Editing Kudzu (section)

==Control==

===Crown removal===
Destroying the full underground system, which can be extremely large and deep, is not necessary for successful long-term control of kudzu. Killing or removing the kudzu [[root crown]]<ref name="kokudzu">{{cite web|url=http://www.kokudzu.com/ |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070917144730/http://www.kokudzu.com/ |archive-date=2007-09-17 |title=Kudzu Control Without Chemicals|access-date=20 July 2022|publisher=kokudzu.com|year=2007}}</ref> and all rooting runners is sufficient. The root crown is a fibrous knob of tissue that sits on top of the roots. Crowns form from multiple vine nodes that root to the ground, and range from pea- to basketball-sized.<ref name="kokudzu" /> These crowns and attached tuberous roots can weigh 400 or 500 pounds (180 to 225 kilograms) and extend up to twenty feet (six meters) into the ground.<ref>Diane Hoots and Juanita Baldwin, "Kudsu - The Vine to Love or Hate, Kodak, Tennessee, Suntop press, (1996) Page 5</ref> The age of the crowns is correlated to how deep they are in the ground. Nodes and crowns are the source of all kudzu vines, and roots cannot produce vines. If any portion of a root crown remains after attempted removal, the kudzu plant may still grow back.{{citation needed|date=October 2023}}

Mechanical methods of control involve cutting off crowns from roots, usually just below ground level. This immediately kills the plant. Cutting off the above-ground vines is not sufficient for an immediate kill. Destroying all removed crown material is necessary. Buried crowns can regenerate into healthy kudzu. Transporting crowns in soil removed from a kudzu infestation is one common way that kudzu unexpectedly spreads and shows up in new locations.{{citation needed|date=October 2023}}

Close mowing every week, regular heavy [[grazing]] for many successive years, or repeated [[Tillage|cultivation]] may be effective, as this serves to deplete root reserves.<ref name="kokudzu" /> If done in the spring, cutting off vines must be repeated. Regrowth appears to exhaust the plant's stored [[carbohydrate]] reserves. Harvested kudzu can be fed to livestock, burned, or composted.{{citation needed|date=October 2023}}

In the United States, the city of [[Chattanooga, Tennessee]], undertook a trial program in 2010 using [[goat]]s and [[llama]]s to graze on the plant. Similar efforts to reduce widespread nuisance kudzu growth have also been undertaken in the cities of [[Winston-Salem, North Carolina]],<ref name="WXII12.com">{{cite web|url= http://www.wxii12.com/news/24828912/detail.html|title= Winston-Salem Using Goats To Attack Problem Kudzu Vines|access-date= 2010-09-08|publisher= Wxii12.com|date= 2010-08-31|first= Betsy|last= Bramlett|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120306092331/http://www.wxii12.com/news/24828912/detail.html|archive-date=2012-03-06}}</ref> and [[Tallahassee, Florida]].<ref>{{cite web|last=Neofotis|first=Peter|title= Kudzu (Pueraria montana)|url=http://www.columbia.edu/itc/cerc/danoff-burg/invasion_bio/inv_spp_summ/Pueraria_montana.html|work=Introduced Species Summary Project|publisher=Columbia University|access-date=17 September 2011}}</ref>

[[Prescribed burning]] is used on old extensive infestations to remove vegetative cover and promote seed germination for removal or treatment. While fire is not an effective way to kill kudzu,<ref name="kokudzu" /> equipment, such as a [[skid loader]], can later remove crowns and kill kudzu with minimal disturbance or erosion of soil.<ref name="washington">{{cite web|url=http://www.nwcb.wa.gov/weed_info/Pueraria_lobata.html|title=Written Findings of the State Noxious Weed Control Board|access-date=20 August 2007|publisher=Washington State Noxious Weed Control Board|year=2007|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110927090123/http://www.nwcb.wa.gov/weed_info/Pueraria_lobata.html|archive-date=27 September 2011}}</ref>

===Herbicide===
A systemic [[herbicide]], for example, [[glyphosate]],<ref name=SE>{{Cite web|url=http://www.se-eppc.org/manual/kudzu.html|title=Southeast Exotic Pest Plant Council Invasive Plant Manual}}</ref> [[triclopyr]],<ref name=SE /> or [[picloram]],<ref name=MDC>{{Cite web|url=http://mdc.mo.gov/landwater-care/plant-management/invasive-plant-management/kudzu|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20110526102822/http://mdc.mo.gov/landwater-care/plant-management/invasive-plant-management/kudzu|url-status=dead|title=Missouri Department of Conservation - Kudzu|archivedate=26 May 2011}}</ref> can be applied directly on cut stems, which is an effective means of transporting the herbicide into the kudzu's extensive root system.<ref name=NPS>{{Cite web|url=http://www.nps.gov/plants/alien/fact/pumo1.htm|title=National Park Service - Kudzu}}</ref> Herbicides can be used after other methods of control, such as mowing, grazing, or burning, which can allow for an easier application of the chemical to the weakened plants.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.bugwood.org/crp/kudzu.html |title=Bugwood Network (Center for Invasive Species and Ecosystem Health) |access-date=27 November 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130308055202/http://www.bugwood.org/crp/kudzu.html |archive-date=8 March 2013 |url-status=dead }}</ref> In large-scale forestry infestations, soil-active herbicides have been shown to be highly effective.<ref name=NPS />

After initial herbicidal treatment, follow-up treatments and monitoring are usually necessary, depending on how long the kudzu has been growing in an area. Up to 10 years of supervision may be needed after the initial chemical placement to make sure the plant does not return.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.kokudzu.com/Shared/PDF/HerbicideTreatmentsForKudzu.pdf|author=Matt Nespeca|date=August 2007|publisher=kokudzu.com|title=Kudzu Control Methods and Strategies|access-date=6 June 2017|archive-date=25 June 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160625080857/http://kokudzu.com/Shared/PDF/HerbicideTreatmentsForKudzu.pdf|url-status=dead}}</ref>

===Fungi===
Since 1998, the United States' [[Agricultural Research Service]] has experimented with using the fungus ''[[Myrothecium verrucaria]]'' as a biologically based herbicide against kudzu.<ref name="scidai" /> A [[diacetylverrucarol]] spray based on ''M. verrucaria'' works under a variety of conditions (including the absence of [[dew]]), causes minimal injury to many of the other woody plants in kudzu-infested habitats, and takes effect quickly enough that kudzu treated with it in the morning starts showing evidence of damage by midafternoon.<ref name="scidai"/> Initial formulations of the herbicide produced toxic levels of other [[trichothecene]]s as byproducts, though the ARS discovered that growing ''M. verrucaria'' in a [[fermenter]] on a liquid diet (instead of a solid) limited or eliminated the problem.<ref name="scidai"/>