Himalalayan balsam

[tigger]

On my two short liived sessions on the river I did notice a massive reduction in himalayan balsam compared to what there usually is this this time of year. I know it has growing time left yet but there would be good sized plants already if they were there.
Has anyone else noticed a decline in it in their areas?

I also notice loads of red admirals and even more painted ladies along the banks today....brilliant!!

 

[108831]

Haven't been on the river yet Ian,but Himalayan balsam often doesn't get going until mid-August,then in September the poxy seed pods try to take your eyes out....

 

[S-Kippy]

Bloody stuff. The coronavirus of invasive weeds and at least as hard to get rid off.

 

[tigger]

Yeah, I know the blossom is a bit later but the plants are up and growing by now.

 

[tigger]

Bloody stuff. The coronavirus of invasive weeds and at least as hard to get rid off.

They are, but maybe conoro virus is affecting them round here as they're much thinner on the ground than they have been for as long as I can remember.
The bankings where they were last year are just solid nettles again.

 

[S-Kippy]

That's good. Its not a big problem round here but where I fish in Wales theyve been trying to get rid of the stuff for years but it just will not die.

 

[tigger]

To be honest balsam is easy to kill, it's the seeds that keep being washed down from plants higher up and across river that are the problem. If the plants are pulled up by hand or even chopped back before they can seed they won't grow back again. Obviously there will be some seeds lying dormant which may pop up over the next year or two but once they do, and if they are pulled up you can eliminate them.

The plant which is very difficult to kill is giant hogweed, i've tried digging it up, spraying it etc etc and it just comes back. I do like the looks hogweed though, but it's non native so should be bumped off , same as wels catfish .

 

[seth49]

Maybe they’ve sorted this out, and it works,

Beat the Balsam - Biological control of Himalayan Balsam | Tame Valley Wetlands

Working alongside CABI (Centre for Agriculture and Bioscience International), Tame Valley Wetlands have been trialing a rust fungus as a method of biocontrol to target Himalayan balsam. You can read more about Himalayan balsam here. Biocontrol is a method of controlling the growth of a...

www.tamevalleywetlands.co.uk

 

[Keith M]

Something else that seems to have disappeared this year is the silk weed that grows in my garden pond every year. It seems to be totally absent this year for some reason.

Keith

 

[bullet]

I've not noticed any reduction where I fish.
Theres a silty area on the inside of bend where it is particularly bad, so I'm religiously pulling up as many plants as i can be bothered to every time I go.
Giant Hogweed there as well, which every year the farmer sprays/flails, but as Tigger says, it appears to be a waste of time.

 

[ian g]

I know the high floods of last winter have knocked back vegetation in general along the Severn . I spray giant hogweed and JKW for PAAS and it's an on going thing . As others have said balsam seeds in from plants upstream on rivers like the upper Severn most farmers don't bother with it so it makes it's way down stream leading to bank erosion as it's shallow rooted and out competes other plants that would hold the bank together . The knock on effect is more silt in the river covering gravel beds

 

[tigger]

I know the high floods of last winter have knocked back vegetation in general along the Severn . I spray giant hogweed and JKW for PAAS and it's an on going thing . As others have said balsam seeds in from plants upstream on rivers like the upper Severn most farmers don't bother with it so it makes it's way down stream leading to bank erosion as it's shallow rooted and out competes other plants that would hold the bank together . The knock on effect is more silt in the river covering gravel beds

I've done the same, for PA, JK and myself did a mile of hogweed. We even dug it up from the roots! Some of the roots were like large tree roots and were obviously many years old. Even after that they came up, we sprayed them and they emediatly flowered!
They've been sprayed every year since and they just re appear. Imo, it's not worth polluting the place with weed killer every year when it obviously doesn't work.

 

[ian g]

Yep it's an on going thing . The stuff we've dealt with on the upper Severn was covering the whole length but has been knocked back a lot . Problem is there is that much to do and it's not really local to any of the spraying team

 

[rayner]

There's a stream close to my home where there's a patch of the horrible stuff, the soil is very good and totally stuffed with big worms. Not lobs but a large worm with a grey head. Trent chub loved them. I'd get buckets full of worm when I went I'd turn over a fork to get around twenty worms every time.
I don't know if the balsam is still there or not, it's over 25years ago. The stuff used to spit seeds out as I walked through it to get worms.

 

[Molehill]

Here in Wales at the top of the Towy river we have been trying to eradicate it from the village and valley for couple of years. Being the most upstream area of infestation this is where the clearance had to start for the river system - and there was a lot of it all over the fields, roadsides and ditches leading into the Towy.
NRW have provided some contractors spraying and the village as a whole has organised voluntary "pulling days" along with everyone encouraged to heave the bloody stuff out whenever seen. We gained permission from every landowner and farmer to go ahead.

Optimistically we have been successfull, there is very little about so far this year and no mercy when seen! It has taken a village effort (not anglers) but if you had seen how much there was before you would have thought it an impossible task. We just have to keep on top of any little bits that show, but now everyone that lives here knows how to identify it and what to do when seen.

 

[108831]

After my hike yesterday,I thought immediately of this thread,opposite where I sat was a plantation of h.balsam,twenty yards long 8 wide,up to around seven feet high,just an odd flower appearing,so plenty here,horrible stuff...

 

[tigger]

I saw a load growing in a large wood behind our house yesterday.
The stretch of river I was fishng the other day is normally thick with the stuff but there was very little there.
I know there's been sheep on and then cattle so maybe they've munched it as it started to grow, but I would have expected to see remnents of the stalks.
Deff'o a strange phenomenen, but a good one!
There was lots of painted ladys and red admirals about which will probably miss the balsam flowers. That's the only good thing I can think of regarding the balsam, it does feed a lot of insects for a period of time that it flowers.

 

[rayner]

Anyone tried to dig amongst it to see if it holds worms if it's anything like the patch near me the soil will be loaded.
I'd be interested to know how good the patch is full of worm.

 

[108831]

Could your periods of extremely high water did for it Ian???

 

[tigger]

Could your periods of extremely high water did for it Ian???

Possibly Alan, all a bit wierd realy.