Poison Ivy etc

[Butch627]

Ive been roaming the same wooded areas on and off since I was a kid in NWI. As a kid in the 60's and 70's there was never a thought of poisonous plants. Now they are a constant problem in the yard and the wooded / natural areas have been getting more of them. This summer though poison ivy has seemingly exploded. It seems to be everywhere it can get sun. Id like to hear other thoughts on your experiences with it.

 

[Leo]

Yes, we have had a lot more trouble with it growing around our gardens and fences this year. The wife is very allergic to it any more, so I get a lot of that duty. I have been burning it with a propane torch at ground level, being careful that the smoke is moving away from my nose.

 

[hoosierdaddy1976]

It was bad in one corner of my yard at my old house. Of course, the neighbor never cleaned any of it up on his side of the property line, so I waged a constant battle against encroachment. Made myself miserable a couple times wading too deeply into it with the weedeater.

 

[Wolfhound]

I clicked on this thread so I will be breaking out shortly. Lol

 

[rosejm]

Yeah, always saw a bit of it here and there in the yard but this year has been a bumper crop.

 

[loudgroove]

Oh I use to get into poison ivy fights with my cousins as kids. I hardly had ever broke out with it. My cousins got covered every time. none of the adults ever tried to get rid of it though.

 

[mark40sw]

On my first time trying to enlist in the navy at MEPS, I was about to be sent out and having poison ivy rash at the time got me sent home. As a kid, i always seemed to find it.

 

[patience0830]

Homemade relief that works. Take as much chopped jewel weed and plantain leaves as you can stuff into a food processor and add enough olive oil to get it thoroughly liquified. Strain through an old t-shirt. Apply the liquid to the affected site as soon as symptoms are noticed. The juice just works.

 

[DadSmith]

Ive been roaming the same wooded areas on and off since I was a kid in NWI. As a kid in the 60's and 70's there was never a thought of poisonous plants. Now they are a constant problem in the yard and the wooded / natural areas have been getting more of them. This summer though poison ivy has seemingly exploded. It seems to be everywhere it can get sun. Id like to hear other thoughts on your experiences with it.

I believe it's worse now than it was in the past.
I'm now battling poison all around the 3 acres that I try to keep up for family and friends when we gather.
Poison ivy has attached itself to half the trees.
I'm also seeing poison oak here and there.
A few years ago I was cleaning up the fence row, and ran into a poison sumac it was about 2 feet tall bush (i didn't see it because of all the overgrowth, and kept working in, and around it). Poison sumac isn't supposed to be in Indiana at all that's what I was told several years ago.
I had a t-shirt on, and was hot, and the humidity was high. I was sweating, and rubbing my face, neck, etc with my hands. Nature called a few tike as well.
Less than 24 hours later I had severe outbreak, and had to go to urgent care for treatment.
My father went up, and checked the fence row I was cleaning around, and found the poison sumac. That aided the Dr in knowing what I needed.
Do not mess with poison sumac if you see it burn it.

 

[Cameramonkey]

Homemade relief that works. Take as much chopped jewel weed and plantain leaves as you can stuff into a food processor and add enough olive oil to get it thoroughly liquified. Strain through an old t-shirt. Apply the liquid to the affected site as soon as symptoms are noticed. The juice just works.

Another remedy if applied quickly. My toddler (who is now 220lbs and towers over me LOL) ran through a patch at grandmas in shorts. He even picked a couple of the cool looking plants to give to us. That is how we realized what he did.
I quickly rushed him inside and smeared his hands, arms and exposed legs with straight dawn dish soap like a lotion and let it sit for 2 minutes.

We then used cool water to massage it into his skin for a few minutes.

Eventually we carefully rinsed him off.

Not a single bump.

 

[Chase515]

Every tree and fence post has poison ivy growing on it at my other house. No chemicals have been used on that property in at least 30 years. I've loaded up the back pack sprayer multiple times with brush killer and round up mixed and sprayed every vine on the northside of the property. Still trying to figure out how to take down the dead trees covered in poison ivy vines and burn them. Tecnu makes a soap for poison ivy that works very well. Cutter has a box of poison ivy wipes you can buy and are very handy. I keep them in both cars and both trucks now.

 

[JTKelly]

Ortho weed B gon will kill PI with out killing your lawn.

 

[Cameramonkey]

Every tree and fence post has poison ivy growing on it at my other house. No chemicals have been used on that property in at least 30 years. I've loaded up the back pack sprayer multiple times with brush killer and round up mixed and sprayed every vine on the northside of the property. Still trying to figure out how to take down the dead trees covered in poison ivy vines and burn them. Tecnu makes a soap for poison ivy that works very well. Cutter has a box of poison ivy wipes you can buy and are very handy. I keep them in both cars and both trucks now.

DO NOT BURN POISON IVY!

Burning poison ivy launches the oil into the air. If you breathe in the smoke with the oil, your lungs will react with the oil, causing permanent scarring resulting in debilitating conditions similar to COPD and if you inhale enough it could be deadly.

I REPEAT DO NOT BURN POISON IVY! (or Sumac, oak, etc)

 

[Chase515]

The country Karen's wear masks they will be fine. They sit out on the county road and watch me work its weird.

 

[DadSmith]

DO NOT BURN POISON IVY!

Burning poison ivy launches the oil into the air. If you breathe in the smoke with the oil, your lungs will react with the oil, causing permanent scarring resulting in debilitating conditions similar to COPD and if you inhale enough it could be deadly.

I REPEAT DO NOT BURN POISON IVY! (or Sumac, oak, etc)

That's good to know. Thanks for posting.

 

[04FXSTS]

DO NOT BURN POISON IVY!

Burning poison ivy launches the oil into the air. If you breathe in the smoke with the oil, your lungs will react with the oil, causing permanent scarring resulting in debilitating conditions similar to COPD and if you inhale enough it could be deadly.

I REPEAT DO NOT BURN POISON IVY! (or Sumac, oak, etc)

I have always heard the same, nasty stuff. Jim.

 

[avboiler11]

 

[Chalky]

DO NOT BURN POISON IVY!

Burning poison ivy launches the oil into the air. If you breathe in the smoke with the oil, your lungs will react with the oil, causing permanent scarring resulting in debilitating conditions similar to COPD and if you inhale enough it could be deadly.

I REPEAT DO NOT BURN POISON IVY! (or Sumac, oak, etc)

Yes. It can also get into your eyes. When I was a kid, was outside and a neighbor had a burn barrel going. Woke up the next day with my eyes swollen nearly shut and rash on face and mouth. Was not a fun few days. Dr. looked at me and said, looks like someone was burning poison ivy or oak.

 

[model1994]

deer and some farm animals keep it in check. they’ll eat it up when young & tender, but once it gets girthy & hairy they don’t prefer it.

I go looking in winter and simply cut 3-5” of the hairy vine clinging to the bark of the tree (or whatever). I do the same when I notice it during growing season & can get to it, but don’t actively look for it. Sometimes during growing season I’ll spot treat with a herbicide (big plants) and come back a month or so later and pull the dead vines - they’ve never given me a reaction after plenty of time to die off, and wearing gloves & sleeves.

Rather than burn it, just toss it somewhere out of the way and it’ll break down within a year.

 

[Lpherr]

The roots also contain the Urushiol that cause the rash.
I'm super allergic to the crap, and as a young boy, I had it so bad that my body was covered.
My eyes would swell shut and crust over, I had a hard time breathing at times, and even the prescription meds didn't reduce the itching.
That was the last time I had it that bad because I stay out of the woods.