Can anyone help me identify this invasive weed? We live in Massachusetts, zone 6. A local called it N.E. bamboo, but…. Hard to kill.

by ViennaValentine663

16 Comments

  1. pwyuffarwytti

    Knotweed of some kind is my guess. Pray it isn’t Japanese.

  2. Winter_Bridge2848

    Might be bindweed variety. If it has round flowers that are white/pink, spreads underground, propagates easily it’s likely a bindweed. There are some species that are native.

    The invasive ones thrive in poor soil conditions, drought, and heat.

  3. cybernet_sauvignon

    It really looks like japanese knotweed to me unfortunately. the only thing that is throwing me off is that these stems don’t seem very erect and rather creeping. have these fallen over? If the stems are mostly erect then I’m afraid it’s japanese knotweed in which case I wish you good luck.

  4. salientSnail

    hello fellow massachusettsian! that is definitely japanese knotweed, also known as itadori. when young, it can be eaten as a vegetable, with a taste somewhat similar to rhubarb. it can also be used to make paper

    [https://foragedfoodie.blogspot.com/2013/04/finding-identifying-harvesting-japanese.html](https://foragedfoodie.blogspot.com/2013/04/finding-identifying-harvesting-japanese.html)

    [https://carnegiemnh.org/whats-in-a-name-japanese-knotweed-or-itadori/](https://carnegiemnh.org/whats-in-a-name-japanese-knotweed-or-itadori/)

  5. Aggravating_Hat3955

    Kill! Kill! Kill! While you still can! I had a patch similar to this that was brought in by a truck working near our property. At this stage you can kill it with Roundup / glycosphate and a spray bottle pump. 6 oz per gallon of water. I had to hit it about six times over a two and a half year period because it is very tenacious. Don’t overspray it or over concentrate the mix. You want to plant to live long enough to take up the glycosphate and move it to the root system. It may not feel like it but you are very lucky you found it at this point. Once those stems get big you’ve got to cut them and treat them by hand. I saw people talking about physical removal above, but from everything I’ve read and what I have seen that is really an uphill battle.

  6. LowAdventurous3810

    Yep, Japanese Knotweed. Good luck. Been dealing with a patch on the edge of my land for years.

  7. blackdogpepper

    There is a herbicide called Milestone that I have found to be more effective than round up

  8. Angylisis

    Ooof, it looks like Japanese knotweed.

    ![gif](giphy|WxDZ77xhPXf3i)

    It’s non toxic but extremely invasive.

  9. May as well call it NE bamboo, it’s everywhere, cut a patch of trees down, 2 years later it’s there. Birds eat the berries, seeds survive digestion, birds flock to early successional forests, Japanese Knotweed takes off

  10. ViennaValentine663

    thanks to all for your help, insights and comments. This really is the most helpful place to come to – so impressive. Really appreciate everyone who chimed in.

  11. Wrong_Use91

    Knotweed is EXTREMELY invasive and aggressive. It has taken over and strangled out other plants in our area; see it expanding yearly. It even changes the chemical composition of the soil to kill off other growth of competing plants. You can eat the young shoots if I wanted for some use. Digging up is hard and requires deapth nnd breadth

  12. DevHistorical2054

    I have had success with smothering it. Use a landscape cloth covered with dirt or wood chips. Takes 2 years. I used recycled billboard mesh from building wrap ads as I had a huge area and building wrap was free from the riggers and HUGE- 40′ long. The weeds will find any seams

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