Poison Ivy on Trunk

[Jerry_NJ]

The problem I have "Torching" the poison ivy is the tree that has the long ago cut ivy vines is at least 600' from my house, water hose. Anyway, this discussion has been instructive and interesting (and funny). I will pull the ivy off before I buck the log into split length (<18") and then will handle the rounds with some care out of concern for ivy oil on the trunk...knock off bark too if possible, then wash good when I get back to the house.

 

[RedRanger]

The problem I have "Torching" the poison ivy is the tree that has the long ago cut ivy vines is at least 600' from my house, water hose. Anyway, this discussion has been instructive and interesting (and funny). I will pull the ivy off before I buck the log into split length (<18") and then will handle the rounds with some care out of concern for ivy oil on the trunk...knock off bark too if possible, then wash good when I get back to the house.

Then wait until fall. Jerry, I have done this )*&^ before. I didn`t mean to do it when there is a danger of fire spreading. Patience, or if no patience, then at least wear gloves, and probably a carbon mask. the stuff is kinda toxic.

I just know that burning is neat. anywhere I have burned, like a slash burn, man, I can grow almost anything there afterwards., Rhodos, hydrangeas, campanulias, etc. just take off like wildfire. it just does something to the soil, that makes plants grow like crazy. Or maybe I am just a crazy Canuck

 

[cmonSTART]

I caught it from a dying ash tree I cut last year to burn. Sure enough, I had it on my forearms after that. Thankfully I don't catch it as badly as when I was a kid. Even though we suffered no ill effects from burning it (I had removed the vines), if I had to do it again I would debark the wood first just to be safe.

Poison ivy is EVIL

 

[stanleyjohn]

I also have some wood with the evil ivy on it.What i did is cut to desired lengh then stack it away from main wood pile.After the wood seasons abit the bark will fall off taking the poison ivy with it.Just keep covered up while cutting and wash up real good soon after.

 

[Jerry_NJ]

Thanks all.

Yes, fire is a natural event in the forest, and does in fact support diversity of plants and is in fact required by some pine seeds to get them to germinate. Still, with the fires in California I look with a bit of fear at the woods I live near, I have open grass areas around my house at least 100' wide, but if the woods were to go "up" , the house would be a goner. The big difference between NJ and the California fire areas is RAIN, in fact we're having showers now and expect to see more over the next several days. Still, there is a lot of fuel laying around.

 

[sapratt]

Ahhhh man, I'll probably get poison ivy now just reading this That's how allergic I am - lol

I'm the same way. My problem I never new what it looked like till about a week ago. I wanted to see if this vine growing on our fence was poison ivy.

 

[Pine Knot]

I am not overly sensitive to Poison Ivy but I find I have to be very careful when cutting Ivy encased wood with a chainsaw and open cuffed gloves. The sawdust thrown aft collects in the cuffs of my gloves and being fresh and juicy will poison my wrists.

 

[cncpro]

When (not if) you next catch poison ivy there is no need to suffer with it. It can be treated easily with prednisone for large scale infections or even better for small areas my doctor prescribed me a tube of Betamethasone Dipropionate Cream. A couple days of treatment with that cream and it is feeling 95% better.

 

[Jerry_NJ]

When (not if) you next catch poison ivy there is no need to suffer with it. It can be treated easily with prednisone for large scale infections or even better for small areas my doctor prescribed me a tube of Betamethasone Dipropionate Cream. A couple days of treatment with that cream and it is feeling 95% better.

OK. get your head out, if you can remember, never mind spell, the medications you state above, I don't trust you :lol:

We have a bottle, hard to find these days, may order some over the web, of "green soap" which seems to be a good first step in getting the poison ivy oils off the skin.

I took my string cutter into the woods this afternoon to clear the ground cover about the subject tree and kicked at some of the vines. It was very dry and broke away, along with some bark. The vines have been dead for several years, and I suspect the tree has been leaning over onto another tree for a couple of years too. I just haven't visited this part of my property in some time. I think the oils may be mostly gone/dried-up.

The new fireplace insert has raised my interest in home-grown firewood. I did find a listing today for delivered cord wood by a tree service today, they may soon change the price, but is now posted at $195 per cord...well that's another subject, how much does one really get in "their" cord. I'm going to check them out, the most I'm going to harvest off of my property this year is a about one cord. . some with poison ivy recently removed.

 

[cncpro]

In my defense I had to read the hard one off the tube... ;-) LOL

 

[anilawr]

If you’ve been exposed to poison ivy, wash thoroughly with Dawn dish detergent and cool water within 20 minutes getting into the stuff. Dawn will strip the oils from your skin just like it gets grease off dishes. And if you already have a case of poison ivy, a hair dryer held as close to the skin as you can stand it will dry it up quickly. The heat helps take the itch out, too.

 

[Jerry_NJ]

Hum, interesting...especially the hair drier part. It is my understanding that one should use only cold water when dealing with bad oils on the skin, this keeps the pores closed, real bad when the oil has a chance to soak into open pores. Dawn, or other dish soap I'd assume. We use Joy, must work about the same.

 

[crazy_dan]

I hate it when people burn poison ivy, I got it real bad once when somebody was burning a brush pile and the wind shifted and blew the smoke at us all day at work, spent about a week with my eyes almost swollen shut, and my throat nearly swollen shut as well.

If you want to get rid of poison ivy get some of these, they love the stuff and eat the heck out of it, the best part I don,t have to touch it spray it cut nothing, Just watch it disappear

 

[RedRanger]

Crazy Dan--you ain`t so crazy after all. those damn things will eat any and everything in sight. You are going to have to change your handle now. lets see.?? at a loss.? smart move though, no kidding, no pun intended with the kid thing.

Yep, those critters are absoutley walking garbage cans.

 

[crazy_dan]

yep they eat everything I don't like poison ivy, sumac, oak, and tri-floral roses. Plus they are good eats as well

 

[begreen]

Do you get an itch in your belly afterward?

 

[Cluttermagnet]

Years ago, my then Father-in-law, who was a photographer, advised me that 'photographer's hypo' solution worked great to ease poison ivy symptoms and accelerate healing. Darned if it didn't work! These days, I usually apply Cortizone 10 ointment to affected areas. It eases the itch a lot. Cortisone is another steroid, but unlike heavy duty Prednisone, it is pretty safe. BTW do not ever let a doctor keep you on Prednisone long term. That stuff is bad news! Brief use is OK, long term is real bad.

 

[richg]

Poison ivy, my nemesis. I have seen a few news clips on how the stuff is becoming more potent and widespread due to human activity; first, it is using increased levels of carbon dioxide as rocket fuel. Next, it loves "border" areas, such as along roads, tree lines etc. I live in what seems to be the poison ivy capital of the world, and it's amazing how many homeowners don't do a damned thing about it. There are several spots on one of my jogging routes where poison ivy vines have completely engulfed trees and their branches protrude over sidewalks where an unsuspecting person would easily bump in to them. While others have mentioned that roundup is not effective, I have used generic glyophosphate with very good success. The Brush B Gone does sound interesting, though. You can get the active ingredient for far less in generic form:

http://www.genericherbicides.com/triclopyr4ec.aspx

 

[Jerry_NJ]

Crazy_Dan, Nice goats, and so clean too, did you give them all a bath before the photo? We have a neighbor with two goats and three sheep, they used to browse on our property some, but he's since fixed the fence. He also has in "industrial strength" backhoe and together they have removed a lot of wild rose, and from the looks of the dirt, everything else.

 

[crazy_dan]

not my goats just a photo off the net. I just thought they were pretty so I used them (http://www.newfarm.org/features/0704/meatgoat/index.shtml)
my goats are all in the woods and wont see much of them till it freezes and they run of of stuff to eat then they come down to the house for hay and grain.

 

[Adios Pantalones]

The oil will stick around for a long time, but I do have doubts that vines that long dead exposed to rain/wind/sun would not have lost the oils due to normal decomposition.

If worried- let the wood sit and the barkget loose, then compost it. Don't burn it. Poison ivy smoke is a big issue for firemen dealing with brush fires, as noted above. Composting it will eliminate the oils PDQ, as it does for juglone and other weird biochemicals in vegetable matter. I saw a study on composting animals to get rid of infectious diseases like bird flu- if they trust it for that- your poison ivy toxin is toast.

 

[savageactor7]

If you're a wood cutter chances are you'll get poison ivy. What my wife got me is 'Tecnu' made be tec labs in albany Or. Now when I'm cutting wood I keep some in my tool bag you're supposed to wash with it but I've had excellent results just putting it on as a lotion and leaving it on while I continue to cut. Now the little bit of rash I get I can control with off the shelf stuff instead of going to the docs for a prescription of cortisone...which I have done for over 20 years in a row. All serious cutters should keep Tecnu with them...it works wicked excellent.

 

[Adios Pantalones]

Between my last post on this and now I got poison ivy. I saw it on the ground where I bucked up some pine, but tried to be careful. I have it in small spots- almost like weird bug bites, but it's definitely PI with the weepies and all.

 

[oilstinks]

Here is a dedede moment for me. Killed poison ivy last year. Sprayed it again this year. Pulled it off the fence with a rake and put it in a burning brush pile (mind you the poison was for sure dead) im now eat up with it. Just a note for those who care.

 

[RedRanger]

Here is a dedede moment for me. Killed poison ivy last year. Sprayed it again this year. Pulled it off the fence with a rake and put it in a burning brush pile (mind you the poison was for sure dead) im now eat up with it. Just a note for those who care.

Now that is even a better idea, let`s say Roundup. And then "burn baby burn".. works for me.