody yet, just tender herbaceous runners.  This gives me some hope that I can get rid of it.

 

The section isn't huge but I really don't want to take the time to pull it all by hand.  I got such a late start because of the permitting process that I have too much to do without spending days in a hazmat suit pulling the damned stuff.  I'm recovering from my first encounter with it, which resulted in a nasty rash but in a limited area.  I washed with Tecnu as soon as I realized what I had been handling and that seemed to keep it from spreading.

 

What are your suggestions for eradication?

 

I've read that horticultural grade vinegar (20% acetic acid) will work but is hard to come by unless you want a 55 gallon drum.  It seems like most web forums eventually end up agreeing that RoundUp is the way to go, since glysophate breaks down readily.  Some sources also recommend Brush-B-Gone, which contains Triclopyr.  Triclopyr has a half-life in soil of 1.1 to 90 days but is "practically non-toxic" to birds, fish, water insects and bees.  Couldn't find anything about its affects on soil biology.

 

I can't believe I'm even considering these options.

 

Help!  There must be a better way.

 

Deb

Mobius Fields

Sleepy Hollow NY

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 


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