Just remember, everyone--vinegar isn't selective for garlic mustard; make sure you don't get it on the plants we want to save---and if you have any left over, maybe you could put some of the lesser celandine, which is really matting over a lot of land around the Cleveland area. Good work, everyone... Steve On 6/1/12 9:04 PM, "Henry Burton" <[log in to unmask]> wrote: > Hello fellow birders, > With all the talk of invasive worms and invasive plants as of late > I would like to talk about garlic mustard ( the plant I would like to see > eliminated in this part of the country after phragmites ). Garlic mustard is a > biennial plant. Biennial plants live for two years. The first year they grow > then die back in the winter. The next year the plant grows, flowers then S E E > D S, at that point a single garlic mustard plant can produce several hundred > seeds ( potentially hundred of new plants ) up to a distance of several yards. > So in my opinion if there is a way to stop the plant from seeding that would > be the most efficient way to apply resources to stop this plant. > I was told about an old time method to kill plants this year. The > ingredient is inexpensive, easy to apply, natural and is not harmful to the > applicator. The magic word is : vinegar. The killing ingredient in vinegar is > acetic acid. This acid works by drawing the moisture out of the leaf of the > plant. No leaves, no plant. A simple plastic spray bottle ( at home > improvement / hardware stores ) and a gallon of vinegar and garlic mustard > does not stand a chance. > We are all familiar with Magee Marsh. If it was not for the > volunteer garlic mustard pickers ( I THANK YOU FOR WHAT YOU HAVE DONE AT MAGEE > ) seeing a skulker at Magee would probably be next to impossible. This > infestation of the garlic mustard plant at Magee took about 7 years +/- ( my > estimate ) and it is happening at many other places as well ( Metzger Marsh > and Wendy Park are two examples ). If just half of the active birders did a > little "spraying" at there favorite birding/nature location the enjoyment of > that location can be what it was before garlic mustard arrived. Any comments > feel free to contact me. May the birds be with you, Henry. > > > > Adult and first year garlic mustard plant pictures can be seen at > http://www.dcnr.state.pa.us/forestry/invasivetutorial/garlic_mustard.htm. The > first year plant is what needs to be killed. Apply vinegar carefully as it > will kill any plant it comes in contact with. Garlic mustard seeds remain > viable for up to seven years. Get the plant before it seeds ! > > ______________________________________________________________________ > > Ohio-birds mailing list, a service of the Ohio Ornithological Society. > Our thanks to Miami University for hosting this mailing list. > Additional discussions can be found in our forums, at > www.ohiobirds.org/forum/. > > You can join or leave the list, or change your options, at: > http://listserv.muohio.edu/scripts/wa.exe?LIST=OHIO-BIRDS > Send questions or comments about the list to: [log in to unmask] -------------------------------------------- Steve Cagan, photographer [log in to unmask] € www.stevecagan.com www.pbase.com/stevecagan € www.stevecagan.blogspot.com 216-932-2753 (USA) ______________________________________________________________________ Ohio-birds mailing list, a service of the Ohio Ornithological Society. Our thanks to Miami University for hosting this mailing list. Additional discussions can be found in our forums, at www.ohiobirds.org/forum/. You can join or leave the list, or change your options, at: http://listserv.muohio.edu/scripts/wa.exe?LIST=OHIO-BIRDS Send questions or comments about the list to: [log in to unmask]