Need advice on how to get rid of pokeweed! And not break out in a rash
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Tried cutting down, pulling plant out & spraying with Roundup. I'm highly allergic!
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HI Susan,
You could try glyphospate but personally, from experience, your best bet would be to remove the root. You need to check for a couple years to make sure the root hasn't regrown. I know, it's a real pain, but really the only way I know to remove them.
Pokeweed can be eaten in a salad or cooked like greens when it's very young. Birds and other critters love the berries. The flowers and berries also draw butterflies and other beneficials.
I beg you not to use Roundup ever; it's so toxic to life on Earth, and the results are no better than other organic methods.
Because you have an allergy, you should dress safely in long sleeves, pants, glasses and a mask. I suggest my tried and true boiling water poured over the roots. Because these can be big plants, wait approximately 15 minutes before approaching the plant to pull it up by the roots.
One other suggestion...to be sure the plant doesn't appear during the next growing season, take a quick picture now of the leaves so you can identify and remove it even earlier.
Don't compost or burn the weed. Wash your clothes separately twice, and take a shower immediately.
Please do not use roundup!, I've read several articles that say they have discovered it causes cancer!! I dug mine out after it died last year and so far, it has not come back! Good luck.
Poke has got a very long taproot, you will want to dig it out, nearly a foot for a large plant. Learn to recognize the leaves so you can eliminate it before it gets a chance to grow anywhere else, as the birds have planted this weed all over the place after eating the berries. I wear a man's cotton dress shirt (the heat is oppressive where I am and cotton is the least suffocating) thick gloves, long pants and I use a bandanna to mop sweat, not my gloved hand.
Go to your nearest pool supply store and get a gallon of pool acid.
Pour it all around the roots and base. It will be dead in a week.
Used this method on a 50yr old poison oak bush. Worked like magic