Can you sent me some seeds with instructions? I am infested with mg. The house we currently live in sat empty for a number of years and mg is rampant.i prefer to use natural methods and it sounds like youmay have a good solution. Also how long does the nicotania plant take to mature? i will send you my mailing address in a private message. ThaNks
It also kills BEES. I would not use this method to control insects. See this recently released Harvard study about colony collapse disorder. Neonicotinoids are chemically related to biological nicotinoids.
yes, it is extreme and can kill bees yet if used correctly and put at the root base rather than used as a blanket aerosol spray you will not harm any bees. i have been taking a bee keepers class and many of the teachers also use this method for ant and weed killer. yet i have found that 1) a small controlled fire in area over the morning glory can also kill the roots. sometimes takes 2 apps 2) yellow corn meal will kill ants and not harm children or pets. the ants carry it back to their nests and feed it to their young ,when eaten by ants it expands and kills them. 2 alternatives to using N.R. peace and happy gardening to all!
Cagreene, thank you for all of your information about Nicotiana Rustica - I am looking forward to removing my morning glory and blackberries with it. The Morning Glory keeps trying to kill my butterfly bush and that's not allowed. I live in a suburb of Los Angleles, so the consistent days of sunshine shouldn't be a problem... well of course except for today (overcast). Thank you very much I am looking forward to getting rid of this pest. I do love the flower of the MG plant but it's just taken over and I can't allow that in the garden.
About the Nicotiana rustica use, be aware that neonicotinoids are the major ingredient of glyphosate (Roundup) which is now considered a highly likely culprit in the loss of honey bees. Do be very careful in the use of this substance for weed control, use VERY sparingly and only on the plant you want to eradicate, protect nearby plants from overspray or contamination of the soil. I have perennial MG (not bindweed) in my yard, it started showing up in my south flowerbed next to the foundation of my house, the roots apparently were in the topsoil brought in to level the land under the slab (the other nasty weed in that topsoil that I am trying to eradicate is horsetail). I have been digging that bed up about 2' deep every spring to remove the roots, but of course one can never get them all. I read that using scissors to snip the growing vine off at ground level whenever you see it will eventually (just how long eventually is, is a good question) kill the root (for MG but apparently not for horsetail). Which is how I plan to deal with it next spring rather than digging that bed up yet again (in my 70s digging up a bed that is three feet deep by 30 feet long is really hard on my body). I have also heard that vinegar works, you have to spray it on all the leaves, but it might also kill nearby plants if it gets on them or in the soil, I cannot attest to the truth of that claim, having not attempted it myself.
PS re: perennial MG as opposed to bindweed, the flowers are huge and white, I also have the annual version with purple flowers but that is more easily taken care of with just digging out the plant or removing the flowers before they set seed.
Burn it out - thermal weed control comes in different forms you can as said burn with open flame but this is dangerous and due to rapid heat loss will do little to the root. Radiant heat, boiling water and steam all have a similar issue where by the moment you take it of the target plant the heat instantly reduces. The best method to "burn out" a plant is with hot foam Weedingtech | Innovative herbicide-free weed control 4 treatments a year will manage most areas of horsetail
This is my first post here, just signed up to reply to this thread that is very old. Amazon has these seeds, and you can order them from there.
Just signed up to reply to a few things. Roundup is the trade name of the herbicide solution. Glyphosate is the major ingredient. Glyphosate is not a neonicotinoid, or even related in any way to nicotine. Neonicotinoids have been implicated in the loss of honey bees, while I don't believe there is any evidence to implicate glyphosate (for that specifically). In terms of using Nicotiana rustica, note that what you are essentially doing is creating a nicotine extract. You can get the same effect from, say, collecting cigarette butts and making tea from them (see below link). For that matter, you might be able to achieve the same effect by just buying e-cigarette fluid. How To Make a FREE DIY Weed Killer from Someone's Bad Habit Note that, as that link and other posters have suggested, nicotine is deadly poisonous at those concentrations, to birds, bees and to you. If you are going to use it, always wear water-impermeable (ie rubber or nitrile) gloves! People can and have gotten nicotine poisoning from skin exposure. The link also goes into further precautions to take when using it -- ensure children and animals are kept away from the site, cut down the weeds as close to the ground as possible to ensure birds and bees aren't attracted to them, and try to keep the application as focused as possible. Personally, if I were to use a herbicide, I would choose glyphosate or 2,4-D over nicotine. The worst that'll happen if you get those on your skin is you might get a rash if you happen to be allergic, and you might slightly increase your risk of getting cancer. If you spill nicotine on your skin, you will definitely increase your cancer risk, and have a real chance of dying from nicotine poisoning. The same is true for any birds and bees that get exposed. I far prefer organic methods of control, but when it comes to using pesticides or herbicides, it matters a lot more what's in them than whether the plant they came from was a green thing with roots or a chemical factory.
We also had morning glory ALL over our yard (as well as ivy). we successfully eradicated it ( OK, it is still in the neigbour's yard, so it comes back, under the fence occasionally) My husband is against any type of herbicide, so we had to do it the old fashioned way. It took about three years, but I was fairly relaxed about it and only pulled it out when convenient. I also did not stress about bits of root left behind. I DID make sure to dry out and kill the bits I did pull out. Just keep pulling it out by the roots. Don't worry if some break off. they will send up little tell-tale leave soon enough. Then you have a chance to pull out the rest of the root (ours were up to 3 feet long. Ivy roots up to 10 feet long). Don't forget to hang up the vine or root so it can dry out and die, otherwise it will very happily root in your compost pile DISABLE your husband's weedeater!! or ask him to stop helping!! every time you chop the morning glory or its roots up, you get babies!! Morning glory can root from leaf or stem or root fragments ( think Hydra from the Greek legends). Morning glory and ivy make excellent plants to give to your enemies.
Despite the massive negative press glyphosate (aka Roundup) has received over the years, Health Canada has recently issued a statement reiterating its safety. Statement from Health Canada on Glyphosate - Canada.ca It "concluded that the concerns raised by the objectors could not be scientifically supported when considering the entire body of relevant data." "No pesticide regulatory authority in the world currently considers glyphosate to be a cancer risk to humans at the levels at which humans are currently exposed." I have used small amounts of glyphosate for 40 years in my gardens because it is so effective in controlling morning glory and other intractable weeds. I don't have to deal with MG where I live now but, when I lived in Burnaby, I used to dig up yards and yards of roots, going down deep in the soil. What worked far better for me was to take a couple of yards (2 meters) of the vine and bunch it up in a box or bag and spray the leaves. I think spraying only a few inches of the above-ground vines would not be enough to kill a long run of roots.
Always read product labels, perennial weeds such as giant morning glory* for instance do not become prone to significant control by glyphosate until flowering has commenced. And blackberries (a particularly prevalent local problem plant) are to be sprayed in autumn, when the chemical will be translocated to the root crowns. *The common names morning glory and bindweed do not serve to differentiate specific kinds. For instance two species of Calystegia common in the Seattle area are C. sepium and C. silvatica. The first is known colloquially both as wild morning-glory and as bindweed, the second as giant morning-glory, bindweed, great, hedge or large bindweed, bell bind and several others. Including devil's vine and Hellweed - due no doubt to it being a familiar pest species.
I bought a house during the winter in 2022. Last summer, I was introduced to what the snow was concealing. The previous owners liked everything natural, i.e., no lawn or garden treatments, herbicides, or bug control. As a result, I'm battling everything they left behind. One of those things was the glorious morning glory. When it first started out, I thought nothing of it, having never dealt with it before. Then, it took over the entire backyard. I had to research it and found that, in my area, it goes crazy and takes up residence. In my case, the entire residence if it gets its way. I started my battle last summer, but this year, with the new seedlings already sprouting, I'm determined to get it under control so I can have hopes of eradication at some point.
My ex-husband propagated one Morning Glory in the alley planted by a bird, into seeds, and proceeded to cover my entire property. I completely eradicated it over the years by using Bonide stump and vine killer ordered from Amazon. Seedlings still pop up in the spring, and I paint this stuff on the leaves and they are gone. I also rid my property of Cat's Claw that had overtaken the side of my home, planted in 1970 when the house was built. I diluted a bottle of the aforementioned vine killer in a sprayer, treated three times and it finally died. Works for African Sumac that plants itself in my yards, paint it on the stalks, it's gone.
What might at first look like seedlings may, in fact, be new shoots from rhizomatous roots under the soil, sometimes from quite a distance below the surface and often just short segments of root. Digging down with a garden fork should tell which. Many years ago, when I had a lifetime to spend on my garden, I was able to eliminate several types of horrible weeds simply by never letting them see the light of day, year after year after year. I even got rid of goutweed by a combination of digging roots and meticulously pulling out leaves. Japanese knotweed and horsetail were cowering in the corners. So, if you have the time and patience, you can deal with nasty invasives by preventing them from photosynthesizing. These days, I'm more inclined to reach for a little glyphosate, sprayed or painted, to strategically to speed up the process.
The first step in the cultural control of Morning Glory is to find out where it actually is. For example if its in your lawn it does not compete well if there is a thick cover of turfgrass. Apply enough nitrogen. Irrigate properly. It struggles in shade, so maintain your turf at the right height of cut. However, if you try and mow to remove it this will not work due to its prostrate growth habit. Hand weeding is a waste of time unless the plants are very young, and haven’t yet developed an extensive root system. Chemical control of Field Bindweed. Pre-emergents do not work on Field Bindweed or Morning Glory. You get the best results with post-emergents. Post Emergent Control of Field Bindweed. Autumn applications of selective herbicides that contain 2,4-D and dicamba usually give better results vs this weed. You are most likely going to need multiple applications to get this weed under control. Standalone herbicides like 2,4-D do not work well. Dicamba. Control of Field Bindweed with Dicamba is best when weeds are actively growing and in the post bloom stage. Make a follow-up application in the Spring to control any seedlings. Dicamba is not safe to use on Buffalo grass. Quinclorac. You must add methylated seed oil, it helps with chemical uptake via the foliage and roots. Rain after application is important for soil uptake. Non Selective Control. Glyphosate. You get the best results vs this weed if you apply Glyphosate from full bloom to the early seed stage of maturity. If you apply this to Autumn regrowth it also may provide some control. The aim is to fully cover the foliage but avoid spray runoff. You may need to make repeated treatments for complete control. If you use Glyphosate and water quality is an issue then use a pH buffer.
