{"id":407,"date":"2011-06-07T12:33:45","date_gmt":"2011-06-07T16:33:45","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/mymontys.com\/wordpress\/?p=407"},"modified":"2011-06-07T12:33:45","modified_gmt":"2011-06-07T16:33:45","slug":"controlling-morning-glory-in-the-vegetable-garden","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.wordpress.mymontys.com\/?p=407","title":{"rendered":"Controlling Morning Glory in the Vegetable Garden"},"content":{"rendered":"

I remember as a child that my mom would wake me cheerfully with the words, \u201cMorning, Glory!\u201d\u00a0 We will forget for a minute that there is never a reason to be that chipper and cheerful at 5:45. Nonetheless, that phrase combined with her effervescent personality made me think of Morning Glories as a positive thing.<\/p>\n

What did I know; I grew up in a desert and morning glories were not a problem for us? I have since moved to East Tennessee, where they are not only a problem, they are a menace!\u00a0 My disdain for them is second only to kudzu.<\/p>\n

I know that some people, for reasons I cannot imagine, grow them on purpose.\u00a0 I have even seen recipes for cooked morning glories, and found legions of devotees to the plant.\u00a0 This blog is not for them. In fact, they will probably want to hang me for suggesting the destruction of the plants. That notwithstanding, for those of us who did not plan on raising a crop of morning glories, they are a problem.<\/p>\n

They are vigorous, invasive, will outcompete most anything and they seem to believe my corn stalks were planted as climbing trellises for them.\u00a0 Additionally, in their early stages they are very similar in appearance to my green beans and okra. In my early days of gardening, I cannot tell you how many of my desirable plants I have hoed down, thinking I was killing a morning glory.<\/p>\n

In my search for control of these blasted weeds, phrases like this \u201cYou are fighting Mother Nature, which loves the plants we call weeds just as much as she loves your garden plants. Weeds are simply Nature\u2019s darlings which have learned to out-compete other plants. Keep your hoe active, and remember that weed control is good exercise!\u201d <\/em>were small consolation. (this is actually a quote from a web page on controlling morning glories!)<\/p>\n

At long last I have come upon some information that helps me understand my enemy, and through trial and error I have developed a method for reasonable control.<\/p>\n

First let\u2019s shed some light on this plant and give you some of the basics.<\/p>\n

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  1. The Morning Glory (Calystegia sepia) is a vine-based plant that prefers shade and fertile soil.<\/li>\n
  2. Morning glories propagate in two ways: rhizomes (horizontal underground stems) and seeds.<\/li>\n
  3. Seeds from one flowering morning glory can remain viable in the soil for up to 5 years.<\/li>\n
  4. The tend to build up in the flanks of your garden, then invade the heart of the garden.<\/li>\n
  5. They are heavy foliage producers. This allows them to produce and store abundant sugars for energy through photosynthesis in their roots.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    Why your current methods of control may not be working:<\/p>\n

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    1. Their propagation method makes them very hard to control.\u00a0 If you seek to pull them up, till them, or hoe them out before they flower and seed you are only controlling one method.\u00a0 However, be pulling on them, you are breaking their flexible roots allowing the rhizomes to send of more shoots.\u00a0 If you hoe or till them you are chopping the rhizomes into pieces and each one of those pieces, even small ones, are capable of developing a new plant.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

      \u00a0<\/p>\n

        \n
      1. Even if you could successfully remove the plants so that the rhizomes were not an issue, their seeds remain viable for up to 5 years so you will have to remain diligent for a protracted period of time to gain success. Even one slip up, or taking a vacation where the plants can flower and produce seed will serve as a setback.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

        \u00a0<\/p>\n

          \n
        1. You can remove the leaves so that you interrupt photosynthesis which will weaken it. However, since they have such an extensive underground network of roots and rhizomes, the sugar you rob from a plant in one part of the garden can be replaced by stores of energy in a plant tens of feet away.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

          \u00a0<\/p>\n

          Given their hardiness and the survival mechanism that nature has built into these survivors, how can you control them.\u00a0 One way is to exclude the plant from seeing the light of day.\u00a0 That is, by using carpet, cardboard, layers of newspaper, or turf to shade out the plant completely.\u00a0 This process will usually take a full growing season, but it is effective.\u00a0 Because it takes a season, if you garden regularly like I do, it may not always be practical. One solution is to rotate your garden.\u00a0 Take your larger garden plot and subdivide it into two or three sections.\u00a0 Garden intensively in one section, while the other remains fallow.\u00a0 (If you do this, use a cover crop like barely, clover, or a legume as a \u2018green manure\u2019.)<\/p>\n

          The other method, and this is the one I use, is the use of a labeled herbicide.<\/p>\n

          2, 4-D is very good BUT it will also volatize (rise up in the atmosphere) and hover with morning fog and dew.\u00a0 Once it does that, it will settle on plants you did not wish to kill and will cause damage if not destruction of your desirable plants.\u00a0 For the sake of your other garden plants and for your neighbors, even area farm crops (there have been proven cases of 2, 4-D volatizing and \u2018walking\u2019 on fog up to 2 miles from the point where it was applied. This is a big problem in my area where cattlemen use it to control pasture weeds and tomato growers occupy the same county.\u00a0 Complete fields of tomatoes have been wiped out by this product because of its use by a neighbor.)<\/p>\n

          My herbicide of choice is glyphosate, brand name is round-up, but there are less expensive generics out there. Glyphosate is a \u2018take-all\u2019 or complete herbicide.\u00a0 It will kill anything it touches, even your valuable plants so you must be careful. However, here are some tips:<\/p>\n