I didn't know about it being edible for people. I know it makes great forage for livestock. Still, I would never grow it. It seems that this type of plant always gets away. We have Water Hyacinths and Hydrillas choking our waterways now. Georgia seems to be covered in Kudzu already and it is working its way west. Before you plant it, drive through areas where all the trees are covered and dying from Kudzu.

I've eaten it. The leaves, dipped in buttermilk then dredged in seasoned cornmeal and fried are pretty good.
Having grown up in east-central AL, I would never plant it.
There are a few patches of it up here in southern west-central KY, but nothing like what I grew up seeing down home.

Please don't even go there. There are plenty of other edibles out there. Why are you even tempting yourself...or are you just curious?

I have to put out a strong admonishment here as one who works in teaching gardening to the public...We are suffering from so many plants that folks thought they could manage already and I'm concerned that even your question could insite a curious less disciplined gardener/person to attempt to grow this thug. We don't know what tomorrow will bring for us an many a well intentioned gardener, while they were able, safely managed thuggish plants only to have them get loose when they could no longer take care of their gardens themselves...this posses a huge problem for others...not to mention the USDA would be at your door.

Kudzu is a quarantined plant here in Oregon and illegal to grow for good reason. There have been some starts that show up in odd places every year so someone has it around here and is not managing it. Our forests are already over-run with English Ivy, and bringing down hundred foot Douglas firs in many areas. Himalayan blackberry, brought here in the 1800's ravages the edges of our wild areas and creates a sea of brambles is fields left fallow creating a fire hazard at forest edges and near homes of unsuspecting residents.

Ok I think I've said enough...sorry if I rained on your parade but please be careful...

kudzu's bast fibers make really fine, long-wearing clothing. The root is a very nutritious starch, and edible by people. The leaves can be eaten by livestock. I once had a book entirely about kudzu's beneficial properties, published, I believe, by Rodale press. maybe we don't need to plant it in new places, but it has always seemed to me that the people plagued with it already could put it to use.

I have lived with giant ragweed, an annual plant which grows to about 15 feet in one long summer season. One cannot pull plants fast enough to keep up, so kudzu's neighbors do have my sympathy. I'm trying to turn it into cloth, or something useful, but haven't had any luck yet.

Were can I find Kudzu seeds???

If I knew, I wouldn't tell you. If my neighbor planted it, I would sneak over at night and spray it with Round-up. It is a horrible plant that destroys forests. Is that blunt enough.

Man has always had too much hubris for his own good. Invasive plants escape and take over. GMO plants pass on the modified genes through pollen. Think corn. Wind carried pollen has pollenated neighboring fields. Corn sold as food only has been planted. You could plant Kudzu today and get run over by a truck tomorrow. What if no one knew what the plant was or just didn't care? What if your property was simply abandoned while the estate was being settled? This is just too risky.

If you want Kudzu to harvest for all of the reasons stated, I'm sure the residents of the southern states wouldn't mind a bit if you stopped your car and took a machete to it. They say it grows back twice as fast as you can cut it & you can watch it grow before you head back home....:) Seriously though, I remember Alton Brown stopped on his motorcycle road trip and ate a few leaves.

Google 'juanita baldwin kudzu' , that was my source.

Juanita no longer sells seeds, though you
may be able to find copies of her book.

Ebay sellers have Kudzu seeds, but I have found
from my own experience in the past that the few
who do sell them are selling the wrong species
or selling old, crusty seeds.

As mentioned above, a road trip to check out the
vine in action would be advised before planting.

YIKES, before you plant those seeds look at this house..

Here is a link that might be useful: {{gwi:663553}}

The roots are also edible -- at least, a traditional Asian food starch can be made from them. It costs a bundle in stores.

I suspect that the starch is hard to produce, though, or those Southerners who are being engulfed by kudzu would probably have cashed in by now. For starters, I understand that the roots are *huge*.

Please, please don't do it. I moved here, and see the forests not far enough away being run over by the beautiful stuff. It is so sad. So, what if you die tomorrow, and no one deletes it from your place? Growing such a devastating thing is too big a gamble - you would be messing around with a thing out of your control. Think of the others to follow your life first. I see invasives taking over the part of the mountains where we live. Please just enjoy the study of the stuff, go see some - like that house in the link. We gardeners need to be responsible citizens, too.

No matter how edible this preditor is, I wouldn't plant any more of it than is already growing. I cn't see how it has not made it into the prohibited exotic species list. It is "The Vine That Ate The South"

Here is a link that might be useful: Texas Invasives

I've seen kudzu starch for sale in Oriental markets. Why doesn't somebody use all the kudzu that's already growing and clean up the South?

John,
I'll agree with the rest and say "don't do it." Get it from somewhere it is already established but don't start more yourself.

Look up the article by Tanya Bricking Leach, from The Associated Press, regarding kudzu's edible qualities. In springtime this year, I thought I'd try it out. A vegetarian for a while, I like most veggies and figured "what the heck?" I tried using only the most tender tips of new shoots. They looked a bit like asparagus. I also tried steaming the newest day old leaves. Neither experiment was good; the fuzzy texture was a turn off, and even the new leaves were rather tough. I've not yet met anyone who's found a way to make it that is really good. I haven't tried the quiche yet

Here is a link that might be useful: Article about eating Kudzu

I haven't tried eating kudzu yet, but it engulfs so much property here in the southeast that I've been thinking of trying it. Thanks for the link about eating kudzu.

Becky

"DON'T EVER PLANT KUDZU if you don't already have it! I think it's one of the worst plants God ever put on this earth!"

I don't recall who posted that, but I agree. (except not going to blame God here...Man is the one who mucked things up by planting it where it didn't belong...)

I moved a little over a year ago, and the back portion of my yard is overgrown with 'stuff'. I thought it was Japanese Honeysuckle, (another HORRIBLY INVASIVE plant), but this year found out it's J. Honeysuckle AND Kudzu!

If you read up on them, they are both bad, but Kudzu is just the worst. It has destroyed entire ecosystems, it is NOT containable, and extremely difficult to kill.

I was going to attempt to remove the kudzu on my property myself, but when I really went back in that area and looked, there is no way. It's going to cost me $1K to get it cleared out, and the area is really not that big. Even then, it will be a long battle to keep it from returning. On top of that, my neighbor has it too, and I know he will not join me, so it will be a constant battle keeping his kudzu off my property :(

So, PLEASE DO NOT PLANT KUDZU!!!

A small herd of goats will clear it off easily, and do very well in the process. If it is grazed over two or three years in a row it will die.

Horses love it and it gives them a lovely shine and glow.
Tam

I have horses & goats, and think I saw som Kudzu growing on the back property line. I think I will see about harvesting some and feeding it to my manure makers and see what they think. I am always looking for cheap feed.

I live in West Georgia and have seen this stuff take over entire farms if left alone. Goats love kudzu and will graze it until they kill it.

The only use I have found for kudzu is to make a foliar spray. I read about it on the "plants for a future" web site. In the spring I cut the new growth and pack it in a 5 gal. bucket then fill it with water and stack a rock on it. After a few weeks I strain it into empty milk jugs. I dilute it to a weak tea and spray it on all my plants.

Growing Kudzu in an area where it is presently not growing would be an incredibly dumb thing to do. Growing the stuff in a location where you can see that it is not sprayed with herbicides and use it for eating, bee pasture, making baskets, fibers for clothing, rope, compost, and animal fodder seems like a pretty good idea. Kudzu is not so easy to harvest in many places where it grows wild. Growing it seems practical especially if you want to use the roots. Just make sure it's isolated... like in the middle of a big field and have some goats around to eat the runners. The roots can go over ten feet deep.

I stumbled upon the Plant Conservation Alliance's Alien Plant Working Group web page; "Alien Plant Invaders of Natural Areas", which has photos and fact sheets of the plants considered least desirable by the PCA.

I've not seen this information offered in the forums so I am posting a link: http://www.nps.gov/plants/alien/factpic.htm so that everybody can read the information.

I am starting an edible, sustainable, organic landscape from scratch and found it while researching possibilities for my garden.

I hope you all find it as informative as I did.

jo

Here is a link that might be useful: Alien Plant Invaders of Natural Areas