Exotic weeds?

[BS Man about Palms]

Well, as many of you know, I have a lot of weeds... some very different .. But few give me pause enough to snap a photo as I was trying to start weeding in earnest here soon. I noticed this one has "acne" on the leaves (or so it looks) Ever seen this?

This morning I snapped a shot and it looks ready to bloom soon, I'm tempted to wait to see what it looks like..

Anyone else have ones different to show (yes, I can and probably will show some others)

[Gonzer]

Picris echioides; Bristly Oxtongue. Makes a damn fine taco!

[Stevetoad]

looks painful

[Gonzer]

They're really not Steve. The bristles tend to give under pressure. I don't know though, the ones in Bill's yard could be extra big. Legend has it that many neighborhood kids have disappeared after venturing into his weeds looking for lost balls. "POOF"! Scattered bones and bits of hair were all that were left. They say the weeds et 'em all up!

[Stevetoad]

bones and hair...hows that work for mulch

[BS Man about Palms]

How about this one? Herb or weed?

[fastfeat]

  On 7/7/2011 at 3:15 PM, BS Man about Palms said:

How about this one? Herb or weed?

Nutsedge. Nasty crap; difficult to control because it leaves little nutlets behind when pulled. Check a good nursery for an effective control. (I've gotten rusty with my herbicides and don't want to recommend one that may no longer be on the market. Used to use methyl bromide, but...)

[fastfeat]

  On 7/7/2011 at 3:15 PM, BS Man about Palms said:

How about this one? Herb or weed?

Nutsedge. Nasty crap; difficult to control because it leaves little nutlets behind when pulled. Check a good nursery for an effective control. (I've gotten rusty with my herbicides and don't want to recommend one that may no longer be on the market. Used to use methyl bromide, but...)

[Jerry@TreeZoo]

If you shoot the nutsedge with roundup, wait for it to come back and shoot it again, then wait for it to come back once more and shoot it again, that usually gets it. This means you have to leave the soil alone for about 4-6 weeks though, you don't want to disturb the "nuts" underground until they sprout. Tough to get rid of in a lawn.

[Gonzer]

I don't think that's Purple Nutsedge. The root system has too many white, active roots and no sign of the leader stolon. I think they may be stray seeds of some type. Who knows what's lurking in William's yard. If indeed it is PN then I've got some 'Manage' that you can use Bill....but it doesn't look like it,

[Jerry@TreeZoo]

It is a sedge, but it is not purple nut sedge.

[Stevetoad]

oooo that is bad stuff my father in law has it all over. "manage" is the only thing that seems to work for him. still it takes a few treatments.

[paulgila]

there are triffids in there--& they will have their day!

[DoomsDave]

Hmm.

Purple nutsedge is more yellow in the leaves and stems.

I know this because I have it, and it keeps coming back

There are special herbicides that are aimed at controlling it.

I don't think BS' plant is purple nutsedge. There are others, though, and that's probably one.

dave

[Mark lasvegas]

For nutsedge, I used to apply 2-4-d with a dropper to each plant.

Years ago, it was fairly easy to eradicate with Vapam, sodium dithiocarbamate, (I heard it's still available in Mexico) but like with most chemicals that work, they either ban it, or the manufacturer stops making it.

[BS Man about Palms]

Funny thing is, I'm no expert, but I thought it was a chive or something like it...

[Kumar]

I planted two varieties of Phalaris in Calcutta, brought from Bombay where it has become a weed in some gardens. the small rootstock bundles took to my thick soil easily and here they are after one season, thriving and sending out new runners across the garden tiles. This variegated one looks nice though you must beware of the sharp blades.

[Stevetoad]

  On 7/8/2011 at 4:20 PM, pohonkelapa said:

there are triffids in there--& they will have their day!

[BS Man about Palms]

Pretty sad how big this one got in my FRONT YARD.. before I noticed it because it fell over!!

Acura integra 2 door for size reference...

[bgl]

Bill,

Those are weeds? I almost need a magnifying glass to see them! You REALLY need to come here for a visit so you can get a good understanding of what REAL weeds are supposed to look like! This is an 80 ft tall Cecropia, and YES, it is a serious weed. And if you don't yank them out early when they are small, they will VERY quickly take on monster proportions. Before and after pictures. Ten minutes apart. And "before" and "after" as in before and after this particular one had an unfortunate encounter with my chainsaw!

Bo-Göran

[BS Man about Palms]

Bo. Are trees allowed to be called weeds? Isn't it against the Geneva convention or something like that?

[bgl]

Actually, Bill, surprisingly they don't start out as trees! They start out as these cute little manageable weeds, and you say to yourself "I'll get to those next week". Then you get sidetracked planting palms and bromeliads and six months later you say OOOPS because now those cute little weeds are ten ft tall! And THEN if you turn your back on them AGAIN and let another 6-12 months go by (it happens! ) they will be 20-25 ft tall. Seriously. In the case of these Cecropias, there were bunch of of them on my two new acres. And a few as tall as the one in the photos above. There are also plenty of strawberry guava, another invasive (and very aggressive) weed. And they are most definitely weeds even though they will get up to 50 ft tall or so. The wood is hard, so once they get to that size a chainsaw is the only effective weapon.

[peachy]

Yes some trees are weeds here too. I get infested with chinese elms, bauhinia, wild tobacco trees and the dreaded worst offender of all....tipuana tipu. By the time they are noticeable in the shrubbery they are too big to get out. Leave them for 12 months and they are suddenly 3 metres high. My queen palms are a bit on the fecund side and spread their babies all over the place.

Peachy

[Palm crazy]

To many weeds here to list, they grow all year long here, so I weed most of them out every year but here are a few I left.

These are all weeds.

Kangaroo apples from Australia.

Native Cordylines from Australia/New Zealand

Butterfly bush and sunflowers

[Palm crazy]

Dung this one up, going to keep it, pride of madeira echium from Africa I get about 100 of these every year All over the garden.

This one came up this year, shoo fly plant and it variegated. Interesting leaves shapes with camellia and sunflower leaf.

Edited August 16, 2011 by Palm crazy

[Palm crazy]

Purple Nutsedge has roots that connect to each other, but the yellow Nutsedge does not, to me it look like a red hot poker, lol!

[dalmatiansoap]

Some of mine

[JungleGina]

I was trying for a cecropia (for its yummy fruit) but appear to have something else. Anyone know what it is? Very fast growing but I like the leaf shape.

[BS Man about Palms]

Doesn't LOOK like a weed...

[Moose]

I don't know what this it is called. Gets prolific in the rainy season.

I just call Jeff Searle and he stops by and cuts it back for me and hauls it away.

[bgl]

Why not charge him?

[BS Man about Palms]

Nice to see the Moose man back with such an endearing weed...

[bananaman]

I have a bad weedtree call wax-leaf ligustrum.

Once you notice it, you can't really get it out.

If you cut down a mature one, the roots will keep sprouting suckers for 5 years +

Also, I used to grow passionvines, and now one of those is a weed too!!!

[Palm crazy]

Here's an update on those exotic weeds in my garden that volunteer every year.

August.

Tall leafy plant is Solanum laciniatum! Blue flowers spring to fall. It reseeds every year. I usually just pull them out but this year I had a feeling they would make it, so I kept them. 20F can kill them to the ground, so will just have to see how they do this winter. I've never had one be evergreen all winter.

I may keep this clump come spring, hard to believe they are only 6 months old from seed. The echium is a volunteer also. To give you an idea how tall this plant is, the plant stand is 6' tall.

Thanks for looking!

December.

[bgl]

Here's a real bad one: Miconia calvescens. The Division of Forestry and Wildlife of the Hawaii Department of Land and Natural Resources has designated this species as one of Hawaii's Most Invasive Horticultural Plants. I understand it has had a devastating impact in Tahiti. It was introduced on the Big Island in the 1960s, and "ground zero" is on the steep slopes right above the Visitor Center of Hawaii Tropical Botanical Garden, a few miles north of Hilo (even though HTBG had nothing to do with its introduction). If not eliminated the plant will grow up to 25-30 ft tall and in effect take over entire areas. There used to be a dedicated Miconia Eradication Team here in Leilani Estates, doing Search and Destroy missions on properties without structures where the owner was living elsewhere. I have a number of them on my new property, and they all face a death sentence. Sorry to be so blunt, but with Miconias there's no choice. And at this size, they are still easy to eliminate.

[Matt in SD]

  On 8/17/2011 at 1:51 AM, JungleGina said:

I was trying for a cecropia (for its yummy fruit) but appear to have something else. Anyone know what it is? Very fast growing but I like the leaf shape.

This is a tapioca tree (Manihot sp.). They can be a bit weedy in California too. THe leaves are cool though.

Matt

[tjwalters]

  On 8/17/2011 at 1:51 AM, JungleGina said:

I was trying for a cecropia (for its yummy fruit) but appear to have something else. Anyone know what it is? Very fast growing but I like the leaf shape.

Looks like Manihot grahamii.

[monkeyranch]

I got to wondering how a forest pioneer tree such as Cercropia found its way from Latin America to Hawaii. It was apparently aerially seeded into the Panaewa Forest Reserve near Hilo in 1928 and then naturalized there, the lower Waiakea Forest Reserve and elsewhere. The idea was to establish viable timber species, particularly for veneer but it turned out there were shrinkage problems as it dried. Oops. You would have thought they would have worked some of these things out before hucking seeds out of a plane. Oh well, we live and learn. Cecropia pdf Link not working, here's the url: www.ctahr.hawaii.edu/forestry/trees/.../CFT_Cecropia_obtusifolia.pdf

Edited December 21, 2011 by monkeyranch