It is a part of my garden life. I learned really fast to go it and wipe down with pine-sol if I even thought it was close to me. It has saved me many trips to the ER for shots. It also will dry it up fast if I break out.

Fuzzy vines are a sure indacation of it being PI. I use viniger to kill it out. If it is up high in the trees, cut it as close to the ground as you can.That will kill the vine and then treat the root area.

I doubt you could identify the older PI vines by looks. The vines will be very similar to the English Ivy vines. If you are working in an area where both may be present. Identify the PI by the leaves. When you get a good case of PI, you get good at identification quickly by those leaves. They start sticking out like the flashing light on a police car.

In area I intend to garden to any degree at all, I try to completely elliminate PI. If I didn't attack it, it would certainly attack me. I hate PI more than any other plant.

Atokadawn, I have seen trees that had both types of ivys growing up them and been unable to tell which vine was whick except for finding the leaves and tracing it back to a certain vine. They looked identical.

Round-Up

I googled all sorts of info about PI. The mention of the "fuzzy rope" caught my eye. The English Ivy also has something of a fuzzy rope vine, but most of the vines had most of the fuzz directed toward the bark of the tree.

Here's some more questions:
1. Do I really have to wait two weeks before I know whether or not I contracted the PI reaction? (This makes it rather difficult to truly know what actions resulted in a particular rash)
2. About ivy in general (english or PI): What does the viny growth actual "do" to the tree that harms it? I know people say it "chokes out" the tree, but can anyone be more specific? Does it harm it at the trunk?...or does it reach out on the leafy branches of the tree and block sun to those tree leaves? Is there damage to the very base of the tree?

Coming from Florida, I have no knowlege of this stuff! I don't recall ever hearing about any dangerous plant of any kind existing down there.

Kelton

If you are allergic to PI...you won't have to wait 2 weeks to find out! In my case I know by the next day that I have it.

Like Jeff said...Roundup!

After having several "outbreaks" from exposure to PI, I keep a bottle of "TECNU" around. It's a skin cleanser that completely removes the urushiol (the oil that causes the rash) from the skin. It's saved me from an outbreak more than once. Just wash the affected area as soon as possible after the exposure. Also remember that your shoes and clothing can get the PI oil on them, and unless cleansed can cause an allergic reaction after the fact. Most people with a sensitivity to PI will have a reaction within 24-48 hours.

Here is a link that might be useful: Tecnu cleanser

Just stopped in & spotted this thread. I recently got a fairly mild case of poison ivy & read up on it a bit. If you don't have anything handy like tecnu, be sure NOT to wash with hot water, it only opens the pores & allows the oil to be absorbed into the skin better. Use rubbing alcohol initially, then wash with cold water and soap. Reactions set up within 3 days according to what I read.
Good luck

Kelton,

I reviewed the pictures of english ivy vines included in the images section of google and was unimpressed. I bet you can see what they look like much better in your yard. Both English Ivy and Poison Ivy vary quite a bit depending on the plant's age, what subspecies the plant is, the environment, etc. Just watch for the leaves.

So far as what the vine does to the tree, I believe the biggest problem is (like you said) it will block sun to the host's leaves. I have seen trees seriously defoliated due to massive PI invasion of its canopy. To the best of my memory, I have never seen a tree completely "choked" by a PI vine (although I guess this is possible). I have seen trunks deformed due to large PI vines. One thing to consider is that PI does not naturally twine like some other vines (Wisteria for example). Large Wisteria will twist completely around a tree. As the tree and the Wisteria grow, the tree is litterally squeezed to death. Eventually, food and water is completely blocked. This is at least somewhat uncommon with PI.

While I'm in a typing mood.....

Did you know that there were over 400 varieties of English ivy? I went to the Buffalo Botanical Gardens a year or so back and was blown away by the tremendous variations. There were dwarf plants with teeny tiny leaves, varieties with large trunk-like stems that formed a small bush/tree, and just about every color and form you could imagine.

and...

There was a guy on another gardenweb forum that collects different varieties of PI. He requested that anyone with unusual PI plants send them to him if they were able to handle them. He was not allergic to it and enjoyed "playing" with the stuff!

Another thing that helps (beside the fact that poison ivy has "leaves of three" and is SHINY, is that the "eye" or center of the three leaves of poison ivy is RED. It doesn't matter if it resembles Boston ivy, or resembles Virginia Creeper (which has FIVE leaves and doesn't come close) I've seen poison ivy here in my woods over here in Dandridge that have leaves that are HUGE!!!! Over eight inches in length, shiny and lush. The vines on the trunks of the trees are hairy, and yes, the birds ADORE poison ivy berries. Some of the highest protein enriched berries of any vine there is. The berries are ghostly white. And germinate as soon as they're passed thru the system of the birds, which is why it's everywhere. I'm not sure if we have poison oak or not, but we also have poison Summac which some people are sensative to. Technu is good, RoundUp works once the temperatures stay at 72o, you can get the water proof kind or use a professional strength, as Glyphosphate works pretty well. You'll see results in a week. Do NOT BURN WOOD that you suspect has poison ivy vines on it, the inhaled smoke will cause the bronchial tubes, and other parts to swell up and blister same as topical exposure. If you haven't broken out in two days, you'll be fine. Husband didn't used to be allergic as a child, and is now bothered by it now that he's middle aged. We sometimes change. I had a horrible exposure to it when pregnant with oldest son in a sensative place....my family doctor gave me a concoction that consisted of Vitamin C, Cortisone, B12 and something else wish I knew what, I've never had a problem since. I pull it up with my bare hands, but not being foolish or pushing my luck, I also pick up a handful of soil and "wash" my hands off with it, don't touch my face or handle tools until I have had time to wash my hands with cold water and mild soap. No breaking out yet so far. I also keep blue latex gloves I get at Lowes handy to use just in case there's more encountered than I can deal with.

Hope this helps. After being told about the little red "eye" I discovered that it was absolutely true. I even spotted a horrible patch of it at my sister in law's cottage on the beach of Lake Michigan up in Grand Haven, Michigan that she had no idea and curious, bent and checked the center of each three leaved section and sure enough, each tri-leaf had a red "eye". If you pull it up, put it in a good garbage bag and send it packing to the landfill...do NOT compost or burn it!!!!

madgardener up on the ridge, back in Fairy Holler, overlooking English Mountain in Eastern Tennessee, zone 7, Sunset zone 36

I was allways taught as a child, leaves of three, leave it be. As a old man I have learned Round Up and then head for the shower if contact was made.
Norm

Sounds like you've gotten a lot of good advice here. Some thing I can add is that poison ivy can also look like a shrub or a small tree. It imitates the appearance of paw-paw plants which are also known as boy scout toilet paper. Unfortunately, I used some on my 3 year old son on a hike about 26 years ago thinking that is was the paw paw plant and poor thing was totally eaten up with it. It was a miserable experience because he was allergic to Benadryl and had to get steriod treatment to get rid of it. Even after it cleared up most of the way, it came back with just a little scratching of the itch.

My experience with poison ivy has been pretty much the same. Either you touch the leaves or vines, or even touch something that the leaves and vines have touched and you can get the reaction. I've heard that you can get the reation even from gloves that have been store for years and not washed.

When we moved into our new house in 2004, there were 3 huge poison ivy vines in a cedar tree. I cut all three 1 inch thick vines close to the ground and it died, but not before it swathed me in the face. I immediately put all the vines in a large bag and closed it and ran inside and washed with soap and water. I didn't get it. I may have left one if I had known about the birds loving the berries in the winter because it was way up in the tree.

Good suggestion about not using the hot water. I always used it because it made the itch feel so much better, but no wonder it spread more.

Katie

Yep, Roundup it the way to go!

The best remedy I've found for PI so far is a really weird sounding one. It's banana peel pulp. You just slather the banana skin on the site (the pulp side, not the shiney smooth side)and even if it's already inflammed the itch will go away. I read somewhere doctors are starting to tell patients about this as it works better than anything else. It also is natural. It really works perfect for me.

Great thread! Thanks! I haven't had a reaction, so I guess I'm in the clear.

I bought some roundup concentrate...with two chemicals that I understand "work" against poison ivy. The Gh.... chemical and the one that starts with a T.. it's in the basement and I forget the spelling. I'll use it at double strength. I think my sprayer will be effective at poisoning only the ivy and not the surrounding area.

Thanks again

Be careful, on a windy day you just may kill something you don't want to.
Norm

Thanks, I'm careful with that. I'm already uptight about using any chemical at all. I don't even like fertilizer (the artificial kind).

Oh, and that tip about the red center is a good one. Sometimes, I'm not so confident that I am actually looking at real PI, but the redish center is a great help. There is some variety in the actual leaf shape, so that helps.