The outermost lvs from here have the shape of field bindweed, as does the root characteristics. The morning glory type plant that you see in overgrazed areas, with white fls. Pulling once is rarely successful. Surely this board has lots of folks with ideas...

Dan

I went and picked a few representative pieces of my vast bind weed collection, and I'm not so sure - the veins on my leaves are all pretty straight, not divided up. When you pull it, does it come roaring back with a dozen stems?

In any event, the most effective way I've found to control bindweed, or any other noxious weed, is to mix up, together, in a small spray bottle, Roundup and 2,4D at the recommended concentration, and then isolate the plant by sticking it in a plastic cup/bottle with the bottom cut off, and spraying it thoroughly. It may take two or three times. I'll do this in the flower beds.

In the vegetable garden, I just pull it. It comes back. I pull it again.

I spray once a season out in the borders, where I've got gobs of the stuff. The effective word there is 'control', not eliminate.

The area of the yard that this weed is moving in was before last spring was a weak grass and weed area. I spread newspaper over the entire are and then covered with commercial compost and straw. If that area was overgrazed it would've been before 1980 but I could definitely imagine that went on.

After I hand pull it seems to come back in the same general area but not with a dozen stems. Maybe a handful in the same square foot.

So far with this garden I've been sticking mostly to organic methods. I do use some synthetic fertilizers. I'm not totally against using some roundup. The intended use for that area this year is for corn, melons and squash and I usually mix in some flowers.

Last year when they were under the newspaper they would search out openings at fairly long distances maybe 18-24 inches or more and they start upwards. Unfortunately pulling them up also tended to tear openings in the paper.

Sounds a lot like bindweed. But from the pictures I'm like David not so sure. I will post a link to one site about it. And there maybe different varieties than I'm used to here. The one here we have in all the fields and I fight to keep out of my garden has a little different root system than what the one in your picture appears to be. But sometimes pictures can give the wrong illusion. I just spray mine with straight Round up. Once in a while I'll have some show up in the garden and I pull it. The rest I try to keep on the edges of my property. Jay

I'm pretty sure that's bindweed. I have this stuff EVERYWHERE in my yard and it's all I can do to keep it from choking the other plants out. I have layed several layers of newspaper, watered, then a layer or two of weed barrier down and that seems to work for a year or two, then the weed finds all the seams and grows toward the light. I have heard roundup will kill the leaves in the spot that you spray, but little more. I have heard of people having a bit more success by setting the weed, while still attached to it's root system, in a bowl of roundup, letting it soak up the poison and killing larger amounts.

hmmm, I wonder if there's a ground cover I can plant that will out compete it? Preferably a cover crop type plant. I do have some Australian winter pea and hairy vetch seeds that I was planning on planting somewhere late summer. Maybe I can get some of that in sooner.

If it is bindweed and you spray several times you can kill it out. When I moved here I had some in the garden area and a fair sized patch south of it about 20 yards wide. I have killed it out with Roundup to the neighbors fence and try to keep it there now. There is a new chemical out that some farmers use here that no till farm. They spray the ground like after wheat harvest and it kills the ground for 10-12 months. Nothing grows. I don't want to ever use anything that strong. Even with the snow we had this winter and the rains lately I was looking at some of the fields sprayed last summer today and not a green sprig anywhere. 2,4-D will set it back. But with Round up with a few repeated applications you can kill it out. I will try to get a picture of the root system on the bindweed that grows here tomorrow. Jay

When it "gets away from you," does it twine tightly around and up anything it gets near?

If you had this stuff around there last year, did you ever see small white morning glory type flowers on it?

If it is bindweed, nothing will out compete it, and planting something in the area before you get rid of it will just make it harder to get rid of--unless you don't care if you kill whatever else it is that you've planted near it.

Can you post a few more pictures of it in different stages? Especially a pic of an older vine if that's possible.

When you pulled out the one you took a picture of, did the entire root come out or did it break off?

I agree with others that it doesn't look "quite right" for bindweed, but, on the other hand, I've seen bindweed with varying shapes and sizes of leaves, and it might just be one I haven't seen before--or else it's a younger plant, which is what it looks like, so it still looks a little bit different!

Another suggestion would be to pull out a couple more and take them to a "real" garden center for identification.

I'm inclined to think it probably is bindweed. You could also dig up roots from one of them, break them into pieces, and plant them (just mix them into the soil---in a pot!---and wait to see if they grow! Bindweed will sprout even from small broken off pieces of root!

Skybird

The innermost leaves confused me and I'm going off the saggitate outermost lvs and fleshy root.

Where gj lives it shouldn't be a nightmare, but definitely annoying to eradicate. If you're hard core organic then even worse, but 3-5 applications of RU usu does it - you want to wick instead of spray to minimize spread in the garden, & do in morning. No RU, pulling 10-15x when young will tire out the root eventually.

Dan

Over the years of battle, I've come to accept cheat grass, dandelions and bindweed as part of the rich tapestry of flora that is my garden. Said to myself: Self, you realize now that you won't win, here, on 3 acres of garden. Lets reach an accommodation.

Dandelions are best viewed as "your friend with a tap root" breaking up the clay soil. And the dry seed heads are lots of fun to whack with a golf club, if you're 6 yrs old.

Bindweed - be grateful it isn't in the roses with all the thorns. And look often at the sky, ignoring it.

Cheat grass - Mow it in June when it dries out.

A hammock and iced tea on a hot afternoon.

Mowing cheatgrass before it seeds, David, is usu. a better time to mow. Repeated mowings prior to seed set will wear it out and make it mostly go away. Buddy of mine in Eastern WA has almost eradicated it from his 13 ac in this way.

Dan

Saw an interesting application for the "wicking" application dan is talking about. Tape a 2" sponge brush on hand end of a handle (hoe works for me). Dip the sponge in a small bowl of herbicide and paint the offending plant.

I use to have bindweed real bad all over but just pulling top and as much roots as possible for several years has really made a difference. Not gone, mind you, but sure a lot less.

In our pastures the cows love to eat it and it doesn't come back once they get going. Not sure why but it sure works. b onnie

Bonnie, I never had bindweed in one garden until I brought in a load of cow manure. I think it must depend on "when" they eat it as to whether grazing pressure can slow it.

I'm in the repeatedly spray it group. In the ornamentals, I use the "annual weeds" dilution of Round Up. It takes at least 3 sprayings to kill it but I usually make the rounds about every 3 weeks during the growing season. In the veggies, I just try to never walk past it without pulling.

The size of the plant isn't clear in the photo and having an idea may help. Still, I believe it is bindweed. To think, this plant was once deliberately planted in orchards as a cover crop -- Amazing! The sins of the fathers, and all that . . .

Steve

I was out in the veggie garden just now, and pulled some bind weed thats identical to the photo - same leave patterns, stem color, root color, diameter and all.

Dan, my cheat grass is all in the border - 750 foot long, 20-30 foot wide swath full of trees, bushes, perennials, bind weed and cheat grass all in and around those plants. Using a lawn mower isn't all that feasible anymore, but getting at it with a weed whacker is. I do it before the seeds start sticking to my socks.

I tried that mowing it constantly thing one year. It was pretty funny, it kept going to seed shorter and shorter, finally sending out the seed heads horizontally on the ground. That is one versatile, persistent grass.

I can get rid of it in the borders if I have a thick enough mulch down from fallen pine needles, leaves, etc.

Some of us are really lucky.........I have 3 kinds of bindweed!!

I looked at my bindweed tonight. The diameter of the stems and roots aren't nearly as big as those appear in the picture. Again I'm assuming a different variety of it. Either that or the picture is deceiving. I will do some looking at some of the other growing around. I have a continual fight as my neighbor to the south does nothing to that on his property. So every year I fight what tries to come over and what comes up from scattered seed ect. Jay

Bindweed: an "ornamental" in Europe, from where it was imported. A cousin of the morning glory, it has a natural enemy in its native land, the bindweed gall mite. Invisible to the naked eye, these guys only do well if on an area that isn't getting regular irrigation (as in, if it's in your yard, you'll drown the little guys). So, IF you can find some bindweed gall mites--try calling your county extension because they have some from time to time; you might get on a wait list for like three years--be sure to give them a home away from areas that get hit regularly by sprinklers. I'm still on the wait list for some, and have the perfect place behind the A/C unit to give the little buggers a home. Yeah, still waiting.

BTW, bindweed seeds are viable for over 50 years, stories of roots going 60 feet down have been told, and be cautious spraying it or soaking the longer tendrils of it in RoundUp, as I have heard the invasive underground runners will pierce iris and other bulbs (the rhizome dies from the RU, but not the weed), and have also heard stories about it fusing with tomato and other vegetable roots--again, killing the desired vegetation but suffering little itself when the bindweed was sprayed and or dipped in the RU.

Personally, I don't think roundup will kill it--it is a "pull it forever" thing. If you are fortunate to have 3 acres, then I agree with david52: stop and check out the clouds regularly. It's about keeping it from choking out other things, cuz ain't nothin' gonna choke out that bindweed.

Sorry, gjcore!

You could also go the route of the small, plasticized little plant identification signs they slap around botanical gardens, and put one near your bind weed and name varieties, like

Convolvulus arvensis 'fairly bracelet'

Skybird said "If it is bindweed, nothing will out compete it"

I've been reading where alfalfa and rye are pretty good at suppressing bindweed.

Skybird asked these questions:

Sky; When it "gets away from you," does it twine tightly around and up anything it gets near?

gj:I think it has climbed up tomato and pea cages probably other things as well.

Sky: If you had this stuff around there last year, did you ever see small white morning glory type flowers on it?

gj: Maybe but not much

Sky: Can you post a few more pictures of it in different stages?

gj: Yes. I will try growing some of it in a container and let one of them grow for a bit.

Sky: When you pulled out the one you took a picture of, did the entire root come out or did it break off?

gj: The entire root never comes out by handpulling. I have dug some "up".

All are good tips to deal with Field Bindweed (a.k.a. Morning Glory). Here's my 2cents worth:

The most effective way to deal with any plant (either to make it grow or to kill it) is to understand how it propagates itself.

One of the reasons that Bindweed is so invasive (and frustrating) is that it really badly wants to "go forth and multiply". Bindweed is very successful at all of the requirements for survival: 1)It's a long-lived perennial, 2) it propagates both by vegetation and by seed 3)the seeds are viable for a long time in the soil (I've heard 30 years) 4) I've seen a picture of the root system being over 20 feet deep 5) it will re-sprout a new plant at each "node" along the root and stem 6)it's quite drought tolerant 7) it is happy in ANY kind of soil (clay, sand, rocks, loam... But it likes disrupted soil the best.

All this is very discouraging, but understanding Bindweed's method of reproduction helps control it.

Here's what's been successful for me in "managing" Bindweed in my yard, and in the other yards that I've worked in. I've delt with many acres of Bindweed, and now only have to carry a small bottle of glyphosate in the spring and remind the Bindweed who's boss. ;)

1) First line of attack is to manage the existing plants, and their root systems that sprout from each node when you pull off the top. I've tried many ways to deal with the "parent" plant (pulling, smothering, tilling, burning, vinegar, salt, solarizing with plastic, etc.). But the most effective way that I've found is that it's important to use an herbicide that trans-locates the herbicide through the root system (therefore killing the roots along with the vegetative top growth; remember that Bindweed sprouts from each node including on the root system). Glyphosate (the effective ingredient in Roundup) is one of the more successful herbicides that trans-locates through the root system.

There are a few "tricks" in using glyphosate. Follow the manufacturer's instructions and mix the glyphosate using the instructions for "shrubs/vines" (in other words, mix it as strong as possible). Glyphosate is easily neutralized by contaminates, so make sure you don't use dirty water (from a pond, etc.), don't add any other chemical unless it specifies that it's compatable, and make sure that you don't use a metal canister to mix/spray/store it in (I use plastic).

Having said that, I add a few "secret ingredients". Glyphosate works best in slightly acid pH water. Most of our mountain states have alkaline soils, and therefore alkaline water. Therefore, I add a bit of vinegar (about a tablespoon/gal) to acidify the water. The next ingredient that I add is a surfactant (which some of the herbicides already have in them). A surfactant breaks down the surface tension on the leaf, and allows the herbicide to spread over the surface therefore being more available to be absorbed (also called a spreader/sticker). One of the easiest surfactants is liquid dish soap. A few drops is plenty. The final "secret" ingredient is a bit of water-soluble fertilizer such as Miracle Grow. It is extremely important for the plant that you want to kill is "actively green and growing". Fertilizer helps with this.

Keep in mind that glyphosate is a NON SELECTIVE herbicide. It will kill any plant, but it has to touch the leaves (or other part of the plant that has chlorophyll in it (some plants have chlorophyll in their trunks/stems). Glyphosate is neutralized in the soil and therefore is NOT a soil contaminate/sterilizer. Be careful of chemical drift (the wind blowing the spray to other plants), tracking glyphosate on your shoes, tracking via pets, rain, etc.

If the Bindweed is amoung other plants, I use a plastic drinking cup that has the bottom cut out. I pull the Bindweed through the bottom of the cup, and then spray into the cup therefore reducing the possibility of the herbicide drifting onto other plants. I let this dry, and then remove the cup. I also have heard of using a paint brush and painting the leaves, and also "foaming" the soap into bubbles (remember the soap?) and placing the glyphosate-infused bubbles on the plant. It's hard to be exact when you're spraying, so try these other options.

It is most effective to use glyphosate in the fall when the plant is pulling nutrients into their roots getting ready for winter. But, Bindweed takes persistence, so use it whenever you can.

Another tip: DON'T use any herbicide when the temps. will be over 80degrees!!! Most all chemical herbicides will volatilize above 80 degrees and turn into a gas and drift onto other plants. :(

2) Now we have to deal with the seeds! A pre-emergent herbicide (such as Preen) will help, but you're only putting off the germination of a 30 year viable seed. I've chosen to allow them to germinate and then continue to kill the "parent" plant. Do this by pulling new seedlings and continuing to use glyphosate to kill the more mature plants.

Remember, each time you till or work the soil, you're bringing up seeds to the surface so that they will germinate. It will seem like a never-ending battle, but you can win! There's an old saying that it takes 7 years to manage one year's worth of laziness by allowing a plant to reseed. Don't give up!

Sorry for the long reply. Hope this helps!

Whatever you do, don't rototill an area that has bindweed roots in it.

Signed,

Speaking from sad experience

Thanks for the advice everyone has offered. right now my plan is to do spot treatment with roundup. I also ordered bindweed mites from the state but they won't arrive until next year sometime. There is an Adams County meeting I think June 12th of this year that one can get the mites from. I considering that if I can clear my calender. It's a half day affair and I think it's geared mostly to farmers. I also read that there's some sort of moth that also attacks bindweed that the state is releasing.

Now that I know what bindweed looks like I see it all over the place. I do service work going to ~20 houses per week and the stuff really seems to be all over the place.

Now that I know what bindweed looks like I see it all over the place. I do service work going to ~20 houses per week and the stuff really seems to be all over the place.

When you see it in a pasture, you know the owners are overgrazing. If it is the only thing, lucky it isn't a criminal act. It is what we call an 'indicator plant' for disturbance and abused soil.

Dan

I found this tip on an old garden web forum several years ago. It works pretty good so I'm going to pass on what I do. I mix up Round Up then dilute it to a 50% solution with water. I take small glass jars (8 to 12 oz size), 12" sticks, twine, plastic wrap and the diluted Round Up. When the bind weed has long vines, I put a glass jar next to the vines. I push the stick into the ground and use the twine to secure the jar to the stick so it won't fall over. I get a bunch of vines together and shove them into the glass jar. Next I pour the diluted Round Up into the jar until it's full. I rip off a piece of plastic wrap and wrap it over the top and around the jar so it if rains, Round Up won't be spattered over my flowers. You may find nearby vines that weren't in the jar will also die because they share the same root system. You want to dilute the Round Up so it'll suck the chemical into the roots before the vine dies. I'm still battling bind weed but nothing like I was a few years ago.