Mile a minute control - Ask Extension
Wondering if or where or advisable to obtain mile a minute weevil. Have a sunny unmanaged area with native plantings trying to keep from being overrun...
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Mile a minute control #866853
Asked May 03, 2024, 8:30 AM EDT
Wondering if or where or advisable to obtain mile a minute weevil. Have a sunny unmanaged area with native plantings trying to keep from being overrun. Would rather not use chemicals / handpulling too hard for me (back/age etc). Mowing would mess up desirable vegetation.
Howard County Maryland
Expert Response
Yours is a good question that is not easily answered.
A good deal of the information on the weevil used for Mile-a-Minute control is fairly old.
In my personal experience, I have seen evidence of the weevil being present in my wildlife/meadow field with holes in the leaves (they showed up on their own in western Howard County) but I have not seen that they have really helped with control as the weed is an annual problem.
It does appear that in IPM programs for the mile-a-minute weed, the weevil is typically paired with a pre-emergent herbicide (one that stops seeds from germinating- but will stop your natives from seeding around too.)
This publication references a study (Lake et al. 2014) that found integrating the biological control weevil with pre-emergent herbicide and native plantings reduced a mile-a-minute weed seedlings and cover.
Page 51 of this publication discusses combining the weevil with other control methods like mechanical and chemical, detailing some great considerations.
Also, Penn State has a web page with a mile-a-minute management calendar: https://extension.psu.edu/mile-a-minute.
This page from the Maryland Invasive Species Council
(which is old https://mdinvasives.org/iotm/aug-2012/)
suggests that contacting the Maryland Department of Agriculture Office of Plant Protection and Weed Management Section is a good place to start to get your questions answered- you could give them a try:
https://mda.maryland.gov/plants-pests/Pages/plant_protection_weed_management.aspx
I found this as well- which shows a weed-strangling presence much worse than what I have, so maybe the insect has helped, but I tend to think it is kept at bay moreso by the other plants that have filled in, including native goldenrods, golden alexanders, tall phlox, etc.:
chrome-extension://efaidnbmnnnibpcajpcglclefindmkaj/https://s3.amazonaws.com/assets.cce.cornell.edu/attachments/43184/Mile-A-Minute_Biocontrol.pdf?<personal data hidden>(the price per weevil is listed at $1 per weevil with a 500 minimum!-- I personally would put that towards more native plants.)
Christine
A good deal of the information on the weevil used for Mile-a-Minute control is fairly old.
In my personal experience, I have seen evidence of the weevil being present in my wildlife/meadow field with holes in the leaves (they showed up on their own in western Howard County) but I have not seen that they have really helped with control as the weed is an annual problem.
It does appear that in IPM programs for the mile-a-minute weed, the weevil is typically paired with a pre-emergent herbicide (one that stops seeds from germinating- but will stop your natives from seeding around too.)
This publication references a study (Lake et al. 2014) that found integrating the biological control weevil with pre-emergent herbicide and native plantings reduced a mile-a-minute weed seedlings and cover.
Page 51 of this publication discusses combining the weevil with other control methods like mechanical and chemical, detailing some great considerations.
Also, Penn State has a web page with a mile-a-minute management calendar: https://extension.psu.edu/mile-a-minute.
This page from the Maryland Invasive Species Council
(which is old https://mdinvasives.org/iotm/aug-2012/)
suggests that contacting the Maryland Department of Agriculture Office of Plant Protection and Weed Management Section is a good place to start to get your questions answered- you could give them a try:
https://mda.maryland.gov/plants-pests/Pages/plant_protection_weed_management.aspx
I found this as well- which shows a weed-strangling presence much worse than what I have, so maybe the insect has helped, but I tend to think it is kept at bay moreso by the other plants that have filled in, including native goldenrods, golden alexanders, tall phlox, etc.:
chrome-extension://efaidnbmnnnibpcajpcglclefindmkaj/https://s3.amazonaws.com/assets.cce.cornell.edu/attachments/43184/Mile-A-Minute_Biocontrol.pdf?<personal data hidden>(the price per weevil is listed at $1 per weevil with a 500 minimum!-- I personally would put that towards more native plants.)
Christine
Thanks.
I had seen some of what you referenced. Was trying to avoid triclophyr, but I think given the area and what I can physically do it might be the least bad option. If I could layer in weevils but not need to spend $500 I'd try that.
Sometimes the use of herbicides is warranted to be able to start over with natives. Good luck and we hope you can gain control!
Emily
