Kudzu not that bad

[L_Mariachi]

No, Kudzu was always pretty bad.

[TripleE]

I don’t know about that, but apparently goats love the stuff. Goats are edible, and VERY delicious. We just need to introduce more goats and less herbicide, then get Americans on board with eating goat as an extra choice in red meat options.

In other words, I love goat and want it cheaper.

[GilbertWham]

Goats was my first thought eradication-wise as well. If you want to absolutely, positively remove every last plant in the motherfucking field, accept no substitute.

[anon63581570]

About the only positive is it’s human edible… in the same way greens are edible.

It covers and chokes everything in an area if unchecked. While it COULD be worse, it is an invasive species that aggressively covers everything it can.

I’m with an above poster. Better to just do a controlled burn of the area.

Goats. I like the ida. I don’t know how well they can survive off a primary kudzu diet, or are you meaning just flat out DESTROYING and uprooting everything?

[stefanjones]

THIS POST SPONSORED BY FRIENDS OF KUD-ZU.

KUD-ZU LOVES YOU. DO THE BIDDING OF YOUR GREEN GOD. LAY DOWN ON KUD-ZU’S EARTHLY TENDRILS WHEN YOUR TASKS ARE COMPLETE.

BECOME ONE . . . WITH KUD-ZU.

{Priests file out of room bearing bags of fertilizer.}

[cdhawke]

IIRC - it does make decent forage for livestock (and humans) and it can be tilled back into the ground like alfalfa. I’m not promoting its use for this - just sayin’.

[jerwin]

Would it be better if California ranchers used Alfalfa or Kudzu?

[cdhawke]

I’m not an expert on either jerwin - but from what I gathered from reading about kudzu - out of curiosity - the kudzu browsing led me to an article comparing it to alfalfa.

It seems to me that alfalfa is better for forage and for plowing under for several reasons - the most obvious being that alfalfa is not a deep-rooted, potentially invasive & hard to eliminate potential weed. Now, I also remember reading about how kudzu could be very useful for diverse uses if grown in a way that prevents it from becoming a problem for the neighbors.

It’s threeish were I am and I’m fuzzy on the references - but searching for combinations of kudzu, alfalfa, uses, comparisons & whatever else is what I did. I read that it tastes like really good spinach. I would like to try that out.

~cdh

p.s.

jerwin - do you have an opinion about which would be better in California?

[jerwin]

I only brought it up because Alfalfa has been maligned as a thirsty crop that has been exacerbating the California drought.

[cdhawke]

jerwin,

Ah…I didn’t know about that controversy about alfalfa…I’ve gotta look that one up. A couple of weeks ago I read about how dandelions are perhaps beneficial because their long tap-roots - can be a meter deep and bring water to the surface.

Well - did a quick DuckDuck - couldn’t find the reference about water - but I did find a related one about how plants with long taproots - like “weeds” - are beneficial because they bring nutrients up to near-surface level where most plants sink their roots - and make the nutrients available to the more shallow rooted plants (like, I imagine, lawns.)

Here’s the link:

Surprising Benefits of Weeds

Anyway - I’m pretty sure Alfalfa has shallow roots - most of its biomass I bet is above ground so I’m sure it takes a lot of water. It seems to me that dandelions have most of their stuff protected from dehydration underground. I seem to remember that Kudzu has long taproots - anyway - my dog - she needs walking - I’ll have to remember to look this stuff up.

~cdh