Age of poison ivy

[bakerjw]

A good friend of mine, a Scotsman no less, had an old walnut tree go down in his yard. It was covered in poison ivy. He is not terribly allergic to it but his wife is and has been to the ER before from it.
Now my wife and I are pretty much unaffected by it so we went over and helped clear it off of the tree and took it up to some family land where we can dump it on an unused hillside. The first load filled up my truck bed.

shortly after this, he got covid so he's been down for a couple of weeks. I was over last night dropping off a swarm tram and hive as he is in an area with a lot of bee friendly habitat and also to see how much more poison ivy was left to drag off to the hill.

There are several vines that are easily as big as my forearm. Last night, I started counting the rings on one of them and it was at least 25 years old. These things are monsters and he has a couple more on dead trees that need to be addressed as well.

For all to enjoy...
283446

[farmbif]

that might be one for the record books, that's huge. the soil and climate seems to be perfect in this part of the country for these giant overgrown vines, I always remember a bonfire half dozen years ago made with such a tree, had lots of poison ivy wrapped around it, lots of folks having a really great fourth of July until one woman got a wiff of the smoke from fire and had to have an ambulance come get her and off to the hospital for 2 + weeks. worst bonfire ever!
if ever there was a good use for roundup or 2,4-d its to get rid of poison ivy.
ive got vines on my property that at up to 4" and I try to cut them off at base with chainsaw in winter, but most of the giant ones fortunately are not poison ivy.

[MrWolf]

Those are some huge vines. I was always immune to until I got into my 40's. Only had it once since. Weird.

[farmerjim]

Roundup will not kill poison ivy. It will burn down what you spray, but will come back from the roots. Use triclopiyr (generic) or Remedy (brand) .
Roundup poison ivy contains triclopiyr.

[gunther]

As Farnbif related, never burn poison ivy. The smoke is very bad.

[BJK]

It won't kill it even if you sever the trunk near the root and put full strength Roundup on the cut root portion, let it soak in (happens pretty fast) and do it again? There are different strengths of Roundup, when I write full strength this stuff is like maple syrup and gets diluted. I don't mean the pre-diluted homeowner version but the Ag' version. For "normal" size poison ivy I just mix it stronger (per the label) and it might take a few applications but I've killed it by spraying the foliage.

[Gator 45/70]

As Farnbif related, never burn poison ivy. The smoke is very bad.

+ 3, Never burn it and stand down wind

[DocSavage]

Round up has a formula specifically for poison ivy saw it the other day at Home Depot.

[contender1]

I'm allergic & hate the stuff.
Around these mountains, I've seen several vines like the OP described. NASTY stuff. You gotta kill the roots.

[trapper9260]

I am also allergic to it and sumac and oak. When I was a kid I broke out bad with poison sumac . I did found that if you use the sap from milk weed and put on the area you have it for about 3 days you will get rid of it. also works on the other 2 . also any other plant that have the milk sap I think will work also.

[Handloader109]

I've killed it with a roundup. I do think it listed poison ivy. (poison oak more common where I'm at here in AR and back in MS. I've seen some that have been a couple inches in diameter, but not that big. Used to be WAY allergic, was Pink for a few weeks way back when I was a kid each summer it seemed like. Not as bad now.....

[akajun]

poison Ivy is a strange beast
Im not allergic unless i get in in a cut or wound. I have given it to my wife before by giving her a hug when coming out of the woods without washing up.
If you pull a poison Ivy vine down, deer will eat it almost overnight, supposedly its high protein in summer which is why you really dont see it in the woods except up high.
And the best herbicide Ive found for it is 24d, or a mixture of 24d and roundup. If you mix roundup high enough it will kill it though but its not econaomical.

[BJK]

There are over the counter medications that neutralize the oil that cause the problems. I don't get the reaction, so I don't know if they work but I've heard that they do.

[Bobbers]

Poison Ivy is one of those things that the more you are exposed to the stuff the less you have to come in contact with it to develop a bad reaction. Just the opposite of building up a resistance to it. In my younger days working at youth camps never had a problem would hike right thru it. As I got older I avoid it.

As an odd side note the oils in mango skin will also give a rash like poison ivy. Not fun when on your lips, I stopped eating fresh mangos unless the are already pealed.

[NEKVT]

As the name implies....this stuff works!

283453

[BrutalAB]

This year, at 34, i had my first reaction to poison ivy. I can remember pulling it up as a kid and then chasing my brother through the woods with it. Couldnt believe i developed an allergy to it, so i found more and rubbed a test spot on my arm. I guess i gotta learn to avoid it now.

[Winger Ed.]

Thanks bro.
I'm so sensitive that I start itching, and get a rash just from seeing a picture of it.

[NEKVT]

Poison Ivy doesn't need to have leaves to affect those allergic to it. Years ago I was digging for bottles at an old homesite the w/e of Thanksgiving when no ivy was visible and got a horrible case of rash on both hands. Monday I started a new job. It was very awkward being taken around to meet everybody and all I could do is wave.

As for suddenly becoming allergic to something, two years ago I was working on my cabin and came down with a Poison Ivy type rash on hands and forearms. There is none anywhere near the cabin. At 65 I became allergic to spruce sawdust. About 6 months later I added white pine to the list. I was cutting shapes out of some leftover wide siding boards while wearing gloves and got the rash just above the cuffs.

[jsizemore]

Crossbow whups the woody stuff and doesn't kill the grass

[Torg]

This will help[URL="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4oyoDRHpQK0"]

[dbosman]

Roundup will not kill poison ivy. It will burn down what you spray, but will come back from the roots. Use triclopiyr (generic) or Remedy (brand) .
Roundup poison ivy contains triclopiyr.

Thank you. That explains why I can knock it down to only have it come back.
I grew up on a farm, was a park ranger for three years and never got the itch. Fast forward a decade and I catch it in my back yard.

[bakerjw]

I actually caught some yesterday in the yard. I hit the spots with bleach and it is gone today.
Vile weed and I am its nemesis.

[TimD]

I always had it as a kid until Mom decided to keep milk goats. The goats loved to eat the vines. It was impossible to keep them away from it.

Late that summer I was playing hide & seek after dark. A few of us hid in tall grass that concealed a patch of poison ivy. The next day my friends were covered from head to toe. I had nothing. Apparently drinking the goat's milk gave me immunity. It was 25 years after we got rid of the goats before I caught it again.

Supposedly Native Americans would eat the leaves when they first come out in Spring. Three leaves a day for three weeks. The dose increases as the leaves get bigger.

[Gator 45/70]

I actually caught some yesterday in the yard. I hit the spots with bleach and it is gone today.
Vile weed and I am its nemesis.

Same here, If I'm cutting wood or other things wood associated I keep a tube of Clorox wipes in the truck just to clean any sap off the arms.

[quilbilly]

+ 3, Never burn it and stand down wind
The same is true with poison oak here on the West Coast. The fumes of forest fires in poison oak country are very toxic. They can cause a reaction hundreds of miles away.

[Ford SD]

Knock on wood ..... I have never had it

see it often at the gun club on the berms

if the grass is turning brown (heat of the summer) whats green on the berms is leaves of 3 .. poison ivy.. so stay out of the tall grass

I have heard that washing the sap off of you skin with brake cleaner works...
but have never tried it

[Gator 45/70]

The same is true with poison oak here on the West Coast. The fumes of forest fires in poison oak country are very toxic. They can cause a reaction hundreds of miles away.

This is the bad one here,It will kill you Nerium oleander.


Knock on wood ..... I have never had it

see it often at the gun club on the berms

if the grass is turning brown (heat of the summer) whats green on the berms is leaves of 3 .. poison ivy.. so stay out of the tall grass

I have heard that washing the sap off of you skin with brake cleaner works...
but have never tried it

Stick with clorox if you can.

[BJK]

TechNu and Ivarest (sp?) neutralize the oil at fault. They are found at the pharmacy.

[Txcowboy52]

I know the sap from the vines is many, many more times potent than the sap from the leaves. I hate it with a passion , it seems like every time I get it, it is worse than the time before .

[yeahbub]

Until I was 30 or so, I never used to get it either. Now it's pretty bad if I come in contact with the bruised/torn up vegetation when cutting trees and brush. I carry a machete on my walks in the woods just to be able to chop through such vines as opportunity presents. I second what FarmerJim and others said about using trichlopyr. The active ingredient in Garlon 4 or Garlon 4 Ultra (and there are other cheaper sources) is trichlopyr and I applied it mixed with basal oil (alyphatic hydrocarbons, basically vegetable oil with Dawn dish detergent), which is much cheaper than spraying all that foliage. Low-pressure spraying all around 18"-24" of the stem/trunk close to the ground will get it through the bark and into the living cambium layers and send it to the roots and the foliage at the same time. Works great on woody plants including Asian Honeysuckle bushes and Autumn Olive, both of which are taking over the Midwest. It's not an instant killer, but it kills the wholes plant, usually in about ten days. Works great on fresh-cut stems too when working with one guy cutting them off and another squirting the trunk.

[Gator 45/70]

We all have the remedy at reach according to one of cou-zans, He carries a lead wheel weight with him, When he catches a bit of poison, oak, Ivey or sumac
he rubs the lead wheel weight all over the affected area.
Claims he got that remedy from an old timer and it works !
Myself, I stick with the Clorox wipes.

[JoeJames]

Read a book on the Natchez trace. The ones surveying it were not immune at all. Got hit with it even while riding horse back. To them that was the worst aspect of laying out the Trace.

I had 1 1/2 to 2" vines or trees of it in my front enclosed yard here in the delta. I am not totally immune, but have spent more that my share of time in the woods and swamps. Had it on my knee once after creek fishing when I was about 14, and my earlobe once when putting up political signs when I was about 27, but it did not spread either time.

[GregLaROCHE]

A lot of allergies get worse the more exposure you have to them. You don’t build up a resistance the way many people think. My mother always swore she wasn’t allergic, but one day when she was in her fifties, weeding her flower garden, she got it so bad she needed medical attention.

[frkelly74]

I got into some cutting down a tree and believing I was immune. I wasn't. I discovered that drywall mud soothed the itching / burning pretty good. It is messy but it did help. When I was first married my bride was helping me trim some bushes for a friend. On their fence was a nice little Poison Ivy sprig and I said " watch out, That is poison Ivy" . My bride said " No it isn't ." and proceeded to rub some on her arm. It was Poison Ivy, definitely . We had a dog that liked to sleep on my wifes pillow when we weren't watching him. I was out weedwacking and the dog was with me rolling in this and that. The next day my wife was a miserable person. Doggie was watched much more closely after that.