Biological Name:
Amaranthus tuberculatus (Waterhemp)
Natural Habitat:
Waterhemp: This plant is native to North America and typically grows in moist or wet habitats, such as along the edges of streams, ponds, and marshes. It is commonly found in the central and eastern United States.
Description:
Waterhemp is a herbaceous annual plant that is native to North America. It has long narrow leaves and small green or white flowers. It is often found in wetland areas and can be a serious agricultural weed.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
Q: Is pigweed and waterhemp the same thing?
A: Stems are hairless. Key ID traits: The stems of waterhemp are hairless, whereas redroot and smooth pigweed have hairs on stems. Leaves are lanceolate in shape and tend to be glossier than those of redroot and smooth pigweed. Waterhemp cotyledons are egg-shaped, whereas those of the pigweeds are more linear.
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Q: Should you pull pigweed?
A: If pigweeds are in the advanced reproductive stage and might drop viable seed when handled, carefully bagging plants is even more important, Farr and others say. Guy Collins, cotton Extension associate professor at North Carolina State University, also advocates hand pulling.
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Q: Why is pigweed so difficult to control?
A: The researchers have determined a specific genetic feature, the extrachromosomal circular DNA (eccDNA) replicon, gives pigweed, or glyphosate resistant palmer amaranth, its resistance to glyphosate and makes this weed difficult to control.
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Q: Is pigweed poisonous to humans?
A: Yes, the weeds in the garden we call pigweed, including prostrate pigweed, from the amaranth family, are edible. Every part of the plant can be eaten, but the young leaves and growing tips on older plants are the tastiest and most tender. The seeds are nutritious, edible, and are not difficult to harvest.
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Q: What part of pigweed is poisonous?
A: Pigweed (Amaranthus retroflexus) is a common annual weed found throughout the United States. The weed can grow three to four feet; the flowers are green and prickly and the plant has oval shaped leaves. The pigweed’s leaves, roots and stems are toxic.
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Q: Are all pigweed edible?
A: While all parts of pigweed plants are edible, some parts have more popular uses than others. For example the young plants and growing tips of older plants make nutritious vegetables that can be boiled like spinach or eaten raw as salad.
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Q: Is waterhemp poisonous?
A: About Waterhemp: This weed is poisonous for cattle, horses, sheep and goats when ingested.
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Q: How does waterhemp spread?
A: The seeds are small (approximately 3-mm in length) and can easily be transported by contaminated machinery, by waterfowl, through the spread of poultry litter as fertilizer, etc. Like most weeds, waterhemp seeds remain viable in the soil for several years.
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Q: How do you get rid of waterhemp?
A: The most effective way to prevent seed is to cut off waterhemp or Palmer plants just below soil line, remove plants from the field, and burn or compost or bury deep enough. Plants left in the field can reroot at multiple nodes and regrow.
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Q: Can cows eat waterhemp?
A: Waterhemp seeds can remain viable in the soil for several years. The weed can be poisonous to livestock if ingested.
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Q: Is waterhemp toxic to cattle?
A: Common waterhemp has dioecious flowers, meaning that male and female flowers are present on separate plants. Male flowers on left plant; female flowers on right plant. Toxic Plant: Cattle and swine are the animals most likely to be affected; goats and sheep can also be poisoned.
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Q: How tall does waterhemp get?
A: Mature Plants Waterhemp can range from mere inches up to 12 feet tall but generally grows to about 4 or 5 feet in most agronomic settings.
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Q: What is the difference between waterhemp and Palmer amaranth?
A: The Palmer amaranth leaf is much wider (horizontal arrows) and has a longer petiole (vertical arrows) than waterhemp. Palmer amaranth can be differentiated from waterhemp by its long petioles, causing the egg-shaped leaf blades to extend away from the stem.
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Q: What is waterhemp used for?
A: Waterhemp gains a competitive advantage over several more aggressive summer annual weeds through the sheer number of plants that can infest an area. Season-long competition by waterhemp (more than 20 plants per square foot) has been shown to reduce soybean yield by 44%.
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Q: Is waterhemp resistant to Roundup?
A: In the majority of documented cases, glyphosate-resistant waterhemp has developed in continual Roundup Ready soybean systems where glyphosate has been used continually with little or no use of alternative herbicides.
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Q: How fast does waterhemp grow?
A: Waterhemp grows more rapidly than most weeds or crops — typically about 1 to 1 ¼ inches per day during the growing season.
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Q: What spray kills horseweed?
A: Burndown herbicides, such as 2,4-D, dicamba, glufosinate (Liberty), saflufenacil (Sharpen), paraquat (Gramoxone), or tank mixes of these herbicides, can be applied in the fall or spring to control horseweed.
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Q: How do you get rid of waterhemp?
A: The most effective way to prevent seed is to cut off waterhemp or Palmer plants just below soil line, remove plants from the field, and burn or compost or bury deep enough. Plants left in the field can reroot at multiple nodes and regrow.
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Q: What is the difference between Palmer amaranth and waterhemp?
A: Waterhemp is primarily a Northern weed, while Palmer amaranth dominates the South. Petiole length is key. Waterhemp has shorter petioles, the portion that connects the leaf to the main stem, while Palmer amaranth petioles are generally longer.
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Q: How tall can waterhemp get?
A: Amaranthus tuberculatus Height: Can grow very tall, up to 10 feet in, especially in competition with corn. Flowers: Male and female flowers on separate plants. Flowers are primarily produced on long (up to 1-2 feet or more, in length) terminal flower heads. Female flowers do not have sharp bracts associated with them.
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Q: What herbicide kills waterhemp?
A: Dicamba is a broadleaf herbicide that does a good job controlling waterhemp and it has some residual unlike Liberty herbicide. Be aware if dicamba drifts into non-extend beans or broadleaf crops. It can cause major damage to the crop.
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Q: Does atrazine control waterhemp?
A: Atrazine, dicamba, 2-4,D, Callisto, Impact and Laudis are effective against waterhemp in corn. Soil-applied herbicides such as Dual, Surpass/Harness, Outlook and Zidua may also be effective. Going with soil-applied herbicides and not letting weeds get a head start is key now, Johnson says.
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