Poison Ivy

[skibum_]

I will be planting in Ontario this spring and was wondering how rampant poison ivy is?

[rod]

leaves of 3, leave them be
leaves of 4 use some more

[Jaded]

There isnt very much poison ivy in northern ontario. In my 3+ years of planting up there, I have yet to see any of it, or hear of anyone getting it.

[Scooter]

I've never run it it out West either, although I've had runs with it (or poison oak) in Nova Scotia.

[Bolo99]

Poison Ivy is not found in Northern Ontario at all. It's a more southern species found in Southern Ontario and into the States all the way down to Florida. Out west they have Poison Oak, but again it reaches the extreme Northern limit of its range in Southern BC, so its very rare. The only plants you have to watch for while planting(in BC anyways) is Devils Club, and very occasionally Stinging Nettle, which grows in wetter richer areas(along streams etc.) Not really an issue except in some places the Club (Devils Club)can be out of control! (i.e. Hazelton, Nass, Bowron area) This stuff sucks, in some places it grows 6 or 7 feet tall in a continuous mat!

[Scooter]

Stingy Nettle is an interesting plant. Quite often, it barely stings. It isn't something that hurts the way a thornbush does. It has tiny barbs, but rather than making big punctures, they make tiny breaks in the skin. The problem is that there is some sort of irritant on the barbs. Usually it isn't too bad for people, but there is a window of several weeks later in the summer when it reaches a maximum potency, I think (I haven't got the exact biological explanation in front of me). Anyway, the effects are exaggerated by the presence of moisture, so on wet days, or early on the morning where there is dew on the plants, or when your skin gets wet from sweating, it has a stronger sting. Of course, the problem is that it doesn't go away for a while. Getting nicked by a few plants isn't that bad, but if you're working in an area covered with it, by the end of the day your knuckles will have brushed against dozens of plants if you don't wear gloves, and your hands will probably still be throbbing when you go to bed that night.

[Bolo99]

Re: Stinging Nettle, ya it can be a pain(literally) the tiny hair-like barbs on the plant are hollow, and if you brush against it with your skin, especially softer skin like the inside of your arms, the barbs release formic acid into your skin. It hurts! and itches like hell, usually goes away after a few minutes, but some people have a painful reaction that can last for 24 hours or so. You can counter its effect with a base(like baking soda and water paste), or rub spit on it, this helps a tiny bit cuz human spit is slightly alkaline. Usually the palms of your hands won't be affected, cuz the skin is thicker, but it can get the back of your hands and knuckles pretty bad, gloves are a good idea!

[dot]

Well...I can attest to the horrors of devils club in BC and the stinging nettle. I have spent hrs popping devils club thorns out of my hands after a day of planting..esp. bad in the Herrick valley.....their are FIELDS of it there. And sometimes, when on a steep incline, it is the only thing to grab to get yourself up the mountain! Ghad it hurts--I have scars. In terms of stinging nettle...I had it sooo bad one day that both of my arms and hands were swollen, red and sooo itchy. I am usually good about avoiding it...but there was TONS of vegetation that you couldn't see it and plus...it was raining so hard you couldn't see a metre infront of you. So...my advice..look out for it, its generally tall, green and have little ball-like clusters at the top (bunches of them). AND....DO NOT ITCH whatever you do..makes it way worse. Tie your hands with duct tape if you have to! haha

[Shaner]

yeah, there was some really bad devil's club on some of the blocks last summer. I had to drive a dude to a walk-in clinic whose legs were bordering on septic from a solid day of working through a giant patch of the stuff.

[subliminalinertia]

Ooohhh.... i'm not sure i can imagine anything worse than a bad bought of poision ivy in camp... especially if it was in some northern backwoods! gack.

i can take the devils club... i can take the nettles, i can take the cold and the rain and the strain and the burn, i can live with tendonitis, and bag rash, cuts and bruises dont bother me... i can even take that goddamnfreaking thin white STRING that some impish forestry worker has a good laugh boobytrapping the cutblocks with, but i had poision ivy once, and i dont think i could take that.

[korno]

Is there a better time that summer plant in the stoke. Whereing rain gear to avoid devils club when it's 30 degress out. Good times.