Subject: Re: Poison Ivy Control

From: [email-masked] (Mike Nelson)
Date: Thu, 26 Aug 1993 17:00:14 GMT

Just a few remarks about what's been said.  

If you use gasoline you will definitely kill the plant.  The
problem is that it will also sterilize the soil for years.  If
you don't want anything growing there then have a good time.
Gasoline is pretty hard on the environment though.  I've
always preferred a bit of gas and a match myself. :)

I wish I could find some 2,4D.  We used it all the time on my
folks farm and it works great.  It was the only thing that
really worked on morning glory.  I've not seen it for years.
Has anybody actually bought some recently?  I thought it had
been outlawed.  The advantage 2,4D has is that it only works
on broadleaf plants where round up is more for grasses.  
(What's that word for plants with parallel veins?)

Round up's advantage it that it (says it) doesn't have any
soil action.  It must be absorbed through the leaves to work.
Other stuff like tri-ox works through the roots and will also
sterilize the soil.  

We used to burn the ditches to clear the grass.  You could
rent a propane tank and a hose/handle attachment, load it in
the back of a pickup, and have a hayday.  One farmer I worked
for even had a tractor mounted tank with a horizontal boom for
killing potato vines.  It looked a lot like a sprayer and the 
boom had several nozzles that looked like rocket motors.  The
hand jobbies made a significant racket but it wasn't unpleasant.  
the potato one sounded very much like a jet taking off. 

Would this type of plant control be less damaging to the
environment than all the chemicals?  We just moved onto 5
acres and I have several areas I'd like to clear.  I don't
like the prospect of spending megabucks on chemicals or
worrying about the damage to the environment.  What about a 
wand attachment for a standard 20# tank?

For anyone who's not see this done, it's not necessary to burn
the plant to a crisp.  All you need is enough heat to wilt the
leaves and the plant will die in a few days.  There's very
little smoke and propane burns very cleanly. 

A little anecdote.  A lady was burning her ditches a few years
back and was having trouble keeping the wand lit.  She left
the gas (propane) on for a few minutes while she got something
from the pickup.  Came back, struck the match, and launched
herself out of the ditch in a rather large explosion.  She
wasn't seriously injured but had a somewhat shorter hairdo
than before.

Mike Nelson
Hewlett Packard
Vancouver WA

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From: [email-masked] (David R. Smith)
Date: Fri, 3 Sep 1993 03:19:17 GMT

I checked through a few indexes and here are some =not so
encouraging= articles about 2,4-D:

Herbicide linked to canine cancer. (2,4-D)
Los Angeles Times v110  Sept 9, 1991 B3

Lawn herbicide called cancer risk for dogs. (2,4-D shown to 
cause lymphoma) National Pages
New York Times. Sept 4, 1991. A17

EPA declines to probe herbicide; NCI has linked widely used
chemical to cancer in farmers. (2,4-D)
Washington Post   Nov 9, 1987   29(W) 312(E)

Johnson E.S. et al:
Current serum levels of 2,3,7,8-Tetrachlorodibenzo-p-dioxin
in phenoxy acid herbicide applicators and characterization
of historical levels.
Journal of the National Cancer Institute. Nov 4, 1992
V84 N21:1648-1653