Bittersweet

showcrop · Jun 14, 2015

If you are in the Northeast as far as Illinois watch out for it if you don't have it. Google it if you don't know about it. it is a very fast growing invasive vine which can actually pull trees down. I have been fighting it for three years, and have been making some headway. I didn't know that I had it until noticed two inch thick vines and a whole lot of foliage up in some trees. It can grow easily six inches per day, and it likes sun, you won't see it in shaded areas. mowing has no effect on it and may even spread it. I have been spraying it with brush killer which will kill it if it is not too tall yet. But it takes going after it at least two times a year. If you don't have it yet watch for it and go after it aggressively to keep it from getting a start.

gtractorfan · Jun 14, 2015

Are you sure that's bittersweet? The kind that makes orange berries? I have a bittersweet bush in the back yard for years and it doesn't grow at all like that. We also had bittersweet in fence rows years ago, not that aggressive.

Greg1959 · Jun 14, 2015

WOW!

We use to collect this stuff by the handfuls back in the '70's. We use it to make wreaths and fall/winter decorations. Heck, I know people that had it planted around their brick chimneys for the foliage.

Leroy · Jun 14, 2015

Doesn't sound like what I knew as bittersweet. Bittersweet is used as a holliday decoration.

Greg1959 · Jun 14, 2015

Could it be Kudzu?

Edit: that showcrop may be talking about? It is invasive and grows very quickly.

Steve@Advance · Jun 14, 2015

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kudzu_in_the_United_States

JayinNY · Jun 14, 2015

Bittersweet is also known here in New York as
evening nightshade, it has red berries on it in the
summer which are highly poisonous to humans.
The vine also has a putrid smell when you cut it or
break it.

showcrop · Jun 14, 2015

As I said Google it. it will tell you about the docile cousin but watch for this one.

Weldon K · Jun 14, 2015

I never heard of Bittersweet until now. I "googled" it and learned some facts about it. The problem Bittersweet is the Oriental species introduced in U.S. It is actually displacing out the native species which is not invasive.
From an info site....
" According to the USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service, American bittersweet plants occur naturally in the central and eastern U.S., except in Florida. Meanwhile, according to the U.S. National Park Service, oriental bittersweet vines are native to eastern Asia; they were introduced into the U.S. in the 1860s. Reporting on the spread of the oriental variety in the U.S., the Park Service says that it occurs "from New York to North Carolina, and westward to Illinois."

I'm in North Carolina and info states that it is now seen here. I will be on watch for it.
Bittersweet

ShadetreeRet · Jun 14, 2015

Nope. Kudzu is a different plant. Highly evasive and kills other vegetation, but still different.

Leroy · Jun 15, 2015

Bittersweet and evening nightshade are 2 entirely different plants.

Chuck MA · Jun 15, 2015

Showcrop thanks for pointing that out had a vine growing around a dump rake we use as a front yard decoration
and the last few we have had this vine grow around it. Picked some leaves and verified that it was Oriental
Bittersweet. Wife liked it because it wrap around wheels and tines and we would cut it back every year, but it
seem to get larger every year and it grows really fast. Just told my wife we need to get rid of it she was not
convinced until showed her pictures of the damage it could do. really didn't need another project as the list is
long enough, but looks this will at the top of the list before it spreads more.
Chuck

Hotflashjr · Jun 15, 2015

Chuck I am in MA and my Father had some literally take down a red oak a few years ago. We ended up use a syrgine and directly injecting round up into the vine at the ground three times during August. That really set it back the following year. Took three years, but we were able to get it to die without any cutting back in that fashion.

showcrop · Jun 15, 2015

(quoted from post at 11:54:35 06/15/15) Chuck I am in MA and my Father had some literally take down a red oak a few years ago. We ended up use a syrgine and directly injecting round up into the vine at the ground three times during August. That really set it back the following year. Took three years, but we were able to get it to die without any cutting back in that fashion.

Brush killer is much more effective. I cut the larger ones off with brush trimmers, and I spray the hundreds of little shoots with the brush killer. I was cutting the large vines at the house of the owners of one of my fields, and came upon one that is three inches in diam. I am going back with my saw for that one.

GeneMO · Jun 15, 2015

If you didn't have hundreds of shoots, I would guess cutting them off flush with the ground and treating them with Tordon would do the trick.

Gene

Bittersweet

showcrop

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gtractorfan

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Greg1959

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Leroy

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Greg1959

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Steve@Advance

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JayinNY

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showcrop

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Weldon K

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ShadetreeRet

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Leroy

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Chuck MA

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Hotflashjr

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showcrop

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GeneMO

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