Killing poison Ivy

[Emeritus]

DW has a nasty poison ivy attack. I can't tell one green plant from another and I'm in a herbicidal rage. I threatened all the plants in the yard that unless they point a finger at the guilty party they are all going to the great plant beyond. They are begging for mercy but not one will point a frond at the miscreant. Bastards do stick together. DW is afraid I'll be killing innocent bystanders. All the web sites I've checked have nice clean pictures that don't look at all like the mass of green I see. Any references to differential diagnosis before my carload lot of Brush b Gone arrives?

[REWahoo]

Try posting photos for an accurate identification of the suspected culprit.

[travelover]

Realize that poison ivy can look like a low ground cover, a short bush or a vine with long branches that mimic a tree branch. The key is learning to spot the distinctive leaf shape and color. Once that leaf is imprinted on your mind, you can spot it at a slow run.

[Emeritus]

Quote:

Originally Posted by REWahoo Try posting photos for an accurate identification of the suspected culprit.

working on photos now

[Orchidflower]

If I might offer a suggestion? I had poison ivy badly a couple years ago and was itching like crazy. Someone told me to get the Aveeno that is for dry, itchy skin. Amazing that the itch went away the second the Aveeno hit my skin. Just passing this on in case you needed it.

[Tesaje]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Orchidflower If I might offer a suggestion? I had poison ivy badly a couple years ago and was itching like crazy. Someone told me to get the Aveeno that is for dry, itchy skin. Amazing that the itch went away the second the Aveeno hit my skin. Just passing this on in case you needed it.

Lucky you. My reaction is not so easy ...

Leaves of 3 let it be.

It is difficult to identify sometimes. Even the dried twigs can cause the reaction so you don't always have the tell tale signs. If the 3 leaves on a stem have thorns, its not poison ivy, its a rose family plant. Usually, the leaves are glossy and a deep green but not always. They can be other colors & the leaf shape can vary. Poison oak has oak shaped leaves in a troika. Plus the plant shape varies - vine or bush & it can be huge.

Poison sumac is worse - not in a troika but pinnate. It isn't as common.

The best luck I've had is wash it off with Tecnu within an hour or of exposure. Once the blisters start, it is too late. Prednisone can be effective for a bad case.

[Emeritus]

My neighbor has identified some of them (white paint)

[Emeritus]

And More

[FUEGO]

I see poison ivy in the last pic. In the center where the sun spots are. The five leave bunches around it are either poison oak or virginia creeper. I never can tell the difference between these latter two.

Poison ivy has a distinctive three leaf appearance and the leave shapes are generally uniform.

[FinanceDude]

"Leaflets three, let it be"..........

Or, in your case, Roundup!

[REWahoo]

Quote:

Originally Posted by FUEGO I see poison ivy in the last pic. In the center where the sun spots are. The five leave bunches around it are either poison oak or virginia creeper. I never can tell the difference between these latter two. Poison ivy has a distinctive three leaf appearance and the leave shapes are generally uniform.

What Fuego said. Looks like quite a bit of three-leaf poison ivy nestled among harmless five-leaf Virginia creeper.

[Orchidflower]

I know when I had it--and let it go too long--the articles said to IMMEDIATELY wash the oil from the leaves off your skin with soap and water if you don't want a reaction. You live, you learn...unfortunately, often the hard way for me...sigh.

[LOL!]

The white painted leaves are correctly identified as poison ivy.

Virginia Creeper has the same leaves but 5-of-them instead of 3. Some folks report rashes from Virginia Creeper.

You have a few other plant species in the photos as well. Trumpet vine? Blackberries? Muscadine grapevine?

Round-up (glyphosate) will kill poison ivy and most other plants.

Anyways, your photo did not look like a mass of green to me. What is amazing is that you may have more species of life in that one photo than most coral reefs have.

[M Paquette]

And whatever you do, don't make the mistake one of our neighbors made and toss it in a burn pile. Ecccch.

[kumquat]

How do you know your DW is suffering from poison ivy? If you can't identify the criminal, was there a crime? Due process required I think.

[Rambler]

Quote:

Originally Posted by M Paquette And whatever you do, don't make the mistake one of our neighbors made and toss it in a burn pile. Ecccch.

Ok, gotta ask...why not? What happens?

I woulda got out my weed torch...

R

[harley]

If you are sensitive, it can be pretty dangerous. When I was a kid, I spent the majority of my 2 weeks at summer camp in the hospital. I breathed in the vapors of burnt poison ivy, from logs with poison ivy vines on them burned in our campfire. Most of the kids had some reaction, but I got it in my throat and everything. Had to be intubated for awhile until the could get the swelling down so my throat would open back up. My eyes were swollen shut for a couple of days. The itching pretty much drove me insane.

I would recommend not burning it.

[Emeritus]

Quote:

Originally Posted by kumquat How do you know your DW is suffering from poison ivy? If you can't identify the criminal, was there a crime? Due process required I think.

We had an inquest by the medical examiner. Verdict was vicious assault by unknown poison ivy plant.

[RunningBum]

Yep, your neighbor tagged it. 3 leaves. The middle one pretty much round. The other 2 each have a smoother edge towards the middle, while each outside edge is jagged.

[Walt34]

Quote:

Originally Posted by M Paquette And whatever you do, don't make the mistake one of our neighbors made and toss it in a burn pile. Ecccch.

To further elaborate on harley's post - what happens is that the oils in the poison ivy vaporize in the fire, rise in the smoke, then condense when they cool down, drifting in the wind.

A good way to inspire the neighbors to (justifiably) come after you with torches and pitchforks.