The adverse affects of the homeysuckle in Missouri

The bush and vine both have taken over my yard and neighborhood. Please watch the video for more information.

Lonicera maackii

Eurasian bush honeysuckles (Lonicera maackii, L. x bella) We just refer to it as the Asian honeysuckle bush in Missouri.

It is native to Asia in northern and western China. This species poses a serious threat not only to the diversity of the ecosystems. It is listed along with Garlic mustard (Alliaria petiolata) as the Worst of Invasive plants for our state.  The flowers are sometimes used by children, who remove the blossom by hand, and pull off the bottom to suck out the sweet nectar in the center. The red berries are mildly poisonous to humans and should not be eaten.

Lonicera japonica

Is listed as wide spread for Missouri invasive plants.
Japanese honeysuckle vine. It is native to eastern Asia including China, Japan and Korea. It is a twining vine able to climb up to 10 meters (33 ft) high or more. The root system is extensive and may be over 10 feet across and 3 feet deep.It will choke the life out of many trees and plants. It will spread itself via shoots, cuttings or seed. It will make layers on top of itself and suffocate or strangle small trees or bush. It can be controlled to some degree via labor-intensive methods such as cutting or burning the plant to root level and repeating at two-week intervals until nutrient reserves in the roots are depleted.

Lonicera sempervirens

The native Missouri honeysuckle may be the Trumpet Honeysuckle.  It is a vine that blooms from May to June and can be up to 15 feet.  It likes full sun.

Leaves are opposite (2 leaves per node)

 

Allelopathy

Is the suppression of growth of one plant species by another due to the release of toxic substances 

 One of the most allelopathic plants is Black Walnut (Juglans nigra). The chemical responsible for the toxicity in Black Walnut is Juglone (5 hydroxy-1,4 napthoquinone) and is a respiration inhibitor. Solanaceous plants, such as tomato, pepper, and eggplant, are especially susceptible to Juglone.

Damping-off disease on Potato seed and broccoli

 This year I had to deal with damping-off disease on both my true potato seeds (TPS) and broccoli. I was upset to find my organic seed starter mix contained chicken manure and feather meal. This lead to the soil born pathogens attacking my seedlings. This year I have been so disappointed in what I have locally to choose from.
 Explanation of Dampening off syndrome
Stems of seedlings become thin, and the fall over.

The two fungi that are most often associated with damping-off are Rhizoctonia solani and Pythium species.Most pathogens that cause damping-off diseases can also cause disease as the plant grows to maturity. Root rot, crown rot, stem lesions, basal rot, crater rot, bottom rot, and stem girdling diseases may all be associated with damping-off fungi attacking mature plants

TPS Potato seeds

On March 20, 2015 I found my potato seed had sprouted and look like this.  I had them covered with plastic. But did not have them under a grow light.

In these photo you can see the plans are wet with a 2 to 1 solution of peroxide. I also sprinkled some cinnamon on the soil.  Then added cocoa coir. I lost many of them. 

This is what they look like on March 27, 2015

TPS True potato seeds

These are blue doll TPS Potato seedlings

 The last photo they were started in a grow bag I made myself. The have Happy frog potting soil on the bottom, and cocoa coir mixed with vermiculite and peat on the top 2 inches of the soil. They came out with no issue.

Broccoli that survived the dampening off

Broccoli on 3-3-2015

You can see how I hilled up the plants with coir in the first photo. I also used peroxide and cinnamon on them too.
Here are links to more info on this issue
 http://anrcatalog.ucdavis.edu/pdf/8041.pdf
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Damping_off#Prevention

Note,  The ancestry of Blue Doll is from (Nordic October) a red skin white flesh line and (Azul Toro)...a blue skin blue flesh line