The Vine that Ate the South - The Terror & Revival of Kudzu

Check out the new podcasts here:

The Red Thread: @theofficialytchannel

CreepCast: @CreepPodcast

The Weird Bible Podcast: @TheWeirdBible

DISCLAIMER: This video is for educational purposes. The events described and shown are historically/artistically significant and the content should be treated as a comprehensive recollection/analysis of events. The actions mentioned are in no way condoned or acceptable to myself or those who featured in the creation of this video. Any events or images depicted are artificial and in no way condone behavior of similar category. Please view responsibly, viewer discretion is advised.

My Links

Second channel/ Livestreams: @Wendigames

[ravenRedwake]

The most unbelievable part of The Walking Dead was that Atlanta wasn’t completely covered in Kudzu after the collapse of the government.

[TellurcatIsaidpspsps]

The south: oh you’ve saved us!
Kudzu: more like under new management

[pugsymalone]

I killed an acre of kudzu in about 6 weeks. Here's how:

I went to the florist desk at my local supermarket and acquired six of the little vials which get filled with water and attached to the bottom of a single rose, so it will stay fresh until you get it home. You can buy them in bulk online.

I sprayed them with bright orange paint, so I would be able to find them among the vegetation.

I filled them with herbicide and attached them at distances about ten feet apart. I simply severed the kudzu vine and attached them. Be sure the vine is submerged into the herbicide. I had to weigh some down with rocks so the liquid wouldn't spill out.

Very quickly you will see a trail of brown, dying kudzu, meandering through the patch.

Refill and relocate the vials as necessary. You'll be surprised how efficiently the plant drinks up the poison and distributes it.

I also use this method to kill invasive plants which are near to, or integrated with food crops or ornamental plantings. I killed invasive climbing vines that were slowly harming a beautiful tree.

DON'T FORGET TO PAINT THE VIALS A BRIGHT COLOR! Cheers.

[bourbonn.pearls]

A literal biological weapon... I had a friend in high school who dated this one girl and her parents hated him, ridiculed him to his face and brow beat him, but thy adored their outdoor garden, he plated three sprigs of kudzu in their garden late one night and their garden went to hell.

[theres_thermite_in_your_food]

As someone who lives in the south, i can confirm that it is EVERYWHERE
it's basically the textbook definition of "invasive species"

[Eric_Hunt]

They were so concerned with whether they kudzu, that they never stopped to ask themselves whether they shudzu.

[FlowMichael]

Everyone is surprised that he's making a video on just a random plant, but you all should have known that he'd find a way to portray it as an eldritch monster.

[LeoLoverBoi]

when my family bought 20 acres in west tn, it was an abandoned property that was almost completely over run with kudzu. I used a propane torch to clear a center area then brought goats in. giving the goats access to water and free choice mineral (to ensure proper nutrition) and no other feed, it took 15 nubian goats 4 months to completely clear the kudzu. I used cattle panels to keep them close to the old falling down house to clear that section first. by the time we finished rebuilding the house the goats had cleared the kudzu. goats are the way to go for farmers and land owners

[pehzspeedruns]

Im so glad he’s came out, he’s hinted at it for years with his floral shirts. Congrats on becoming a botanist!!!

[gamescape]

"The cold won't kill it. It will just slow it down." Lol. Definitely a horror movie line

[mikevismyelement]

I am from Mississippi and kudzu represents the creeping sadness of the passage of time for me.

When I was growing up, it covered forgotten shacks, old cars, shut down businesses, and other neglected things that time passed over. Signs that life was once here, maybe vibrance and fun but not any longer. Just you and the vines in this middle of nowhere town.

Now that I am in my 30's, every time I return home, kudzu has claimed another one of my old hang outs. Growing over it and rendering it inaccessible or inoperable, much like the memories are to me now. They are there but they will never be the same.

Kudzu is a horribly depressing thing for me.

[anthonychristy]

As a kid in the 80s and 90s my first memory of Kudzu, was a card in the game "Magic the Gathering", it was a card with the effect, "Destroy target land". I saw a big patch of it in a ravine/forest one day as a probably 9 year old kid, asked my dad what it was because it covered everything. He told me it was called Kudzu, I then told him about that Magic playing card, and he said "Yep that's about what it does".

[sean]

Other plants: needs specific conditions to grow properly, you know like any other normal plant
Kudzu: THE ONLY THING HOLDING ME BACK IS THE WORLD ITSELF.

[ethanschule]

getting suspiciously close to mold iceberg

[evilmoffintop]

I’m from Fiji. Kudzu is a major issue here too. During WWII the Allies brought kudzu to use as camouflage. Prior to WWII, the native plants on the hills of the main island would have been a sight to behold. Now kudzu is all that you can see. That and merremia peltata has decimated local species.

[iProbablyDontCare]

This is super interesting, thank you! My grandpa was on a team of 4 people that introduced kudzu to their farms in Auburn, AL. I don’t tell that story much, I’ve had people get mad enough to try and fight me in bars after bringing that up.

[SuarenWolf]

I am an Invasive Species Specialist for my local state park here in the Midwest. In the entire park, only 4 Kudzu shoots have been found all of which I monitor consistently and have had to go back and cut and spray the root/vine with herbicide. I really appreciate you making a video on this plant. I have actively hunted for this plant else where in the park and have yet to find more, but keeps me up at night that somehow I'll miss it and it'll take over. I wish more people cared about our native ecosystems.

[WEAREALLJUSTMEAT]

I used to work doing sewer inspections, and we had to go through these kudzu covered easements and wilderness in Alabama and Tennessee. One time I went to embark down a hill to get to a hole that was 200 feet in front of me. I stuck my foot forward slowly into the kudzu and almost fell. I couldn't get my footing. then it hit me. The kudzu had grown up the cliffside and around some huge white oak trees and had completely covered them, creating a false ground making a sheer drop look like a gentle slope. I nearly fell 80 ft possibly to my death. fucking terrifying, and it wasn't the first or last time I dealt with it. Just a day. I've spent several trying to find my way through 9 foot tall vines as far as the eye can see in every direction, unable to see the ground, barely able to see ahead or above.

[ElveeKaye]

I once dated a man from Alabama. He said he was walking through the woods when suddenly he fell through the kudzu and ended up flat on his back in a gully. The vines had grown completely over it so he couldn't see what he was stepping into! Luckily, he was able to get out, but you can easily imagine someone falling and hurting themselves and not being found, or a stray cow or horse falling into a ditch.

[rainsilversplash]

I remember seeing a painting or drawing, illustrating a post-apocalyptic SciFi Story, in which Washington, DC was consumed by kudzu. I remember thinking, "So that's the way we go, not by fire, not by flood, but by *KUDZU".* Living in central South Carolina, I have seen many homes succumb to kudzu, so it really made a kind of sense...