Nix the Knotweed- Let's get started!

We explain the 3-step process to control invasive Japanese Knotweed. See what the plant looks like, tools you need, and when and how to chop and dispose of it.

[@Cynthia-sm5uj]

Would love to see a three year update

[@pmaher63]

Your method is labor-intensive if you're dealing with anything beyond a rootball or two. In my experience (dealing with almost an acre's worth), I found that cutting it down everyday with a scythe as it grew helps take this plant out at the knees come late fall, before the frost, when you smear its leaves (you have to let it grow a foot or two by then, but it grows very fast) with a glyphosate. Those recommending not to use an herbicide are doing people a disfavor. There is a way to treat the growth of this plant without making it a biohazard to native species, and it can be done effectively. I damn near wiped out the entirety of my backyard explosion that stood nine feet tall and spread to almost an acre by the time I purchased the property. The simple fact of the matter is that the repeated cuts of the plant deprive the photosynthesis process. By the time you finally let it grow, the plant is reversing the flow of essential sugars and nutrients back to the rhizomes for winter. Only this time, you are taking with those nutrients a healthy dosage of herbicide. This can only work in the weeks preceding the first frost. I'm not sure what the process is with knotweed growth in regions with no frost.

[@alexandertaylor6534]

I've also found that this is the most effective method for knotweed. Simply cutting it down tells the plant there's a local threat and can cause it to send additional rhizomes laterally and expand the infestation.

[@NonieDeLong]

I saw this happen on my property with cutting in spring/ summer.

[@knotweedkninja8539]

To tackle a huge patch, (make a few trails first on the inside and also blaze a trail around the perimeter), start inside the clump and spray all the stems first, then start at the back and work your way out spraying the undersides of the leaves. Next, go around the perimeter of the patch, carefully spraying all the leaves around the outer edge. Lastly, open your nozzle to full stream and spray over the top of the patch from all sides. Take heart, next year the knotweed will be stunted and easier to spray. 1)The ultimate date for spraying Knotweed is on or around September 15, after the bees are done pollinating. 2) Use 2 ounces Glyphosate and one ounce of a sticker per gallon. 3) Tighten your nozzle to just more than a mist (depending on distance away from the plant) and cover every inch of each plant, first the stem, then leaves and undersides of leaves too if at all possible. 4) The silver bullet to eradicating knotweed is this... when you are done thoroughly spraying... wait for the herbicide to be totally absorbed/dry and spray it all over again one more time! (2nd spray could be done the next day.) After only having 10 percent eradication of the knotweed clumps I treated year after year (for 10 years)... I finally used the double spray in one day technique and found 90% eradication the following season.

[@wesd5088]

ive been cutting this back like this 3x a year for the past decade and it continues to come up.

[@joshfranklin7548]

Yeah, you have to glyphosate it. This plant defies all normality, seems to sprout back up endlessly. The shoots get smaller and skinnier, but they just. Keep. Coming. I firmly believe the only way to ever eradicate it is to poison the rhizome. Period.

[@danadeeann]

It’s on my neighbors property on his side of fence my side is my garden 5 ft. From the fence…. I have a people problem AND a major problem with an invasive plant ! I have tilled mowed and covered just to keep it at bay, ineffectively unfortunately. Sad day. Going 👉 to look for how to solve my people problem 🙏🌱thanks this was helpful you seem like a hard working lady ! 😀

[@GodLovesYou5635]

we put black plastic down for a year and it helped a lot

[@kaswhite1380]

I had a fair size patch of this stuff growing right to the edge of the paved highway. Four years ago I initially cut it down and then after that every time it come back to say under 12 inches I cut it back to ground level every week or ten days. So thereafter starting in spring never let it get any higher than ten inches and then bushwacked it. So guess what after four years I have pretty well beaten it. Still just a few shoots coming up which I quickly cut. But I'm still not letting my guard down.

[@leesapollo]

In the UK this would be illegal. It’s a nightmare this weed.

[@karencolon5152]

It's also illegal to purposely plant it around here Long Island NY. It is very invasive here.

[@esotericheric8659]

The roots are are highly medical. Just took some from a strong tincture. It is high in resveratrol (like red wine but far far more) and emodin. May even protect and reverse post Covid issues. I have just become fascinated by this plant. Not to mention the whole plant is edible.

[@esotericheric8659]

It is also the cure for Lyme disease. There you go.

[@jean-pierredevent970]

@@esotericheric8659 I found this plant already fascinating as a kid and I think that if and only if, we can find a way to stop it on places where we don't want it, it's the ideal source of biomass energy and biomass fuel. And if we make sure enough charcoal (biochar) is, it's even removing CO2. However it must locally be heat treated and compressed before it's interesting to transport it to a pyrolysis oven.

[@edithreardon6042]

Wouldn't it be better not to let it get so big in the spring before cutting it. I hope you do another video showing the progress of this technique.

[@naturekins604]

contractor bags are much bigger and thicker and if you want to do a huge stand then you can go even bigger with a silage bag that you can get from a feed store. I like to let it start to grow then if it is in a sunny location put a thick plastic sheet over it to let the sun kill it. Let it start to regrow again and repeat. After a few regrowth and kill cycles you can put a thick mulch down of black walnut or butternut if you can find it and then cover with a very thick weed barrier and mulch on top with a thick mulch. If you want to build beds on top don't puncture the barrier in any way. If you are doing organic gardening and can't use spray then this is the only way I have found.

[@craighelmrich5134]

I am trying two things one I got an old carpet very thick put it over the area that I just cut then 6inches of mulch. second getting a hypodermic needle large or one for turkeys and inject straight roundup into the roots will let you know

[@MT454]

I can grow through up to 4" concrete so unfortunately I don't think your carpet method will work well.

[@shirinnosrati6766]

Did it work?

[@JoeSmith9021090210]

Hi there! I recently had a landscaper come in for a major yard clean up, which included pulling out a whole bunch of roots (including knotweed), leveling, and planting grass seed. After a couple of weeks, as you can imagine, new sprouts are coming out. I don't think the landscaper understood what they were, and I didn't until I started doing research after the fact. In any case, new grass is definately growing, and I'd very much like to try the: cut it low, let it grow up to 6-10 inches, cut it low again, etc. My concern is mowing, though. I don't want to spread the "infestation" to other areas of the yard. If I cut them very low to the ground then mow, do you think I'll be ok with that?

[@nixtheknotweed9869]

If you still have active Knotweed sprouts coming up through the grass, please don't mow them, the fragments will only spread and sprout. Try hand-cutting the Knotweed sprouts low to the ground and take them away. Then you can mow the seeded grass. Think of that grass as a cover crop this year; it's not going to outcompete the Knotweed, though, in the first year.

[@hungfaili19]

​@@nixtheknotweed9869

[@shaynalinkie]

No, cutting it doesn't help. You have to apply glyphosate in the fall, after it's flowered and remove all the rhizomes from the ground.

[@windsorSJ]

Don't put it in the trash. You are just sharing the problem. Burn any cuttings and clean your boots afterwards. Even a small piece wedged in a shoe tread can spread this evil plant.

[@nixtheknotweed9869]

In CT, municipal trash is incinerated - burned. We do not recommend landfilling or dumping the live cuttings.

[@redd605]

The worst plant coming from nextdoor destroyed my fence and concrete outside cut it back to nextdoor garden but repaired the cracks looking for weed killer to stop it's growing

[@tanglewood777]

car battery acid kills it put some in spray bottle wear gardeners gloves and spray bits of it it die with in hours

[@toshinrock1165]

I’ve been told not to cut it…

[@Balenza345]

Cant see how cutting it at the stem kills it.

[@gobshite99]

It's not. Use a herbicide.

[@kmain0]

Why not burn it?

[@nixtheknotweed9869]

If burning is acceptable in your town, that certainly is a possibility. Please check your state invasive plant laws, find out where your trash goes and check with local authorities on burning permits.

[@naturekins604]

it is very fleshy and you have to use a super high heat that you need special equipment for due to the high water content.

[@emmafox4069]

I see why digging it up isn't 100% effective, but is it harmful? Wouldn't digging up at least a portion of the rootball cause more harm to the plant and therefore be at least somewhat beneficial?

[@Archiveofobscurity]

Problem is that if you dig it up you might inadvertantly spread it. Its a rhizomatic plant and even a small amount can regrow in full. Afaik it can grow down very far, 5-6 metres even. You would barely touch it without a digger. If you leave it after cutting, it should reinvest its energy into growing where it is. This is controlling it.

[@emmafox4069]

@@Archiveofobscurity Thanks!

[@NonieDeLong]

Digging snd cutting (careful to bag it all snd burn it) only made mine grow thicker and spread out more! Suckers came out 6 feet furtger!

[@unda25]

Here in uk i here they are dangerous for property

[@dappy848]

waste of time it will be back for for your lifetime.

[@hmartin751]

Hahahaha i love my knotweed i am an herbalist so i use it for medicine..i just got done chopping the root..

[@GodLovesYou5635]

how do you use it. can you be more specific

[@beanholder3634]

Lemme save you 4 minutes. Knotweed is knot a problem. All you gotta do is get some garden variety scissors, cut it into manageable portions and roll it into an expansion joint. I won't lie, the only unmanageable thing about knotweed is how high it gets you when you smoke it down. It's the highest I've ever been, my mind snapped like a carrot. You know it's pure when you see those orange flecks. Just seconds after smoking a knotweed blunt I was flying high man, I started licking walls and eating dog food. When I came to I'd blown a load in my pants and had to throw out my boxers. Put me in a state of vegetative regeneration for a week. It was well worth the sacrifice

[@blakekidder701]

😂

[@gruuzol6280]

That’s not doing anything it’ll just grow back

[@gabriellefaith7202]

Ma’am, do you intend to do this for the rest of your life? This isn’t effective.