Invasion of the Giant Hogweed

It's all over the UK, having been introduced(!!!) as an ornamental plant in the 19th century.

The sap must have some unique properties, I wonder if anybody has found any uses for it?

Lucky you.

I thought I recognised the leaves. But I've never seen one 14ft tall! Or heard of it being dangerous.

a coincidence but on my way home just last night, I heard the scourge of Hogweed reported on the radio. As far as dangerous, no death were reported as of yet, but still a scourge.

Ah yes - same mistake made on this side of the pond with starlings and sumac trees to name a few. Starlings were brought in to control an insect pest, and now are a pest themselves, and the sumac was an ornamental tree for yards. Now it is along every power line and telephone right-of-way in the east. Power companies spend millions trying to kill them every year to no avail. They chemically defoliate them for a season, but the next spring the leaves are back. They cut them down, but the roots bring the plant right back. Pennsylvania has named them an invasive species recently after 200 years of them being here and propagating.

Like Japanese knotweed was introduced as an ornamental in the 19th century and now its presence in a yard can prevent a house sale. As powerful as the Giant Hogweed but in a different way.

We have a Japanese knotweed problem here, too.

At least knotweed is edible and marginally nutritious. Also kudzu.

https://cr4.globalspec.com/blogentry/27154/If-You-Can-t-Kill-Them-Eat-Them

Putting aside the narily stem, the flowering buds looks similar to Queens Anne's lace. aka Bishop's Flower and wild carrot.

I see its the sap,... thought maybe it secreted oils, like poison ivory.

I wonder if there's something positive that can come out if one can isolate the proteins causing this for a more positive application. ^{But, I'm just that way.}

Poison ivory? Must keep clear of those toxic elephants!

A friend of mines father, had poison ivy. And since then, he became hypersensitive of the plant.

Could Kudzu be used to fight hogweed?

Maybe with a little genetic tweaking...?

Heaven help us if they cross pollinate.

... for those who want to kill weeds without poision and easy. I have my son go and lightly roast the stem and leaves with a blow torch to destroy the plants at a cellular level without actually burning them.

In a few days what's left is easier to remove and less likely to return if only pulled.

For safety it's good to water before and after.

You can buy a 'weed torch' from various places (like Amazon) that uses a propane tank like a 'Bernz-o-matic'. I use one to kill weeds along a trout stream near where I live, where it's illegal (and stupid) to use chemical weed killers.

Well I don't know where youse guys live, but here if you don't kill the root you're wasting your time...it just comes up bigger and stronger....laughing...

Just did a quick search on burning of this weed, but I don't believe Hogweed is a Perennial, (plant that grows year after year) where a Annual plants live for one growing season and then die.

I've read that on some suggestion to control these plants is wait for the seeds to form, and before they mature to pick them.

You might want to rethink the blowtorch. It seems these plants are pretty good at fighting back. You might get spattered with the caustic sap, only boiling hot to boot!

Maybe stay at a safe distance with something like this:

_{I just knew it would come around...}

_{The Tesla ‘Not A Flamethrower’ pushed a little bit past factory spec.}

_{Well done!}

Do NOT do that with hogweed. It is worse than burning poison ivy. Roundup or the orange box store has their own brand for 1/3 the price.

... for those who want to kill weeds without poision and easy. I have my son go and lightly roast the stem ...

So your saying, to kill weeds, we have to have a baby and then wait till he grows up?... I was thinking of something more,... ah,... immediate.

Wonder what would happen if the plant were fed some protein...

Maybe this???

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GLjook1I0V4

Burning may be effective for a few plants. I have one of those weed burners and the propane tank is too heavy to carry very far.

Giant hogweed/RHS Gardening

This gives ⇑ some methods of eradication.

Wow. Too heavy? Oh, man, you just showed us your man card.

NEVER admit anything is too heavy - It says so on the back of the card.

I plead the fifth.

70 may be the new 60, but then 40# is also the new 60# at that age.

Fifth of Jack Daniels?

Patron Extra Anejo 7 Anos - 750ml is what I'm drinking at the moment.

I won't be spraying that on any plants.

I suggest members to read 'The day of the Triffids'. I don't remember the name of the author. Of course, a science fiction, but very logically dealt subject.

Can't believe that was 1981. I guess the special effects would make it look very dated now but I was 14/15 and gripped by it

John Wyndham. I'm currently reading the book.

Also immortalized in the classic Genesis track "Return of the Giant Hogweed" https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P4q7-wZmn-Q. Not a good outcome for humanity

Giant Hogweed is unfortunately, quite common in UK. The seeds in the flower heads, about 1000 per head, have a time delay mechanism; only 10-15% germinate in any one year so the seeds that fall this year will be germinating for 7-10 years!

The good news is that it is not difficult to deal with and there are two strategies that I use:

1. Cut the plan before it sets seed at the growing point just below the surface of the ground with a sharp spade and destroy the growth. Statements of the obvious: don't compost it and don't get the sap on your skin. This weakens the plant. it may regrow but one you have done it two or three times it will be exhausted and will die. ideally hold on as long as possible so the plant puts as much effort as possible into creating seed and cut it down just before it sets seed; or
2. Cut one leaf off and pour concentrated weed killer down the hollow stem. this gets right to the growing point and kills the plant in a matter of days. Glyphosate works well for this but how widely available it is, I do not know.

Both of these are effective and just as important - satisfying!

Considering if I so much as look at Poison Ivy I get a rash I don't want to go anywhere near this stuff.

That's not describing 3rd degree burns, that's 2nd degree at best. 3 degree burns means the skin over a certain area of your body is completely destroyed and requires a skin graft or the muscle tissue that is no longer protected by the skin will also die.

There you go again, questioning statements to see if they agree with established norms.

GA

You're correct for pointing that out.

I always thought there were only 3 degrees of burns,...

but there were quite a bit more. unfortunately, I found out only having 3 degrees of burns wasn't the right, fortunately for me, I didn't discover this personally.

We get them occasionally in Oregon and Washington. It hit the local news programs a few years ago when a large one turned up just north of Vancouver Washington. The state was going to take it out and some nimrod wanted it preserved as an endangered species.

Giant hogweed and cow parsnip are in the same genus (Heracleum). A year or two ago several of my colleagues here helped with a cow parsnip eradication program at a state park, a process that takes several years since, like the hogweed, these pesty plants strew a bazillion seeds that don't all germinate the year after they're dropped. The furanocoumarin in both plants' stems and leaves is the bad stuff that causes burns. Everyone who helped with the cow parsnip project was warned to cover up and be careful. One guy somehow managed to get burned, though. That burn was nasty and long-lasting!

Cow parsnip is widespread throughout the U.S. except in the Gulf Coast. Since you're more likely to encounter this stuff than giant hogweed, you might want to learn what it looks like. It's similar-enough looking that I mistook it for giant hogweed until I saw it close up (but not too close).

The leaves look very similar...

https://gobotany.newenglandwild.org/species/heracleum/maximum/

So do the burns and blisters, from both.