Text 23369, 87 rader
Skriven 2007-11-24 12:59:26 av Glen Jamieson
     Kommentar till en text av Jim Weller
Ärende: KUDZU   71124
=====================
 -=> Quoting Jim Weller to Glen Jamieson <=-

 GJ> I can probably be thankful that, as far as I know, we don't have the
 GJ> dreaded kudzu in Australia

 JW> In queensland apparently.

Oh?
 
 JW> Some factoids from Columbia University www.columbia.edu

 JW> Identification: A high climbing, trailing, twining deciduous woody
 JW> vine, kudzu can be seen blanketing forests, abandoned houses, and
 JW> whatever else might remain in its path. The roots are tuberous and
 JW> rope like, and the hairy stems can grow to 20 meters in length.

 JW> Original Distribution: In Asia temperate kudzu is found in China,
 JW> Japan, Korea, and Taiwan. In asia tropical kudzu is in Indonesia,
 JW> Malaysia, Papua New Guinea, Philippines, Thailand, and Vietnam.
 JW> Kudzu is also native to Queensland, Australia and, in the Pacific,
 JW> Fiji, New Caledonia, Solomon Islands, Tonga, and Vanuatu. 

Oh, is _that_ what you call kudzu?!  That creeper which grows over
everything in the tropics!  Now I know what you are talking about.  I
have only known it as "creeper".

 JW> Mode(s) of Introduction: In the 1920s, Florida nursery operators
 JW> Charles and Lillie Pleas discovered that animals would eat the kudzu
 JW> and promoted its use as forage. In the 1930s, the Soil Conservation
 JW> Service employed hundreds of young men in the Civilian Conservation
 JW> Corps to plant the vine for erosion control.  In the 1940's, the US
 JW> Government paid farmers as much as 8 dollars per acre of vine they
 JW> planted. 

Bet they are sorry about that now!

 JW> Reason(s) Why it has Become Established: Besides escaping native
 JW> insect predators, the climate of the Southeastern US is perfect for
 JW> kudzu. The vines grow as much as one foot per day during summer
 JW> months, climbing anything from trees to power poles to abandoned
 JW> buses. In addition, kudzu is an extremely hardy plant. It is drought

 JW> Threat(s): Kudzu has and continues to smother forests in the south-
 JW> eastern United States by preventing them from getting sunlight and
 JW> breaking them under the weight of its vines.  Some forests have been
 JW> strangled in as little as two to three years. Kudzu also threatens

In the tropics where kudzu is indigenous, it doesn't kill the trees.
The existing vegetation is also vigorous and able to co-exist with it.
It is the standard creeper which is everywhere, and climbs over
abandoned buildings, gold dredges, Japanese tanks, etc.  The populace
is used to it, and it is not considered any more of a pest than any
other weed.  It is there, and always has been.  Farmers clear it as a
matter of course from the food gardens, so it doesn't interfere with
the growing sweet potato vines.  I haven't heard of anyone eating it,
though.  There are lots of other edible green-leaf vegetables.

 JW> Control Level Diagnosis: Highest Priority-Attempts to control kudzu
 JW> must be continued and enhanced. The vine already covers a huge area
 JW> and is continuing to spread rapidly.

 JW> Control Methods: 

 JW> Grazing: The prospect of using kudzu for grazing was a reason for
 JW> its planting in the US. Indeed, the plant is comparable in
 JW> nutritional value and digestibility to other commonly used forages.
 JW> To control kudzu by grazing, though, it is necessary to fence in the
 JW> entire patch. Only by repeatedly grazing growth over several seasons
 JW> will the root stores be depleted. Such grazing projects are already
 JW> underway. As of September 2001, 600 sheep were gnawing kudzu in
 JW> Tallahassee, Florida and dozens more were dining in smaller sites
 JW> around New England. Also, Dr. Errol G. Rhoden, with researchers at
 JW> Tuskegee University, is raising Angora goats in fields of kudzu.
 JW> While keeping the vine from spreading further, the goats also
 JW> produce milk and wool products. Rhoden says a constant grazing will
 JW> eventually eradicate the kudzu. 

As I said, use goats.  You don't have to fence them in if you tether
the goat to a tree or a peg in the ground.

Thanks for that info.  Very interesting.  Now I know what you are all
on about.

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