Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunter's Campfire Off the shelf Kudzu chemicals ???

Yeah, I know. Kudzu is the weed that eat the South... Son lives in S.C. He will be deploying or PCS'ing by end of year. Looking to sell his house. His back yard backs up to an old pine plantation. He has about a 30' x 80' (+/-) section of pine trees with firmly established cover of Kudzu. What is the best strategy to remove and subdue the kudzu for 6 months until he gets the house sold ?

> The pre-mix Roundup in the gold plastic jug seems to do O.K. for initial kill. Takes a few weeks. But does the job. In the pre-mix jugs, coverage is slow and will cost some $$$'s.
> Figure after the kill down will require manual effort with a machete and grubbing hoe to clear out around the tress.
> He is hoping that after the initial clearing that he can keep it at bay with a lawn mower and spot treatments until he sells the house.

The goal is to get the furthest reaches of the back yard presentable for sale. I will have one week of vacay to assist with manual labor. Will have to add $$$'s on top of that to leverage the deal. All constructive recommendations appreciated.

I'd recommend he go to a local farm elevator, or crop supply place for both advice, and herbicide. The county extinction office should have pamphlets, and advice as well. I doubt if he is the only one with the weeds.

I have found that a mixture of roundup and brush killer mixed with a Surfactant make a heck of a lethal combination.

Roundup isn't as effective as 2,4-D or Dicamba. It'll work but it's slower. I used Dicamba (Range Star was the brand I used) recently on some weeds that some old 2,4-D I had on hand wasn 't getting. It did the job. Any of these will kill any broadleaf plants so be careful in areas you don't want killed. Dicamba is also good in pastures and lawns to kill dandelions, etc.
Roundup is Monsanto's brand name for glyphosate. It's out of patent so there are any number of generics now and almost all will be cheaper than Roundup.

Buy or rent some goats

what a lot of the average public doesn't recognize and understand is that kudzu as an invasive has to be eliminated (if you want to get rid of it). it cannot be controlled, managed, or reduced. it has to be eliminated. and it might take three or so sprayings. first the big spraying, then the follow-up spot trtmnts.

either eliminate it, or fight it forever. the choice is yours to make.

Thank you for the input gents !

OMG ! That's hardcore.

I recommend Remedy Herbicide with a surfactant.

https://www.dowagro.com/en-us/range/products/remedy-ultra

http://www.rrsi.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/05/Remedy_Ultra_Fact_Sheet1.pdf

Here's how I killed a patch along a creek at the edge of a hay field several years ago.

1. Cut every single vine going up into the trees as high off the ground as you can reach, not matter how small the vine is. Leaving leaves on the tree trunks that you can spray is good. Leaving leaves up in the trees that you can't spray is wasting your time because they will feed the roots; that's why you have to cut the vines.
2. Spray with 41% glyphosate mixed to the "stronger" dilution for hardy perennials on the label. I used roundup because this was years ago before the patent expired. I now use generic 41% glyphosate. Coverage of all leaves is the key, not spraying most of them until they are dripping.
3. After the leaves start yellowing, spray the ones you missed.
4. It will probably sprout again. Let it leaf out as long as you can; remember that more leaves present will carry more chemical to the roots. Spray again.
5. You may have to repeat this cycle two or three (or more) times before you kill it.

I completely eradicated a patch about 50 yds. long and 5 yds. deep using only a hand sprayer and patience. Since it was in the trees it was harder to find all the vines than if it had been in a fencerow or field. I eventually found the "mother vine" when it sprouted one last time. It was about the size of my forearm. I cut it close to the ground and painted the stump with undiluted 41% roundup; it didn't sprout again (you can also kill small trees by cutting them and painting the stump at ground level with 41%).

This method was essentially the instructions included back when you got a booklet of roundup instructions instead of the fold-out leaflet attached to the bottle. It doesn't sound like you have as much time as I had, but since it's prime growing season you may be able to speed up the process. The better it's growing, the better glyphosate works.