I'm dilly-dallying on doing a small (bug annoying) water repair, so I'm sharing what I've been doing the last few days: clearing a large area of this ding dang vine.

It covers everything, grows in 0 soil, chokes other plants, crawls *under* other plants, puts down roots at every node, breaks very easily (so you can't really tug on it and get the whole string), the root breaks easily (I've started using my garden knife to get the roots out), has a pretty strong root given how delicate the vine is, comes back from a single node, every node can put out vines in multiple directions, and if you leave it in a pile, it'll grow back.

And the worst part? I introduced it myself 😭😭😭😭. I've been battling it for years, and every time I clear an area, i have to stay on top of it because there are inevitably pieces I missed.

It's a nitrogen fixer, so you'd think it would be acceptable, but it is not. I have other aggressive vines that are extremely difficult to kill, but this one is the most sneaky and annoying.

Pic 1: kitten with a patch of vine

Pic 2: baby vine growing from bean

Pic 3: example of it's robust root

Pic 4: this is me gently tugging on a vibe to see where it connects to the ground. This goes into a pile of rotting coconuts that is being used for planting. This is almost certainly how I introduced the vine - from truckloads of these old coconuts I got from a former friend's place several years ago. The vines love to put their roots into the rotting parts of the coconuts. And that's why you should always be very careful about what plant material you bring to your place! I was ignorant and I brought an entirely new pest to my place.

#plants #weeds #gardening #VineGang #hawaii