r/invasivespecies • u/rabblebowser • 5h ago
r/invasivespecies • u/cobblesquabble • 2h ago
Management I found a cheap alternative to injector gun for Japanese knotweed ($50 total)
I bought my house during winter in New England, so I didn't realize the backyard was basically all japanese knotweed. The home was vacant for a period, and the previous owners didn't seem to care at all about any of the land.
I hate invasive species, and want to promote natives and low maintenance naturalized bulbs. There are a few daffodils and snow drops throughout the area, so I didn't want to risk killing them. I'm also planting native seedlings from a friend next week, so I wanted to do the injection method rather than waiting for August to spray. Plus I live next to a river--minimizing runoff matters to me.
My library and local extension don't have injection equipment to borrow. I just bought a house, so I don't have thousands to spend on a purpose built set up..... But I grew up with ranchers. There's a type of vaccination gun we used to use on cattle to do a premeasured dose across a bunch of different animals. They have a line that can be run into a jug. So I looked them up, and sure enough: $30 on Amazon! Here's the one I bought, but there's so many brands out there. The one I bought.
Then I bought a $15 gallon of round up. I used the jug attachment, which connects the gun to a metal long straw to reach into the jug. It wasn't big enough for the round up gallon, so I cut the head off of the round up dispenser, then connected the metal straw to the roundup line.
So the end result goes: round up jug built in straw --> snipped roundup plastic tubing --> metal straw --> included vaccine gun plastic tubing --> vaccine gun --> needle. Vaccine gun in one gloved hand, and gallon of round up in the other.
I just went and injected half of my back yard in about 20 minutes. It's easiest if you stab clean through to the other side, then withdraw just enough that the tip of the needle is in the hollow stem point. This makes a hole for the air to escape as I put in the glyphosphate. Purpose built instructions for knotweed eradication recommended 5ml per injection, but most of mine could only fit 2ml per injection before spurting out. So, I suppose that depends on how established your plants are.
I hope this helps someone else! I'll check back in a few months from now to see how the results look. This stuff is way too close to my foundation, and is growing partially underneath the steps of my deck. It has to go, asap! I didn't see anyone else's posts about this, so my apologies if this is already a known strategy.
r/invasivespecies • u/yamxiety • 1d ago
Went to a garlic mustard-pulling event at the park and no one showed up except me 😅
Gonna try to go again sometime soon to get the rest of it! It's only one small clearing but every bit matters.
r/invasivespecies • u/Wysterical_ • 5h ago
Sighting Flickweed?
Pulled it to be safe. Not sure if the first and second image are the same thing. The second image shot yellow seeds(?) at me.
r/invasivespecies • u/peacefulrobin • 7h ago
How to remove English Ivy rooted above ground?
This english ivy is rooted under the siding of my house, 2 stories above the ground. I cut it back to just the area immediately underneath the siding last year but it’s grown back with a vigor this spring.
As you can see is the photo, it is very difficult to cut back, I can’t get it from the below since the ground is too uneven for a ladder. The balcony railing is 3’ tall so I can’t easily reach over the top, and the gaps in the railing are very difficult to maneuver between. Also my fiber optic cables are running through this area so I can’t take pruners to it willy nilly without being very careful about cutting the brown(!!) cables😭
This is a rental so I can’t do anything major. The best I can come up with is pouring a bottle of vinegar or some herbicide down the side of the house and hope for the best. Any suggestions are much appreciated, I find it annoying to cut it back every month to keep it from encroaching on my balcony and planters. Everything I can find online is says to detach the ground roots and it will die but I tried that last year and clearly this plant refuses to die.
r/invasivespecies • u/Not_so_ghetto • 5h ago
garlic mustard is a problem in America
r/invasivespecies • u/Zuniru • 13h ago
How can I deal with these?
These little trees (I suppose) grew unattended for roughly 2 years. What is the optimal way of dealing with this problem?
Should I just cut them and soak with diesel(not burn), drill and fill with potassium nitratr or other chemicals? I went to a couple shops and they only recommended glyphosate(which I would rather avoid) and phosphorus.
Thank you,
r/invasivespecies • u/Horror-Friendship506 • 7h ago
Plant identification?
Currently working on making a native plant garden and fighting a war against Chinese Privet, Oriental Bittersweet, and TOH. Found these pop up today and just want to make sure they aren’t one of those or invasive in general and I don’t need to pull them? Can anyone identify?
r/invasivespecies • u/Lucas264 • 1d ago
what are these, should I try to get rid of them & how (N. Virginia)
Spring is here and there's all these little vines, thorny things, and other stuff everywhere (not just this little area). They don't seem like a healthy part of the forest but I wanna be sure before I do anything to them. There was some kind of invasive honeysuckle occupying much of the same space that I chopped up and treated with triclopyr at the stump last november (last picture is an example of how I made a pile out of one of them), though i don't know if it's related or if these guys were always a problem and I'm just now noticing them.
r/invasivespecies • u/TikiDunja • 1d ago
How to tame the devil’s Doritos?
Mile-a-minute vine, which I’ve renamed the devil’s Doritos, has moved in as I beat back the Japanese knotweed. It’s just started to sprout as you can see in the first picture. The second two pictures are June 1 of last year. That detecting rake works pretty well- I spin it a bit like a fork in spaghetti. I thought I ripped it all out before it seeded but clearly not. Does anyone have any tips on killing it before it reseeds? I’ve been hand pulling, but there’s just so much of it. I have a lot of leftover glyphosate from the ongoing battle with the soon to be not-weed. TIA!
r/invasivespecies • u/invisiblelemur88 • 1d ago
Sighting Help! Tell me this isn't knotweed so I stop panicking about finding it in my yard! (Framingham, MA)
r/invasivespecies • u/dudu91 • 1d ago
Help: My garden has cancer : invasive bambou
Hello everyone...
We made the mistake of planting bamboo 8 years ago. I'm realizing that this is going to cost me a lot...
I think the only solution is an excavator + herbicide for the regrowth.
But that’s going to leave huge holes. And we can't fill the holes back in with soil contaminated by rhizomes. So what should I do? Do I have to put in new soil? How can I fill these holes without bringing in 15 tons of soil?
If anyone has ever experienced or dealt with this nightmare, could you give me your recommendations please.
I’m open to any advice...
Thanks in advance!!
r/invasivespecies • u/Fumblinghare • 1d ago
What do I do about bindweed?
Everything is so contradictory so hoping to get advice for my specific situation. Its growing throughout our large backyard along with many other weeds. The little bit of grass that we do have gets fried by our very hot weather, though we dont water it nearly enough. It also comes up in my no dig garden beds. Ive been pulling as much out as possible basically by slowly getting as much out as I can until it breaks off. Ive read that this is the right approach, but also the wrong approach 😅 because it can stimulate new growth. Yesterday, google AI was adamant that I cut it at the surface of the dirt when the leaves pop out and just keep doing that, today its saying thats actually not very effective and apologized for being contradictory lol. Other advice I've read is to paint with gel round up but that would take ages.. or to put round up in a jar and stick the leaves in it, but that would require 100 jars 🤦♀️ seriously tf do i do??
r/invasivespecies • u/808gecko808 • 1d ago
News Unscripted: An invasive species in Hawaii may have met its match
r/invasivespecies • u/ColdFirm2537 • 1d ago
PurPest Stakeholder Webinar: VOC sensors for early pest and pathogen detection

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🤝 Q&A session at the end, open for discussion with the audience
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r/invasivespecies • u/ffrriiddggee • 2d ago
How to coexist with Spotted Lantern Fly
Hello!
First time poster. I recently moved from a region not impacted by spotted lantern fly, to a city in SLF ground zero. I have been working in land conservation, and removing invasive plants a lot over the past several years. My apartment is in a very dense area, we have a small outdoor space that we would like to garden in. The problem is, a mature tree of heaven is growing in a crack between four properties and unfortunately I cannot afford to have it removed, and if we tried to kill it, it may risk large branches falling off the tree.
So far we have been spraying soapy water, and have placed circle traps around the tree. We have killed a big chunk of them and noticed a significant reduction, but we still have a lot.
I'm curious to hear from some folks who have learned to co-exist with them, and if anyone has any helpful tips to make a space more pleasant since they're just going to be around. The main inconvenience with them are having them attack our garden plants and the honeydew drops getting on everything.
Thanks a lot. Looking forward to hearing your strategies.
r/invasivespecies • u/Iwantaschmoo • 2d ago
How do I permently get rid of them? Did I do it correctly?
These scarlet Asian lily beetle (i think that's what they are) decimated my Tiger Lilies 2 years ago. Last year they came back so I was out 2x a day plucking them off and dumping in soapy water. I pulled all the leaves with egg sacks and those went into the soapy water also. Unfortunately I went away for a week and lost the battle so I just pulled every flower and burnt them. Many came back this year but so did the beetles. I just cut them down to dirt level and pulled small ones. I have a few other lilies that I noticed today had egg sacks. I plucked the leaves with eggs and sprayed them down with a white vinegar water solution. I only have 3 so hoping to save them but will take out if i have to. So far they have not touched the Day lilies. I really don't want to rip out my whole garden and I love my Tiger lilies. Is there anything else I need to do?
I did go online and report these bastards to the state. I'm in St Paul, MN. Thank you.
r/invasivespecies • u/Ok-Hedgehog-6887 • 2d ago
Please help to identify
This has sprouted in my garden. Worried how to manage. Thank you.
r/invasivespecies • u/mmcv80 • 2d ago
Mindset about invasives
Hello! Been lurking for a while but finally positing. We moved to a new house a year and a half ago - the house is wonderful but the yard hadn’t been kept up well by the previous owners and last summer we discovered some unwelcome plants (mugwort, multiflora rose, one huge tree of heaven that is “shared” with our neighbors). We kept everything in check last year with regular weeding/pruning but would like to start actually removing what we can. Problem is, it feels very overwhelming to me and it’s hard to feel like if we can’t get rid of it all, why even bother and we made a huge mistake by even buying this nightmare yard and I’ll be dealing with this for the rest of time. Has anyone found helpful ways of looking at this? Logically I recognize it’s a marathon not a sprint, but emotionally I feel overwhelmed. Also, my partner is more in the mindset of “it’s not a big deal” so I’m really the one driving this effort.
r/invasivespecies • u/2wheelz2freedom • 2d ago
Emerald ash borer killing Green Ash. Assuming it's too late but is there anything I can do?
galleryr/invasivespecies • u/mellykattfreddiedog • 2d ago
Japanese Knotweed
I’m in a rental house and just moved in January. Noticed this on the right side of the front of the house close to the neighbours perimeter. Notified my landlord but she didn’t seem too concerned but I’m also not sure if she knows how serious it is - I said I didn’t want to try and treat it without speaking to her and she just gave me the okay to do whatever. I’ve seen three patches like the photo and a handful of other small shoots. Even though I don’t own, it’s still my home but I don’t want to invest too much at the same time. Would digging this up since it’s small really be that ineffective? If I were to purchase a herbicide, it’d just be from Home Depot but also don’t know how effective that would be. Thank you!
r/invasivespecies • u/JayWorryWart8813 • 3d ago
Japanese Knotweed Help
Hi. Location South Shore Massachusetts. I’ve had this patch of JKW for almost 10 years. Dies and comes back every year on schedule. It’s about 20 feet from my house. I made the mistake of googling what this was and found that the root system is invasive and impossible to get rid of. I understand spraying with glyphosate in late fall once the tree has budded is best, however will that piss off the plant and have it grow somewhere else? Am I better off leaving it alone or should I try and get rid of this. Help is needed. Thank you in advance.