Japanese Knotweed

Ken68

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/8555378.stm

Great news.

peter_the_piper

Whilst anything to get rid of this pest is to be applauded my mind keeps coming back to the dreaded Cane Toad. I know they would have done tests galore but there is still that nagging doubt. If it works, great. maybe they can get a similar pest which works on poppies.

Zanderman

Ken68 wrote: »

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/8555378.stm

Great news.

Maybe, maybe not. The psyllid (the insect that's being released) might well eat/stunt Japanese Knotweed but I really doubt it will have much effect on the JK population - there's an awful lot of it very, it's very well-established and this bug is only a sap-sucker - it's not going to devour and kill large amounts of the plant - it will just stunt it a bit.

To quote Mr T, every little helps. But I can't help thinking that we should be putting this sort of effort into preventing new invasions, not controlling uncontrollable old ones. It's worth remembering that plants like Jap Knotweed only became recognised as pests long after they were already established - and arguably too late for effective control. The key need is to stop new ones before establishment, not trying to close doors that were foolishly left open in the past.

charliee_3

is that a good thing?? reminds me of the simpsons episode where bart accidentally releases some destructive lizards into the environment who, as it turns out feed on pigeon.. the 'feathered rat' or 'gutterbird' as they call it..

SKINNER
Well, I was wrong. The lizards are a godsend.

LISA
But isn't that a bit short-sighted? What happens when we're overrun by lizards?

SKINNER
No problem. We simply unleash wave after wave of Chinese needle snakes. They'll wipe out the lizards.

LISA
But aren't the snakes even worse?

SKINNER
Yes, but we're prepared for that. We've lined up a fabulous type of gorilla that thrives on snake meat.

LISA
But then we're stuck with gorillas!

SKINNER
No, that's the beautiful part. When wintertime rolls around, the gorillas simply freeze to death.

The family head back to the car.

charliee_3

could just eat it instead? http://www.wildmanstevebrill.com/Plants.Folder/Knotweed.html

Ken68

That's a good one Charlie... needs a few Simpson type wacky ideas perhaps...like ultra sonic sounds to kill the roots, or maybe a bit of heavy metal music.

elsien

I'd like to volunteer next door's garden as one of the test sites before it rampages through and destroys mine. Fighting a seriously losing battle on the boundary at the moment.

SailorSam

When these little bugs have eaten all the knot weed. the problem is what will they eat next.

olly300

I remember reading about the initial tests of the pest and one thing that stuck me is that they only mentioned that it was tested that it didn't eat a small number of other plant species in the UK.

So unless they have also tested it's predator then the insect shouldn't be released.

Oh and I'm trying to get my garden overrun with different types of poppies as I like them.

peter_the_piper

I was thinking about the less sociable ones grown in Afghanistan etc.

Optimist

peter_the_piper wrote: »

I was thinking about the less sociable ones grown in Afghanistan etc.

It is legal to grow them in the UK as well just so long as you dont harvest and process them to make opium..