Help - I have millions

14 years ago

The house had been empty for some time before we moved in last year. The flower beds were in sad shape except for some succulents around a small Palm. The neighbor didn't know what it was, but said that it grew well. It didn't take long for me to recognize it as invasive and start ripping it out. I have been gaining on it, but slowly. I saw the plant at a nursery last week. It was labeled 'Mother of Millions'. I believe it!! The bed is shared by the palm and some nice, well behaved blue flowers, so I'd prefer not to nuke the whole bed. Anybody have any experience with this crap? Would preen stop the germination of new stuff while I attack the residuals? Can I save the good stuff, or do I rip it all and hit it with Round-up every week until fall.

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Comments (8)

carolb_w_fl_coastal_9/10
14 years ago
I'm thinking hand removal of the larger plants, stems & loose leaves & then thickly mulching the bed would take care of most of it. Whatever managed to grow through the mulch would likely be pretty easy to pull.

Isn't it a kalanchoe or similar? They have tender roots & pull easily, IMPE.
inulover (9A Inverness, Florida)
Original Author
14 years ago
It is one of those... propagates through seed, cutting, division, and magic. Yes the roots are shallow. I've been regularly pulling it for 10 months. Every time it rains, I get a new crop of them little buggers. The lady across the street admitted to providing the plant to the PO. The neighbor finally resorted to chemicals. I hope that the soil will eventually run out of seeds.
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katkin_gw
14 years ago
How about weeding out the big ones, then putting down cardboard or layers of newspaper and then mulch. That is the lasogna method of clearing an area to make a new bed. As long as you make it thick enough with paper and mulch the plants will rot underneath. :o)
valkyriemusic
14 years ago
I am in Inverness, too, and was wondering what this plant looks like.
Carol love_the_yard (Zone 9A Jacksonville, FL)
14 years ago
Valkyriemusic - here is a link to Google Images:

Here is a link that might be useful: Google IMages
inulover (9A Inverness, Florida)
Original Author
14 years ago
valkyriemusic - the pictures 'love the yard' pointed to are what it is. I have some in the yard waste bin if you want some. It would do fine up North or indoors in a container.

katkin - The problem with using a barrier is the other plants that I'm hoping to save. I have been pulling babies a couple of times a week for some months now. I am getting a bit impatient as I would like to put down some nice mulch. One of the box stores had Preen on sale, so I treated the bed, watered it, then applied some decorative mulch.
alys_esmond USDA 5b Toronto
14 years ago
I had millions,
now I have thousands?
PO had already dug up the mother plant to plant a bouganvillia (in the shade, 1 foot from the front porch) but I guess didn't have the heart to kill it, so it was in a pot on the other side of the house. So, the babies pop up not only where it was originally planted, but also where it sat in the pot.
Round Up kills it. The snails are doing a great job controlling it though (along with my impatiens, vinca, gardenia, cannas..... grrrr!) A good thick layer of mulch goes a long way too.
garf_gw
14 years ago
Seems like this thing goes by several names. Mother of thousands is the same as mother of millions. Mine has been ID'd as thousands. Highly invasive. All you can do is slow it down.