Chufa, Yellow Nutsedge, Weedy Yellow Nutsedge, Earth Nut, Weedy Nutsedge, Weedy

Chufa, Yellow Nutsedge, Weedy Yellow Nutsedge, Earth Nut, Weedy Nutsedge, Weedy Nutgrass
Cyperus esculentus

Weedy nutsedge, weedy nutgrass (Cyperus esculentus var. esculentus) growing in the crack between my sidewalk and street curb ...

I have contracted a concentrated invasion of purple nutsedge in a 8' X 8' gardem area that contains ivy, green giant lariope, and Striped lariope. When it first appeared, I used a hand spade and dug it out. It returned with a vengeance probably 1000% (yes, one thousand percent). I did notice pretty quickly that it spreads by rhizomes. I had some samples identified by by local agric. extension and he had no real solution. I looked purple nutsedge up on the internet and received a voluminous article by the USDA, NRCS, and NPDC. Summarizing that article, purple nutsedge is a world wide agricultral crop problem that disrupts crop production and only through continuous tilling of the soil to dry the rhizomes out could the farmers put a dent in its growth and spread (of course, the crops are lost as well. Sound pretty bleak, huh? My agric. extension guru said in back yard gardens, the source is mainly from contaminated top soil from nurseries, with wind spread being a secondary source of invasion. If anyone has developed another solution, tell us all and call the USDA with your fix. redavis@cfl.rr.com

I am so sorry that you have this villain in your garden. It came to my yard through expensive garden soil I had purchased that was contaminated. I have been fighting it for years. I recently read somewhere that if you can pull off the leaves before there are 6 of them that the plant will die eventually. When there are 100s upon 100s of plants. this is almost impossible to keep up with. I spend days upon days digging and pulling nutsedge. The only way that I have found that helps eliminate it is to smother it with a deep layer of mulch and to never let it seed. Most of the nutsedge eventually travels closer to the surface and is easier to dig or pull. any seeds sprout in the mulch and these plants are very easy to get rid of. Be sure to try to get the "nut" when digging or pulling it.

HTOP- Concerning yellow nutsedge to which you responding almost a year ago, I have researched products and found and tried one that has an effect. I did my first application of SEDGEHAMMER a month ago in the principal area of growth mentioned in my first entry. That application stopped its growth (only 4" at that point) and weakened the plant- its color faded and became less stiff. I was told by the store that it may take several applications which I shall try my second today. The other important results I found was that SEDGEHAMMER did not effect the other plants around it- lariope, Christmas palm, Aloe plant, several breeds of mondo grass, St. Augustine grass. The box instructions promised no ill effects to anything around it even if drift took it to surrounding, established plants. One prohibitive element to SEDGEHAMMER is its price- a one and one third ounce box cost around $90.00! However, it only takes a level .9 gram measuring spoon (included in box) to one gallon of water which will treat a1000 square foot area. The directions also instruct user to add to that gallon of water a nonionic surfactant (something that helps the SEDGEHAMMER to adhere to the plant). The store said that LEMON JOY, specifically, would provide that "sticktoitiveness" very effectively. That one and one-third ounce container must have at least enough to treat over 100,000 square feet, so for an average residential yard, one container would last a lifetime. Maybe a close gardener friend(s) would go in with you on the purchase price and everybody would help rid the yards of your neighborhood of nutsedge. Look SEDGEHAMER up on the internet. The Distributor on my bottle shows Gowan Company, PO Box 5569, Yuma, AZ 85366-5569. Good luck! redavis

redavis, thank you, thank you, thank you for letting me know about this product. The fact that it will kill the yellow nutsedge and not harm other plants makes it worth every penny. Anybody that has been been plagued by having this plant invade their yard will be dong the "happy dance" when they hear about this. Where did you purchase it?