Talk:Kudzu

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Contents 1 Kudzu as compost 2 Units of measurement 3 Kudzu as a pest 4 Potential ambiguity problem 5 Ambiguity redux 6 KUDZU question/use 7 Kudzu Control and Elimination 8 Conversions 9 Precision of numbers (and reverts) 10 References 11 Kudzu cures hangovers or doesn't? 12 Another photo

[edit] Kudzu as compost

In the book How to Grow World Record Tomatoes by Charles H. Wilber, he states that kudzu is rich in minerals with a 26% protein content. He also goes on to say that it improves the harshest clay soils by making them into "rich crumbly, brown soil." It also helps a soil breathe by carrying nitrogen and oxygen down into the soil and thus bringing the lime complex of the soil up. (pg. 26) He uses both shredded green kudzu and hay consisting of kudzu in great quantities in his compost. (pg. 27) His results have been amazing, i.e. world record tomatoes (27 foot tall cherry tomato plants and in 1987 1,368 lb tomatoes on 4 plants.). I find this information very interesting and would like to add at least some of it to the page. What do you all think?Saritamackita 21:55, 26 January 2007 (UTC)

• The upside of kudzu is that if you use it as compost, you keep getting more and more compost without having to do anything. Wahkeenah 19:48, 26 January 2007 (UTC)
  • Yeah, I think that is true. So, should I put it in the article?Saritamackita 21:55, 26 January 2007 (UTC)
    • Do what you think is best. Just don't use my comment as a citation. :) Wahkeenah 00:25, 27 January 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Units of measurement

IP: I see what you mean about the metric units (Wikipedia:Manual of Style (dates and numbers)) so I won't revert your changes, it's just I don't like it that you call it euro imperialism when I'm American. Wikiacc 14:36, 4 Dec 2004 (UTC)

[edit] Kudzu as a pest

Is kudzu a pest in Japan? A paragraph of analysis would be a good addition to the article.

Another good addition to the article would be a photo of kudzu gone wild, with a human in the picture, or a car or something else that demonstrates scale. The current picture would be good if something were in it that would let us judge the size of what we're looking at. Tempshill 23:15, 17 May 2005 (UTC)

I take it you've never been down South before.

128.6.175.77, First off, please sign your comments by placing four tildes in a row, second, please don't make such offensive comments, whether he has been south or not is irrelevant, what matters is whether or not wikipedia should contain a photo as he says. Pidey 01:06, 11 November 2006 (UTC)

Kudzu is less of a "pest" in Japan because of the cold weather. This helps hamper the growth. In addition, there are several insects and fungus native to Japan that keep them under control (these are non-native to the US). For the most part, Japan is closer to the climate of Pennsylvania then Alabama. And for the person that asked for a photograph showing scale, I will try and take one this next week. I know of some large construction equipment (as well as 2 travel trailers) that are covered in the stuff just a few miles from where I live. Mushrom 20:16, 24 April 2007 (UTC)

Kudzu is not a pest in Japan. It is a welcome seasonal plant much treasured by the Japanese for it's beauty. As mentioned above, there are native pests that act as controls, and it dies off during the winter. The Japanese have long made a ramie like cloth from Kudzu. Kuzu fabric is highly resistant to moisture and pests. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 131.215.115.31 (talk) 16:44, 10 April 2008 (UTC)

[edit] Potential ambiguity problem

Since an article about the Kudzu comic strip already exists here, a disambiguation page might be useful. ISNorden 23:17, 4 July 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Ambiguity redux

On the talk page for the "Disambig" template, I have asked permission to move this article to "Kudzu (plant)". The "What links here" list, though, looks so long that a new location would disrupt the whole Wiki. Would an "other uses" note be enough to clarify the situation without breaking links? --Ingeborg S. Nordén 15:54, 24 July 2006 (UTC)

Okay, for one thing, Template talk:Disambig was the wrong place to ask this question. That page is for discussing the {{Disambig}} template. For another thing, it doesn't matter that a lot of pages link here, it can still be moved, that's what redirect pages are for. But finally, why do you think it should be moved in the first place? The only other meaning I can find is Kudzu (comic strip), and the plant definitely gets priority because it's the original and most common meaning. —Keenan Pepper 16:45, 24 July 2006 (UTC)

Yeah, that's the only other use of the word that I know of. ···日本穣^{? · Talk to Nihonjoe} 17:36, 24 July 2006 (UTC)

Thank you, Nihonjoe; you beat me to that edit. Sorry to ask on the wrong page to begin with; I'm relatively new here and sometimes get confused about which template to use when.  :-) --Ingeborg S. Nordén 22:28, 24 July 2006 (UTC)

No problem. If you have any other questions, feel free to post them on my Talk page. ···日本穣^{? · Talk to Nihonjoe} 22:33, 24 July 2006 (UTC)

I just reread my comment and now it seems really harsh. I need to remember not to bite the newbies. Sorry! —Keenan Pepper 22:39, 24 July 2006 (UTC)

[edit] KUDZU question/use

I have a question about KUDZU. What is the sugar/carbohydrate content? How does that compare with corn? The reason for this question is simple if the sugar content is high enough it can be used for ethanol production! Could it be that I have stumbled on a viable use for this pest at last?65.4.163.122 23:23, 24 December 2006 (UTC) Alan Radford alanlradford@gmail.com

I had heard years ago that a scientist somewhere had figured out how to make a fuel out of kudzu. However, this was somewhere on the order of 10-15 years ago and I can't remember who. I'm wondering why there's so little attention to its viability, though, considering its growth-rate.

There are occasional reports of people investigating the conversion of kudzu into ethanol. An NPR report aired on February 2007 about a high school student who did this as a science fair project. An audio report and photographs are available. However, although kudzu grows fast, the amount of biomass per acre is not all that great: On flat ground, there isn't much plant material under all that green foliage. Kudzu is all surface area (to collect sunlight), but not much volume (compared with corn). Lou 18:31, 7 June 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Kudzu Control and Elimination

I've revised the kudzu article to remove the statement that it has rhizomes (underground stems), because it does not. All kudzu vines grow from crowns located above ground. I've also made clear that it is not necessary to dig up kudzu roots to kill the plant. It is only necessary to remove the crown, which is done very easily by hand with a pruning saw. A photograph illustrates this method. More details on this and other methods for controling or eliminating kudzu without using chemicals can be found at KOKudzu.com, where I am webmaster. This is the website of the all-volunteer organization The Coalition to Control Kudzu Without Chemicals located in Spartanburg, South Carolina. Lou 18:50, 7 June 2007 (UTC)

Very nice to see someone knowledgeable paying attention to this part of the page. Do include references to the Fire Effects Information System, journal articles, and other sources, rather than just your own website, as feasible. That's especially true if other (uninformed) sources say something to the contrary, like about the rhizomes. But like I said, thanks for improving this article. Kingdon 12:44, 8 June 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Conversions

Regarding this edit. Per Google's calculator -

• 20–30 m = 66-98
  • 20m=65.6167979 feet approx 66 [1]
  • 30 meters = 98.4251969 feet approx 98[2]
• 10–20 cm = 4-8 in
  • 10 centimeters = 3.93700787 inches approx 4 [3]
  • 20 centimeters = 7.87401575 inches approx 8[4]
• 10–25 cm = 4-10 in
  • 10 centimeters = 3.93700787 inches approx 4 [5]
  • 25 centimeters = 9.84251969 inches approx 10 [6]
• 30 cm = 12 in (not 1 ft, we must maintain consistency throughout the article)
  • 30 centimeters = 11.8110236 inches approx 12 in [7]
• 12 ft = 3.7 m
  • 12 feet = 3.6576 meters approx 3.7 [8]
• 180 kg = 400 lb
  • 180 kilograms = 396.832072 pounds approx 397 approx 400 [9]
• 27 degrees celsius = 81 degrees fahrenheit (This is in fact the only correction to be made on the page regarding the numerical values)
  • 27 degrees Celsius = 80.6 degrees Fahrenheit approx 81 [10]

To me, what this means is pretty clear. The well meaning anon IP who tried to correct the numbers deserves an apology, not the rebuke put on zir talk page - User talk:72.24.189.30. I am only commenting about the changes in the numerical values, not anything else done by said IP. Whatever other changes the IP has removed, by all means fix em back (if they have to be), however I still find it a little hard to believe per this that the The strong fragrance is very similar to grape soda pop. If indeed this is true, it should have a reference in tow as well the neccessary description of what exactly grape soda pop smells like.

Regards,xC | ☎ 14:31, 30 June 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Precision of numbers (and reverts)

The correct conversion of 20-30m to feet is "70-100 ft" per significant figure. In this article, it was changed here (along with many similar numbers). There have been a number of reverts since then, but I don't know whether they are aimed at this changed, since a lot of other stuff was reverted as well. If the number precision is the issue, we should discuss it here. But it could be some totally unrelated thing. Let's try to figure out what the issue is. Kingdon 15:14, 30 June 2007 (UTC)

If you believe that it should be 70-100 ft, and not 66-98 ft, then keep it as is. I am still of the belief that in excess rounding off we are losing out on the actual data. Rounding a decimal is one thing, adding an excess four feet to a figure seems a little shaky to me.

I have nothing to comment about the content, since I haven't worked on this article. Perhaps someone more knowledgeable about the topic could have a look, I have nothing to add there.xC | ☎ 15:35, 30 June 2007 (UTC)

[edit] References

The article is fairly well cited, but there were no full citations for any of the references anywhere in the article. So, I'm converting them all to fully-cited footnotes instead of plain external links. I've done about half the article, the only section left is "Kudzu as an invasive species" which I'll do later today. --Darkwind (talk) 19:34, 20 August 2007 (UTC)

Done. --Darkwind (talk) 21:02, 20 August 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Kudzu cures hangovers or doesn't?

I was looking at the Hangover article in Wikipedia, and it listed cures and "ineffective" cures. Kudzu was listed as being ineffective, with references. However, it noted the Kudzu had other uses so I navigated to this article.

Lo and behold, this article states, contrary to the hangover article, that studies have shown Kudzu as effective against hangovers. It also has references. Which one is right? 99.240.217.191 (talk) 19:56, 10 January 2008 (UTC)

       I think kudzu is used more for curbing cravings by alcoholics (preventative use) as opposed to relieving hangovers (corrective use). I don't know enough about studies (even if any were done) to conclusively state that the hangover part of this article should be removed and just refer to preventative uses.  —Preceding unsigned comment added by 142.67.28.35 (talk) 14:34, 19 February 2008 (UTC) 

I just did a search in both the American Journal of Medicine and the American Journal of Epidemiology, and the word "kudzu" does not appear even once in either journal. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 131.215.115.31 (talk) 16:40, 10 April 2008 (UTC)

[edit] Another photo

Seeing that there is already a photo showing the flower (the one with the butterfly), perhaps another can be used in the info box that depicts the actual plant? Also, to better demonstrate the invasive nature, perhaps one showing it overtaking a house, bridge, telephone pole would be helpful. SteveCoppock (talk) 17:53, 11 May 2008 (UTC)