How do I kill a bamboo-like weed???

This weed starts out really small with red leaves that evenutally turn green. It grows tall and looks like bamboo with large leaves on it. I've tried to just pull it out of the ground but the roots is strong. I've actually pulled a root up and its thick and fat and looks like ginger almost.



Its taken over 1/4 of the yard along the fences and shed. They've grown so big in just one week. I see them growing wild along the roads in the neighborhood in Bergen County.



Please help!

How do I kill a bamboo-like weed???
This is probably Japanese Knotweed and is one of the most persistent and difficult weeds to get rid of.

The best way to get rid of it is to spray it with a herbicide containing glyphosate. The leaves absorb the glyphosate and carry it to the roots. The problem is that if the plant has got a good hold (and it sounds as though it has) you will need to be persistent over more than a year. The advice on Wikipedia is to spray the plant thoroughly just before it flowers, presumably when it has buds. Be careful because glyphosate kills all plants but at least it is neutralised when it comes into contact with soil. Failing that you might like to consider drenching the soil with a solution of sodium chlorate but it will be a year or two before you can grow anything else in that postion.

Here is a link to confirm the identity.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Japanese_Kn...
Reply:you need to pull them out by the roots it is the only way.go rent one of those machines that cut the roots right in half and make it easier for you to dig them up i forget the name of it.but you can rent them at home depot.
Reply:Pull them out from the ground.
Reply:If you leave any roots, they will come back. Dig down very deep.
Reply:try cutting stem then paint with neat glysophate
Reply:Hey Berrysport,



Sounds like Arrow-Bamboo. It grows by rhizomes that grow underground and can reach 20 feet out before coming up in the form of a shoot. It is very hard to control bamboo.



Flooding bamboo will kill it, but you have to have the roots emersed in water for several days - that could be very difficult for you.



Pulling the roots / rhizomes will help, but if you break just one, and cannot find where it went - you will continue to have the problem.



You can use Grass killing herbicides at all above ground occurances, on each stalk. Bamboo is a grass. A product like KILLZALL will do the trick - but you will have to keep after it. This year, next year and the year after. BTW, after using KILLZALL - you can replant in just a couple weeks. It is fairly safe as long as you follow label instructions.



The American Bamboo Society admits that bamboo can be difficult to control. There are special tools for maintaining bamboo gardens, and if you grow to like Bamboo like me, you will put 24" Deep root barriers, and contain it.



I treat it like it is a prisoner. Any plant in the area should not be transplanted elsewhere because there is the risk of having one root in the plant, and then it is out of it's controlled area.



Anyway, here is a web site for the:

- American Bamboo Society

- KILLZ ALL

- and root barrier