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Piskie
Mrs
 1584 Posts |
 Posted - 09/03/2010 : 05:57:56
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They are to release a little bug to attack Japanese knotweed, sounds good in theory - but look what happened with the grey squirrels and, indeed, with the JK itself!!
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/8555378.stm |
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steve
Moderator
23005 Posts |
Posted - 09/03/2010 : 07:22:14
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| I read that this morning Piskie and thought the same.....does it eat anything else!? |
Steve
In Ilkeston |
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Piskie
Mrs
1584 Posts |
Posted - 09/03/2010 : 07:27:51
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quote:
Originally posted by steve
.....does it eat anything else!?
I would guess at cabbage, carrots, broccoli, lettuce, runner beans, tomatoes, courgettes, roses, sweetpeas - sorry, can't continue, I'm running out of screen ink - too much to list ..... |
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grindle
Mrs
13904 Posts |
Posted - 09/03/2010 : 07:53:36
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| as they still don't know enough about it, it's very worrying. I wonder how they're going to do a 'controlled' release ? |
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Wildlife_friendly
Mrs
3182 Posts |
Posted - 09/03/2010 : 08:07:24
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I was listening to it on the news this morning, there’s nothing controlled about its release. They are going to let it go in a few areas and in 5-10 years it will have spread across the whole country.
Why does "there was on old woman who swallowed a fly" keep going through my mind? |
 Encouraging wildlife in Devon. |
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Cherry
Moderator
12178 Posts |
Posted - 09/03/2010 : 09:04:13
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| Why should this psyllid be trusted when GM crops are not? |
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SueA
Tree
4537 Posts |
Posted - 09/03/2010 : 15:18:41
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| Does it remind you of cane toads etc. Cherry? I'm not sure about introducing anything non-native. |
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Cherry
Moderator
12178 Posts |
Posted - 09/03/2010 : 17:23:22
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I immediately pulled a face at the thought of that Sue. One used to sit on the breakfast cereals at my eldest daughter's house and a cane toad or snake used to sit and sleep in the corner on the ground floor under the shelter where I to crossed to the toilet and shower. I only stay with my second daughter now. She has a touch of OCD which appeals to me.
Cane toads were introduced to Queensland to eat the pests in the sugar cane. Now they are a terrible nuisance and as big as dogs. |
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sweetpea
Tree
8376 Posts |
Posted - 09/03/2010 : 19:18:36
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quote:
Originally posted by SueA
Does it remind you of cane toads etc. Cherry? I'm not sure about introducing anything non-native.
You've not been to Brixton or Southall then SueA   |
Gardening in South Wales (Pembrokeshire) |
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pennyron
Tree
9916 Posts |
Posted - 12/03/2010 : 09:02:54
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At 8' high they'll have some chomping to do.
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Cherry
Moderator
12178 Posts |
Posted - 12/03/2010 : 09:39:19
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| That is terrible Ron. What a frightening photograph. There was a lot about in Oxfordshire and it did break up concrete. |
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Piskie
Mrs
1584 Posts |
Posted - 12/03/2010 : 10:13:39
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Blimey what a scary picture!!
What is that in the middle? |
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pennyron
Tree
9916 Posts |
Posted - 12/03/2010 : 14:59:55
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| I don't understand why they need 'bugs' all this lot needs is a match then when the new shoots appear, zap it with Roundup. |
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SueA
Tree
4537 Posts |
Posted - 12/03/2010 : 15:36:30
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quote:
Originally posted by Piskie
Blimey what a scary picture!!
What is that in the middle?
Think that might be 'Barnaby' Ron's dog Piskie!
Has that knotweed been 'zapped' with something Ron or is it just dormant? |
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pennyron
Tree
9916 Posts |
Posted - 12/03/2010 : 16:10:34
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| Just dormant Sue, It would be so easy to burn or even hack off as it's hollow brittle and very dry. |
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sweetpea
Tree
8376 Posts |
Posted - 12/03/2010 : 19:14:35
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quote:
Originally posted by pennyron
I don't understand why they need 'bugs' all this lot needs is a match then when the new shoots appear, zap it with Roundup.
You may as well give it a drink of lemonade. Roundup doesn't do it for JK nor does anything else it seems. It just pops up elsewhere. Not the easiest weed to control. |
Gardening in South Wales (Pembrokeshire) |
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Is this wise?