Poison Ivy - how to treat it.

There are also some organic methods of controlling Poison Ivy. Simply cover the plants with a tarp when they are young and weigh it down with a few rocks to suffocate the plants and deplete them from sunlight. This can take some time to actually kill the roots so you may also want to try this treatment I pasted from Care2.

Here is the homemade poison ivy vegetation killer spray
that I’ve found is safe and effective:

Combine the salt and vinegar in a pan and heat to dissolve the
salt. Cool the vinegar, add the detergent, and pour some of the
liquid into a large spray bottle. Spray the vegetation. (You can
also just pour the mixture onto the weeds.) Refill the spray
bottle as necessary. Note that this formula will kill all the
vegetation, so make sure that you are only spraying the plants
you want to kill. If you need to use a lot of this spray, avoid
spraying it near wells, as the salt can leach into your water
supply.

-- Xploreorganics, 5b Canada, LFD 06-20

If you get poison ivy use burdock leaves or jewel weed and rub them on the area. This is the natural cure .

-- horsetail, Fergus, Ontario

I have never seen poison ivy

I have lived on this property since 1966 and lucky I guess never had a problem with it

But I don’t think it grows here because none of my neighbors have ever complained either and some have been gardening for years as I have

-- NS Zone 5B 200 KM East of Halifax cheers Bunting------Having a place to go – is a home. Having someone to love – is a family.

XP:
Unfortunately vinegar is not a selective herbicide and can damage any plant contacted by the solution.
The current recomendation is for a 20% solution of acetic acid to be effective . Most store bought vinegars range about 5%.
Putting salt in your soil is not a good idea as it tends to stay there for long periods of time and negatively affects future growth.
The two methods I suggested above are both ”systemic” and don’t affect the other plants or the soil they are in. ( I should probably say “minimimally)
They can be applied by hand with a brush or wick application In the case of Vinex.
I’m all for organic solutions when they exist but this one you suggest should have some further study as it does not stand up well scientifically.

If you are killing out a patch of garden weeds or the like then vinegar might be a good effective solution.
I would prefer in those case to just use newpaper or cardboard or similar.

Bob

-- I am a strong believer in luck and I find the harder I work the more I have of it. Alberta Canada Zone 3A or maybe 3B

Guess we have differing opinions Bob but I feel that it is aways good to offer a more natural solution to any problem. Glyphosate has not shown positive effects on the eradication of poison ivy as it kills the foilage and has little to no affect on the root system. Anyone using these herbicides need to realize that they do also have negative effects on all broadleaf “weeds”... Therefore if you are growing other herbs in the area such as sorrel, clover, wintercress, thistles, milkweeds, sunflowers etc… They will likely be destroyed.

If you have so much poison ivy in an area that you need to get rid of it then it would be best to destroy the entire area naturally with a tarp or as you suggested cardboard.

-- Xploreorganics, 5b Canada, LFD 06-20

XP: I thought I had made it clear that Roundup also is availble with glyphosate and triclopyr.
Tryclopyr is the ingredient that you would use to eradicte poison ivy.
I also mentioned a product containing only tryclopyr – Vin-ex .
Your summations are quite correct with respect to glycophosate but that is not what I was suggesting.

By painting only the poison ivy you can most likely save the tree it is wrapped around.
Because Tyclopyr does not gas off like 2,4,D you will have good sucess with topical specific applications.

I am not completely convinced that some or the Natural remedies are in fact kinder or safer than some of the specifically manufactured products.

I am not a agronomist but I have a rather rich backgound in organic chemistry.

That alone makes me a skeptic. <g>

Regards

Bob

-- I am a strong believer in luck and I find the harder I work the more I have of it. Alberta Canada Zone 3A or maybe 3B

Interesting Bob,

Could you post the MSDS for Roundup with triclopyr added in the formulation. I have yet to hear of such a product.

As for Vinex, again triclopyr should be used because it is selective for broad-leaved plants and any herbicidal contact with desirable plants should always be avoided.

Vinegar may very well kill desirable plants but so does these herbicides.

Being a sketpic myself and knowing who is behind the “scientific studies” on these synthetic products I am not convinviced that we can trust the short and long term effects on our health when there are safer, simple, and economic options available.

Again,

I was simply offering an alternative to your suggestion. Thanks for starting this thread.

-- Xploreorganics, 5b Canada, LFD 06-20

XP: here’s a link to Ortho's version of brush killer with tryclopyr

I can’t find the reference to the Round up product right now as I started this thread at home and am now at work.
It the Ortho one doesn’t do it for you PM me and I’ll dig up the other one too.
I appreciate you comments and do take them as a perspective and not at all confrontational.

We are all here to learn and we learn by discussing things frankly and with respect to points of view.

p.s. This article today me to introduce this topic

Cheers

Bob

-- I am a strong believer in luck and I find the harder I work the more I have of it. Alberta Canada Zone 3A or maybe 3B

XP:
The reference to Roundup with triclopyr is here: Roundup – Poison Ivy and Tough Brush Control (RTU & CON)

I still cant find the MSDS for it but the lable states 1% triclopyr.

Bob

-- I am a strong believer in luck and I find the harder I work the more I have of it. Alberta Canada Zone 3A or maybe 3B

Thanks Bob…

Interesting, I have never seen that product before and can not find it on the list of registered products for use in Canada but thank you for posting the pic.

I always like to have lable and MSDS information available when discussing any synthetic pesticide product. If proper IPM methods are used then chemical measures should be used as a last resort when all other mechanical and alternative methods have failed. Then in this case, if one were to choose to go ahead and use a chemical pesticide, they should be sure that it is an approved product and most importantly, always follow the instructions carefully.

For those who are not aware, Pesticide labels and MSDS are developed to inform applicators about proper use of the product, to warn about potential risks, and to recommend methods to avoid risks. People who use pesticides have a legal responsibility to read, understand and follow the label directions. Anyone possessing, handling, or applying a pesticide is responsible and can be held liable for any damage, loss, or unintended consequences that the pesticide may cause.

On a final note, many provinces and municipalities prohibit these products through pesticide bylaws and many products are not available in these provinces and municipalities, so again another good reason to offer alternatives.

-- Xploreorganics, 5b Canada, LFD 06-20

One more thing:
It would appear that the Govenment of Canada has looked into the use of this chemistry and has published an article favorable to it’s use.
An excerpt of their conclusions is found here:

Following applications of three different salt fomulations of glyphosate (Vision®, Touchdown® and Mon14420) and an ester formulation of triclopyr (Release®) to an Acadian forest regeneration site in New Brunswick, Canada, the fate and persistence of herbicide residues in the forest floor and underlying mineral soil were investigated. Within 14 days of treatment, maximal residue levels (average 8.3 µg·g dry mass-1 were observed in the forest floor matrix following application of the glyphosate formulations, with higher values (45.7 µg·g dry mass-1) observed for triclopyr. Residue maxima in the underlying mineral soil were, on average, 5.7-fold lower than those in the forest floor. In both matrices, glyphosate residues declined exponentially with time, irrespective of the formulation applied. Among the glyphosate treatments no significant differences (p=0.16, p=0.97, for forest floor and mineral soil, respectively) were observed in the estimated times to 50% dissipation (DT50). Overall, average DT50 values for glyphosate were estimated as 12 ± 2 and 10 ± 3 days for the forest floor matrix and mineral soil, respectively. Triclopyr residues, particularly in the forest floor, were characterized by a series of transient increases, possibly reflecting temporally varying inputs from dew, rainwash, or litter fall from surrounding treated vegetation. Triclopyr residues also dissipated with time, with approximate DT50 values ranging from 39 to 69 days in the forest floor and mineral soil, respectively.

The study does not address the indescriminate use or this product however.

In the light of today’s Government in Canada it is pretty hard to place any faith in what they have to say.

Banning everything in site is not exactly what I would call ”proactive”

Cheers

Bob

-- I am a strong believer in luck and I find the harder I work the more I have of it. Alberta Canada Zone 3A or maybe 3B

WOW WAS THAT DISCUSSION FOR REAL VERY HARD TO FOLLOW BUT NEVER THE LESS MOST INTERESTING. THE ONLY POISON IVY I KNOW ABOUT WAS THE POP SONG IN THE SIXTIES I THINK. IT WOULD BE GREAT IF BOB AND XORG DISCUSSED SOMETHING COMPLICATED, YOU JUST HAVE TO TAKE YOUR HAT OFF TO KNOWLEDGEABLE GARDENERS LIKE THESE TWO .
REGARDS MIKE

-- MIKE MILTON COMMON U.K.

I well remember poison ivy! I was 6 years old, and I can still feel the intense itch all over my body, mom and dad spread that every so popular Calamine lotion as often as I needed it, and it was often needed!!!

oh god, that was horrible!

thanks will watch for this, as the weeds this year with all the rain we have had are plentiful!

-- Toronto, Ontario

Whatever you do, don’t try to burn the stuff out! You inhale that smoke and you can become lifethreateningly ill.

-- the day you quit learning is the day you quit living.

Yup, that’s poison ivy all right. We had a massive infestation of it here when we first came. Round up treatment for three years, finally has it just about done it. There are a few spots I still have to spray, and I do dab it just on the leaves if possible.

My neighbour ended up in the hospital twice with it. Not a pleasant plant at all.

-- jroot

Jroot, if you can find a product called Vinex – ( triclopyr with an applicator bottle.)This product specifically targets the root of the poison ivy plant.

I know it’s sold in the US so you may have to get one of your Yankee buddies to send you some.

Other than that you have to repeat and repeat and repeat with the Round up.

It only attacks the above ground part of the ivy.

Regards
Bob

-- I am a strong believer in luck and I find the harder I work the more I have of it. Alberta Canada Zone 3A or maybe 3B

As a wee lad, I spent my summers in rural TN, and often ran afoul of poison ivy. My dear old Grandma had a mountain cure, which I’d give my eye-teeth to remember. Basically, it was some homegrown plant that she boiled, and then applied on my rashes then covering with a layer of cling-film wrap, then an ace bandage.

I’ll never forget what she said: “if this doesn’t work, we’ll have to call the Law on that rash.”

It was disgusting; the layers of wrapping trapped the heat and baked on my arms…the smell was awful. But in a day, the rash didn’t itch, and healed wicked fast.

-- Living on the square...Metro Detroit

think D.. think…. what was the plant :)

-- - Debbie, SW Ontario Canada (USDA Hardiness Zone: 5a)