I have already read the 400+ items in the thread that ran from 1996 to
2001.

Is it possible to have a poison ivy tree? This is not a tree wrapped
in poison ivy - it is a tree with a non-hairy trunk. It has the
light-colored 3-leaves that (at this time) have red stems and the
leaves look just like the vines that I also have. Oh yeah - the
little green berries are there too. It is about 15-20' tall and has a
nice rounded shape.

Also, are baby poison ivy leaves red, shiny, and more pointy than the
adults? I am finding these very lightly scattered in a field near the
building that has most of the vines.

There is alot of talk about cutting off the vine and applying
Brush-Be-Gone to the stump. It seems to me that it would be better to
spray the leaves because the leaves are pipelines to the root system
so the more leaves you have; the more pipelines.

I was very allergic as a child. I take Claritin for airborne
allergies so I wonder if that might inhibit some of my reaction to the
ivy now. I get little quarter-sized patches of little bumps that itch
some but not alot, plus very stray individual bumps. These could be
bug bites but the patches seem more likely to be poison ivy. The main
question here is "can an antihistamine reduce or prevent the
reaction?"

Finally, everybody talks about Roundup and Brush-be-Gone. My
Weed-Be-Gone -says- that it works for poison ivy. Does anyone know
that it does not?

Thanks!


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Poison ivy grows as a vine when it finds support or as a shrub when it
doesn't. It is not a tree. If it has green to white berries, it is
definitely poison ivy. It is best to get someone who is not allergic to
completely remove the plants for you. The toxic oils will persist on dead
stems and will still be a hazard.

The blisters caused by poison ivy are a result of poisoning rather than
simply swelling aggravated by histamines. It is far more serious than just
an allergic reaction.

There are trifoliate trees that look like poison ivy to the uninitiated but
they are not toxic. The boxelder (Acer negundo) is the tree most often
mistaken for poison ivy, especially when the plants are still small.


Lyne wrote in message
...
I have already read the 400+ items in the thread that ran from 1996 to
2001.

Is it possible to have a poison ivy tree? This is not a tree wrapped
in poison ivy - it is a tree with a non-hairy trunk. It has the
light-colored 3-leaves that (at this time) have red stems and the
leaves look just like the vines that I also have. Oh yeah - the
little green berries are there too. It is about 15-20' tall and has a
nice rounded shape.

Also, are baby poison ivy leaves red, shiny, and more pointy than the
adults? I am finding these very lightly scattered in a field near the
building that has most of the vines.

There is alot of talk about cutting off the vine and applying
Brush-Be-Gone to the stump. It seems to me that it would be better to
spray the leaves because the leaves are pipelines to the root system
so the more leaves you have; the more pipelines.

I was very allergic as a child. I take Claritin for airborne
allergies so I wonder if that might inhibit some of my reaction to the
ivy now. I get little quarter-sized patches of little bumps that itch
some but not alot, plus very stray individual bumps. These could be
bug bites but the patches seem more likely to be poison ivy. The main
question here is "can an antihistamine reduce or prevent the
reaction?"

Finally, everybody talks about Roundup and Brush-be-Gone. My
Weed-Be-Gone -says- that it works for poison ivy. Does anyone know
that it does not?

Thanks!


Remove SPAMDEFENSE in address to reply.

On Wed, 11 Jun 2003 11:47:44 -0400, Lyne
wrote:

I have already read the 400+ items in the thread that ran from 1996 to
2001.

Is it possible to have a poison ivy tree? This is not a tree wrapped
in poison ivy - it is a tree with a non-hairy trunk. It has the
light-colored 3-leaves that (at this time) have red stems and the
leaves look just like the vines that I also have. Oh yeah - the
little green berries are there too. It is about 15-20' tall and has a
nice rounded shape.

Also, are baby poison ivy leaves red, shiny, and more pointy than the
adults? I am finding these very lightly scattered in a field near the
building that has most of the vines.

There is alot of talk about cutting off the vine and applying
Brush-Be-Gone to the stump. It seems to me that it would be better to
spray the leaves because the leaves are pipelines to the root system
so the more leaves you have; the more pipelines.

I was very allergic as a child. I take Claritin for airborne
allergies so I wonder if that might inhibit some of my reaction to the
ivy now. I get little quarter-sized patches of little bumps that itch
some but not alot, plus very stray individual bumps. These could be
bug bites but the patches seem more likely to be poison ivy. The main
question here is "can an antihistamine reduce or prevent the
reaction?"

Finally, everybody talks about Roundup and Brush-be-Gone. My
Weed-Be-Gone -says- that it works for poison ivy. Does anyone know
that it does not?

Thanks!


Remove SPAMDEFENSE in address to reply.


Talk with your pharmacist to find a prevention cream for PI. A PI
plant will take over a tree and eventually it will look like it is a
part of the tree. An established plant will take several applications
to kill it. RoundUp is probably safer than Weed-B-Gone. Wet as many
leaves as possible with the herbicide, repeat every two weeks. Be
careful not to get the solution on other plants. When the plant dies,
there is still oil on it that cause a reaction. Waiting a year to
clean out the dead plant is better, but I'd still wear protective
clothing.

Phisherman wrote:

.... An established plant will take several applications
to kill it. RoundUp is probably safer than Weed-B-Gone. Wet as many
leaves as possible with the herbicide, repeat every two weeks. Be
careful not to get the solution on other plants...



Fall is the best time to RoundUp your PI. In the spring, the plant is
taking stored nutrients from the roots to form leaves, growing outward.
In the fall, the leaves are sending nutrients to the roots, growing
inward, so the herbicide will be transported to the roots more
efficiently then.

However, if you plan on several applications, you can do it at any time
during the growing season. It will just take more applications early in
the season than it will take later. I doubt that herbicide would be
effective in the winter, not to mention the difficulty in identifying
which vine is the PI and which is your perennial plant you want to keep.

Once again I would like to remind people to use TECNU! or any solvent that
will remove tar if they find themselves with a rash from poison ivy or they
think they have gotten in it. Poison ivy puts off a sap that is very
similar to road or roofing tar in how it adheres to the skin (or anything
else). As long as you have it on your skin you are going to be reacting to
it so the goal is to remove it. Tecnu is excellent for doing this. I
suspect any solvent that you would use to take off tar would work as well.
What you DON'T want to do is use Tecnu or the solvent as a soap in the
shower or tub. That simply will spread the tar elsewhere. You want to rub
a small amount of the solvent on the area that is irritated for as long as
you can manage THEN take any paper towel or absorbent material that you are
willing to throw away and wipe off the solvent. Don't re-use the used
surface of the rag/towel or again you will just move the tar from one area
to the next.

I am highly allergic to poison ivy and it is only after years of trying
everything that I found this and trust me it works. The only problem with
it is that it tends to make you complacent since poison ivy stops being the
nightmare it once was.

D Kat

"Lyne" wrote in message
...
I have already read the 400+ items in the thread that ran from 1996 to
2001.

Is it possible to have a poison ivy tree? This is not a tree wrapped
in poison ivy - it is a tree with a non-hairy trunk. It has the
light-colored 3-leaves that (at this time) have red stems and the
leaves look just like the vines that I also have. Oh yeah - the
little green berries are there too. It is about 15-20' tall and has a
nice rounded shape.

Also, are baby poison ivy leaves red, shiny, and more pointy than the
adults? I am finding these very lightly scattered in a field near the
building that has most of the vines.

There is alot of talk about cutting off the vine and applying
Brush-Be-Gone to the stump. It seems to me that it would be better to
spray the leaves because the leaves are pipelines to the root system
so the more leaves you have; the more pipelines.

I was very allergic as a child. I take Claritin for airborne
allergies so I wonder if that might inhibit some of my reaction to the
ivy now. I get little quarter-sized patches of little bumps that itch
some but not alot, plus very stray individual bumps. These could be
bug bites but the patches seem more likely to be poison ivy. The main
question here is "can an antihistamine reduce or prevent the
reaction?"

Finally, everybody talks about Roundup and Brush-be-Gone. My
Weed-Be-Gone -says- that it works for poison ivy. Does anyone know
that it does not?

Thanks!


Remove SPAMDEFENSE in address to reply.