OMG I hate this stuff! This is an old thread but I hope maybe I can assist someone in dealing with this thoroughly awful plant. I too tried the manual removal approach by digging up the subsurface "bulbs" but it is very labor intensive and not always entirely successful. Glyco based products may (or may not) be effective for you--I have not had great success with them, and, of course, they run the risk of damaging other grasses. The only product I have used with what appears to be 100% success is Tordon RTU. Here are my steps: 1 remove and dispose of all seed heads 2 dedicate an old knife to this endeavor and cut the plant off at ground level 3 immediately apply Tordon to the tops of the cut stems--it is ready to use from the bottle (thus the RTU) and it does not take a huge amount but I like to give these horrible guys a decent drink of this sweet death juice. If you want to check your work, mark a plot where several stalks were growing and dig up a sample of the "root ball" after a week or so. They should be darkened and starting to look rotten--this is what you want. This process is laborious, but less so than trying to dig up all those root balls. Good luck! The battle rages on. A bonus is Tordon will get rid of most anything (wisteria, bamboo, Virginia creeper, popcorn trees etc)--it just has to be applied to a fresh cut. I'm thoroughly surprised the government actually deigns to allow us commoners to buy this entirely effective product. I do not believe I have the "tropical" spiderwort but a more common variety. A Royal PITA nonetheless I suspect Tordon also will work on the tropical strain, however.

Cindy: Texas Pink is a name I gave a seedling of unknown parentage. It's not an official name yet as I wanted to give it a couple of years to prove itself. As for how they would handle Texas, well I had hoped to get some feedback on that this year as I did send some cuttings to someone in Texas last Fall. So far I haven't heard anything. Interesting that you have though. Where did you hear that? They do seem to handle our summer heat better than some others do. As long as they get decent watering. Normally I'd be one of those posting that I have cuttings for postage. However, we are just about to move into a new house and while I have taken some cuttings I will likely get rid of most of them this weekend at the Middle Tennesse Plant Swap. I may post a message later on in the Fall if I have many left over.

You win cabrita! The red lettuce is Red Oak Leaf, but eh, close enough! :-) Pak Choi vs. Bok Choi, late season (ready to bolt) spinach and overgrown chard! I am impressed! Deanna

bigdaddyj: Thanks so much for the valuable information regarding lacewings. Taking all your replies in this thread amounts to a treatise on lacewing management for mite, aphid and white fly control. I'm forunate to have an indigenous green lacewing population in my small backyard orchard/garden. Someone must have released them in the neighborhood years ago. I have no problems with mites, aphids, (one exception) or white fly. The exception is the plum leaf curl aphid. When these little ^$#@ feed on plum or pluot leaves, the leaves curl up into a tight cylinder creating an impenetrable safehouse for them inside. Neither human sprays nor, apparently, lacewings can get at them or their eggs. But I found that Dr. Bonner's liquid soap sprayed during the dormant season gets their over-wintering eggs on the twigs and branches. (All leaves have fallen). This year, for the first time I have no problems with plum leaf curl aphid. The picture is from last year's attack. I'm in So. Calif. so the lacewings can manage the mild winter I suppose. I can handle the tradeoff: indigenous lacewings for indigenous earthquakes. There still is no such thing as a free lunch. Tony