However, it can also invade agricultural land, hammocks and urban forests and can impact utility lines and railroads. Kudzu is the host for an insect pest, known as the kudzu bug or bean plataspid, and a disease called soybean rust, both of which cause serious damage to leguminous crops such as soybeans, field peas, lima beans and green beans. The Florida Department of Agriculture categorizes kudzu as a noxious weed, meaning that it is unlawful to introduce, multiply, possess, move or release these plants without a permit.
Private landowners who happen to have a noxious weed on their property are not penalized. Kudzu grows rapidly — up to a foot a day! Plants develop underground runners called rhizomes, as well as multiple trailing stems, which root into the ground and form new plantlets. Over time, kudzu forms an extensive root system, with massive tubers that can weight up to pounds and extend 10 feet deep.
The carbohydrates stored in this root system allow kudzu to withstand and recover quickly after drought, freezing temperatures and burning. Herbicides are effective on small, immature patches of kudzu, but larger infestations require repeated applications over extended periods of time, which can be very expensive.
The USDA is currently investigating a bioherbicide containing the fungal pathogen Myrothecium verrucaria , and initial trials with kudzu are promising. Though William Faulkner, Eudora Welty and others in that first great generation of Southern writers largely ignored kudzu, its metaphorical attraction became irresistible by the early s.
For the generations of writers who followed, many no longer intimately connected to the land, kudzu served as a shorthand for describing the Southern landscape and experience, a ready way of identifying the place, the writer, the effort as genuinely Southern. For many, the vivid depictions of kudzu had simply become the defining imagery of the landscape, just as palms might represent Florida or cactus Arizona. But for others, kudzu was a vine with a story to tell, symbolic of a strange hopelessness that had crept across the landscape, a lush and intemperate tangle the South would never escape.
Confronted by these bleak images, some Southerners began to wear their kudzu proudly, evidence of their invincible spirit. Kudzu: A Southern Musical toured the country. In news media and scientific accounts and on some government websites, kudzu is typically said to cover seven million to nine million acres across the United States. In the latest careful sampling, the U. Forest Service reports that kudzu occupies, to some degree, about , acres of forestland, an area about the size of a small county and about one-sixth the size of Atlanta.
By way of comparison, the same report estimates that Asian privet had invaded some 3. Invasive roses had covered more than three times as much forestland as kudzu. And though many sources continue to repeat the unsupported claim that kudzu is spreading at the rate of , acres a year—an area larger than most major American cities—the Forest Service expects an increase of no more than 2, acres a year. Even existing stands of kudzu now exude the odor of their own demise, an acrid sweetness reminiscent of grape bubble gum and stink bug.
A study of one site showed a one-third reduction in kudzu biomass in less than two years. In early s, it was recognized and promoted as a forage crop and planted throughout the southeastern U. In the s and s, the Soil Conservation Service paid southern farmers to plant kudzu to reduce soil erosion on deforested lands, resulting in over 1 million acres being planted.
In , it was listed as a federal noxious weed by the U. Distribution and Habitat Kudzu occurs primarily in the eastern U. Infestations have also been reported in North Dakota and Oregon. That's scary enough, but the weight of kudzu vines can actually uproot trees, elevating the plant from a mere annoyance to an actual source of danger. As early as , the U. In , it declared kudzu a weed because of the nuisance caused by its relentless growth [source: Southeast Exotic Pest Plant Council ].
The problem has only grown since then because of the way that kudzu overtakes and smothers native plants, setting off a chain reaction that undermines ecosystems in the process. It's chilling in its simplicity, actually: Kudzu disrupts the food chain by threatening vegetation that native animals use for food and shelter. What's more, kudzu root systems impact the amount of water in the soil and ultimately, the ecosystem itself. What can a farmer, forester or simple landowner do to control kudzu?
First, you've got to be persistent and be able to rally a team ready for combat. It's not unlike exterminating insects from your apartment or condo: You'll have to get all neighboring landowners to work together to snuff out a kudzu infestation. For your kudzu control program to succeed, each person must faithfully play his or her part.
On kudzu patches younger than 25 years old, three or four years of frequent and continuous mowing and grazing can keep it in check. In Tennessee, some people are using goats to chow down on kudzu in urban and suburban areas. You'll want to get the support and guidance of your local kudzu control program authority; even simple mowing and grazing methods require that you contain the infested area by cutting large vines and fencing it off. From there, you may have to burn the land and apply a series of herbicides.
The herbicide you choose depends on a number of factors, such as where the kudzu is growing, the size of its root crowns and the soil conditions, to name a few.
You should consult your local kudzu control or land use authority before even attempting to buy any herbicide, though: Some of them are so toxic that you'll need a special permit to buy and apply any of the stuff -- they contaminate runoff water, streams, rivers, lakes and crops. When you contact an expert, he or she will work with you to come up with the best way to address your kudzu problem. You may find yourself spraying tall overgrowth with a pressure hose spewing a fancy weed killer.
You and your neighbors could end up driving big farm equipment like crop sprayers and dusting large areas of land that's covered with kudzu. Patience is the key: It may take seven to 10 years of repeated spraying, cutting and chopping to resolve your kudzu infestation. In his poem "Kudzu," James Dickey wrote, "In Georgia, the legend says that you must close your windows at night to keep it out of the house.
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How Kudzu Works. How Kudzu Grows " ". Alternative Uses for Kudzu As we learned earlier, kudzu's history begins in ancient Asia. Kudzu King.
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