Long sleeves and gloves should be worn when handling pokeweed.

I've heard of people getting the itch and rash, but thankfully I've never had that problem myself, even though I regularly expose myself to the sap in my efforts to rid us of this vile, invasive weed.

I've found the easiest way to say goodbye to this weed is to continually hack off the crown portion of the plant, once the seeds start to enlarge, but before they are fully developed. Eventually it gives up trying. If you're sensitive to the sap, you'll need to wear long pants and sleeves.

However, all the hacking does is slow down the plant and deplete its root energy. Its good, in that it stops the spread of seeds, but it takes numerous hack-cycles for the plant to evenutally give up.

the best way is to rid yourself of them is to pull them from the root, but unless the ground is just perfectly soft after a good rain, they won't come up. But when its just right, you can pull a few dozen in moments.

I've found R/U and BBG do very little to kill this plant. From my experience, I think it would take a whole bottle to kill just one plant. I've even poured it directly down a hollowed stem, and that particular plant came back after a few weeks. they look ugly and twisted, but they come back anyway with a fresh set of seed pods.

so I pull when I can, and hack at them whenever the seeds start to turn from white to tan and the ground is too hard to pull it out. I never wait until they turn dark. that's too late, I'd imagine.

Roundup will work but applications for established plants should be timed for later summer or fall.

Here is a link that might be useful: Pokeweed control

Left alone, pokeweed can become quite large with rows of purple berries. I recently dug one up and it was almost like digging up a small tree. The root structure went at least a foot or more into the ground. The plants are probably spread by birds eating the berries and pooping the seeds. As aside, I have a female yaupon holly which is covered by berries in the fall. The mockingbirds love these berries and plant little youpons all over my front yard. Every spring I pull up a couple of hundred yaupon seedlings.

I hacked off the crowns on mine when they first emerged. No sense waiting until the seeds start developing. I had to hack them 2 more times and now no more pokeweeds. I don't consider them much if a nuisance, they're native and kind of pretty in a way. I am immune to the sap.

Pouring boiling water on the roots will kill them. Dig around the top to make a dip in the ground around it, so it will soak down quickly. Repeat if it continues to try to grow. I've never had to do that twice to anything I tried to kill that way.

I have a terrible rash on my arms and face. Does anyone has gone through it and what is the treatment? At this point, the blisters are watery and so itchy.

You could treat it as if it were poison ivy, or you could get to your doctor or urgent care facility and get a REAL answer.