might i have kudzu?

[ohiogoatgirl]

ok, first off, yes i live clear up in ohio! and yes kudzu is "bane of the south"... but i'm wondering if there might be some clear up here. i was looking at the map of where is is known to grow on wikipedia. it came just below ohio on the map. BUT it was in the list next to the map...

so PERHAPS, just maybe, slight chance... that the one foresty area on the way to town is overgrown with kudzu :mrgreen: will have to look up more pics of it and try and stop and get a close look at the area i think it might be here. :mrgreen:

so that brings me to another question... just how far north is kudzu making it?
the area that i think it might be here isnt a very large area. probably under an acre. and since it hasnt been touched at all at least in my lifetime (i'm 20) then if it is kudzu the winter temps sure slow it down alot.

and looked at an old thread where someone had found some at their place in MO. *looks around* still here? anyone feeding it routinely?

 

[Marinea]

I feed mine some, but he only likes new young leaves. They get tougher as they age.

And, trust me, you are lucky you can't find it up where you live! If you find some, just take some leaves home to feed your buns. Don't transplant any vines.

 

[Lizardslaps]

it grows big giant seed tumors

tear that whole plant up and remove it asap and keep watching for new sprouts or it will be a new permanent feature on your lawn

I have some that sprouts up that I have to keep murdering back since it dont die back here

 

[ohiogoatgirl]

what i found that *might* be kudzu isnt on my property. its a section of woods on the side of the road on the way to town.

 

[Frecs]

I don't know if it is really true, but I've been told that feeding kudzu to my rabbits could result in kudzu invading my yard from even the smallest bit of kudzu surviving to reach the soil (spilled from the cage or surviving the digestive process). That has kept me from seeking out a field of it to harvest for my buns. Free food isn't worth THAT nightmare!

 

[Frosted Rabbits]

Ohiogoatgirl-- you are too far north-- you are probably seeing grapevines. Kudzu cannot easily get much further North than NC, S Kentucky- it is not cold hardy..

 

[ohiogoatgirl]

Ohiogoatgirl-- you are too far north-- you are probably seeing grapevines. Kudzu cannot easily get much further North than NC, S Kentucky- it is not cold hardy..

hm... that makes sense. i was told that there used to be lots of wild grapes on our farm when my great uncle farmed here and they would pick a good bit from em.
but i didnt think those were that good that they would take over areas like that? i mean this is like all taken over. vines up totally covering a few trees and vines spread all over alot of other trees.

is wild grape edible?

 

[Marinea]

Covering up trees "sounds" like kudzu, but you are kinda north for it. Any way to get a good pic of leaves?

And I feed my bun grape leaves, but he doesn't much like them.

 

[dragonladyleanne]

Ohiogoatgirl-- you are too far north-- you are probably seeing grapevines. Kudzu cannot easily get much further North than NC, S Kentucky- it is not cold hardy..

hm... that makes sense. i was told that there used to be lots of wild grapes on our farm when my great uncle farmed here and they would pick a good bit from em.
but i didnt think those were that good that they would take over areas like that? i mean this is like all taken over. vines up totally covering a few trees and vines spread all over alot of other trees.

is wild grape edible?

Wild grape (muscadine or scuppernong) is edible, the fruit for people and the leaves for rabbits, and the vines make good basket material. But crawling up the trees and telephone poles DOES sound very kudzu-like! Kudzu does not make any kind of berries though, so you could just wait until summer to find out which it is.

 

[Frosted Rabbits]

Kudzu leaves are smooth, shiny, leathery, and the plants don't have the same kind of holdfasts as the grapes do.. The grape vines also have bark that is stringy-- sort of exfoliating in nature on the larger stems-- grape climbs a lot of stuff-- really-- but not quite as fast as Kudzu-- which can grow several feet in length/heigth a day