Has anybody used weed burners on poison ivy? We thought the point was to
overheat and not burn the plant to kill it. Which would mean it would be
safe on PI. What has people's experience been about what happens when
you pass the torch over a plant? Does a plant go up in flames or does it
just wilt? We were planning on buying one that attaches to a big propane
tank like is used for a gas grill and not one that attaches to a
disposable tank.
Thanks,
Deborah Turton
Hello folks,
Normal ground speed is ~ 3-5 mph when using a tractor mounted flamer... 3
mph is normal walking pace... 5 mph is a very brisk walk. At 3-5 mph, weeds
are exposed to several thousand degrees for a brief moment but do not catch
on fire.
When using a hand flamer, I would guess that most people target specific
weeds and expose them to much more heat than is actually needed... when
using a tractor, you are concentrating on driving straight rows and are not
even looking at specific weeds... from the tractor seat you don't really
notice much change in the appearance of the weeds immediately after they
have been flamed... within a couple minutes the vegetation begins to look
darker and within a day it looks dried up.
Check out the following web site for lots of info about flamers.
http://www.flameengineering.com/GP_1000.html
People who are very sensitive to poison ivy seem to develop a rash just from
getting near poison ivy... which indicates to me that the urushiol oils are
quite volatile... I would think that flaming the foliage would greatly
increase the release of volatile oils...
Joel
Joel Gruver
Dept of Soil Science
NC State University
jgruv@hotmail.com
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NO , and I don't recommend it....I'd wear a full tyvek suit( disposable),
w/ gloves/ booties and IVy Block on any exposed skin. Breathing protection
used for welding fumes might work to block Urushiol( but who really knows
waht happens to the vapors as they travel onthe wind)... Someone could get a
whiff a few hundred yards away and react strongly. PI onthe lungs doesnot
sound fun .....
.... an extremely dangerous undertaking that wont do a bit of good killing
off the roots. It will starve them of photosynthetic energy, but only until
they can push new leaves.
bille
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Deborah Turton wrote:
> Has anybody used weed burners on poison ivy? We thought the point was
> to overheat and not burn the plant to kill it. Which would mean it
> would be safe on PI. What has people's experience been about what
> happens when you pass the torch over a plant? Does a plant go up in
> flames or does it just wilt? We were planning on buying one that
> attaches to a big propane tank like is used for a gas grill and not
> one that attaches to a disposable tank.
Since it does not occur in any country we have lived in, I cannot say
anything about PI, but I would suggest that Joel is probably correct in
warning of the likely dangers of the irritanbt being spread about if you
flame these plants.
We have one of the small hand weeders, but have not had much success
with it - except for one job, which it does do very well, and that is
clearing the baby weeds out of a seed bed you have just cleared. Running
the flame wand over such a bed briefly, as soon as the tiny weeds have
sprouted half an inch kills them all.
We have had little success with it on "adult" weeds. I think you would
definitely find it more useful if you can attach it to a larger fuel
tank. Ours uses screw-on throw-away cartridges and while these work
quite well when nearly full, as the amount of remaining fuel drops, them
become unable to sustain the quite large flame for more than few
minutes. This appears to happen because the rapid evaporation of gas
from the liquified fuel cools the remainder so much that the rate of
evaporation slows down too much. They then need "a rest" for the fuel ro
warm up before it can sustain the flame again.
As Joel says, the best result seems to be achieved by just a brief
exposure to the flame, which has little visible effect on the leaves
apart from a very slight wilting. The intention is to damage the leaf
sufficiently that the plant will attempt to "repair" it, whereas if you
hold the flame in contact for too long, the leaf is destroyed, and the
plant ignores it and pops up another one.
Tony
--
Tony & Moira Ryan,
Wainuiomata, North Island, NZ. Pictures of our garden at:-
http://mywebpages.comcast.net/cherie1/Garden/TonyandMoira/index.htm
NEW PICTURES ADDED 4/Feb/2004
A neighbor a good ways away burned some and I was very sick for a good
while. I'd agree with Joel about the oils being very volatile. My husband
is particularly allergic with blisters on top of blisters with very little
contact. My last case (up until last week) was from my wrist to my shoulder
on both arms and on one leg and I can't think where I could have been in
contact with it. I have several bad patches that I've avoided for a while
but I'm going to have to tackle them soon.
Laura
> but who really knows
> waht happens to the vapors as they travel onthe wind)... Someone could get
a
william evans wrote:
> NO , and I don't recommend it....I'd wear a full tyvek suit(
> disposable), w/ gloves/ booties and IVy Block on any exposed skin.
> Breathing protection used for welding fumes might work to block
> Urushiol( but who really knows waht happens to the vapors as they
> travel onthe wind)... Someone could get a whiff a few hundred yards
> away and react strongly. PI onthe lungs doesnot sound fun ..... ....
> an extremely dangerous undertaking that wont do a bit of good killing
> off the roots. It will starve them of photosynthetic energy, but
> only until they can push new leaves.
Apart from the specific danger of burning poison ivy which Bill
describes, I doubt the flaming method is ever much good for getting rid
of perennials, as it scarcely penetrates the soil and so leaves the
roots undamaged, still alive and ready to regrow.
The main use for this technique seems to be to get rid of big flushes of
small annual weeds, such as often come up on a bed which has been
stirred in preparation for planting or sowing. If one either hoes up
these weeds or even just pulls them out it usually brings a lot more
seed to the surface and soon the weediness around your crop is as bad
as ever. By burning the little weeds off without disturbing the surface
new growth is much reduced. This technique is known a "stale seedbed"
and can be very effective especially where seed is to be sown. It is
probably though unnecessary with transplants where beds are regularly
mulched to exclude light from the surface. I have occasionally used it
on a gravel path which has got very weedy once the larger weeds have
been removed and vigorous regrowth of dropped seeds is coming through
and it would also deal with young growth, even tiny perennials, in such
places as cracks in paving..
Moira
--
Tony & Moira Ryan,
Wainuiomata, North Island, NZ. Pictures of our garden at:-
http://mywebpages.comcast.net/cherie1/Garden/TonyandMoira/index.htm
NEW PICTURES ADDED 4/Feb/2004
