to understand the biology of root crowns, i harvested ......biology: roots as in the ^ield, new...

Biology: Roots Tounderstandthebiologyofroot crowns,Iharvestedseveral fromakudzupatchinDover,DEandgrewtheminpots.

Biology: Roots Asinthe^ield,newvinesgrewfromtherootcrownsandstemnodes.Thishasimportantimplicationsformonitoringand controlstrategies targetingkudzu.

Control Because newgrowth appears onrootcrowns and

stemnodes,kudzueradicationeffortsshouldidentifythesestructuresinthespringbeforevinesbecomeatangledmess(andtheywill).

Control:StemNodes& RootCrowns

Toeffectivelykillandremovekudzuplants,youmustremovetheentirecrown.Unfortunately,pullingvinesdoesnotusuallywork.Eventhoughthisnodeisdamaged,meristematic tissueis stillpresenttogeneratenewvines.

Control:StemNodes& RootCrowns

Instead,useloppers,hand clippers or ahand sawtocut below thecrown.Removethecrown,killtheplant.

Imagecourtesyof“KnockOutKudzu”(KOkudzu.com)TheCoalitiontoControlKudzuWithoutChemicals

Youmightask,doesthis work,or is there nostoppingkudzu?

Itworks!Letmeshowyou.

Aspartofmyresearch,Igrew105kudzuplantsfromhandscari^iedseedinthegreenhouse.

Inearlysummer,pottedplantsweretransplantedtoanagricultural^ieldattheUniversityofDelawareFarm.Eventhoughhebattled“thevine”everysummersince1974onhisownproperty,mydadwaswillingtohelpplantkudzuatUD.

Ifyouthinkkillinginvasivespeciesisdif^icult,trygrowingthem!Wenotonlydripirrigatedtheplants,butalsoinoculatedthemwithRhizobiumtohelpthemgetstarted.

Inthisagriculturalsetting,plantswererelativelyfreefromnaturalherbivory and lightcompetition.Plantsweresubjecttooneoffourdifferenttreatments:leafcutting(either50or75%removal)andshootclipping(removalof50or75%ofallshoottips).Treatmentsweredesignedtomimicdamagebypotentialbiologicalcontrol

agentsfromChina.Oncetheplantsgotgoing,theyreallytookoffgrowing.

Can it becontrolled?

Farmpictures

AndImeantookoff!Notethenewplantsintheforegroundcomparedtosecondyearplants.Ourdesignincluded35one-yearplantsthatwereplanted and harvested after onegrowingseason,and35two-yearplantsthatgrewfortwoseasons.

Youcanimaginewithkudzu’sreputationthatthefarmstaffwasnotthrilledtolet35plantsoverwinterinoneoftheir^ields…

Forscale,youcanseethatoneplantis(much)largerthanonekudzuresearcher.

Attheendofeachseason,abovegroundbiomasswasharvestedbyclippingvinesfromtherootcrown.Eachbagbelow representsoneplant.

Aftertakingmeasurementsandrecordingdata,plantmaterialwasdriedinagreenhouseandweighed.

Dryingplantsinthegreenhousewassuf^icienttokillthem.Plantmaterialwasdiscardedonacompostpileandnonewkudzuplantsregeneratedfromthisdiscardedmaterial.

Ma#Frye