Prickly nightshade

This article describes a harmful and dangerous weed - prickly nightshade. How to recognize a thorn, how to deal with it, what harm it can do to cultivated plants and humans in particular - in more detail below.

Thorny nightshade: description of the plant

The prickly nightshade is a plant with a height of 30 cm to 1 m, lowered with stellate hairs. Almost the entire plant (including leaves and perianth) is covered with thorns 5 to 12 mm long. The thorns are straw-colored and subulate.

• The stem is grayish and cylindrical, branches abundantly, woody. Each bush can grow up to 70 branches, and the bush itself can be up to 70 cm in diameter.
• The rod roots of prickly nightshade go deep underground, up to 3 meters. The root system is quite branched.
• The leaves reach a length of 5 to 10 cm. They are distinguished by long petiolate and lyre.
• The flowers are five-membered, collected at the base, and later form a brush shape. Peduncle of small length, up to 3 cm.
• Corolla reaches a diameter of 2-3 cm, has a yellow tint. You can recognize the corolla of a nightshade by its lanceolate-ovate blades. The cup with lobes grows almost in the shape of a ball and tightly wraps around the fruit.
• The flowering period of prickly nightshade falls from June to September. The plant bears fruit from August to October.

Nightshade prickly: video about the plantThe fruit of the prickly nightshade is a berry. The berries are unilocular, semi-dry, have a rounded shape. When the fruit ripens, it cracks. The number of berries on one plant varies and can reach 180 pieces.

Each berry produces from 50 to 120 seeds. Thus, only one plant can clog the soil of more than 21 thousand seeds.

Seeds of prickly nightshade are black or brown in color, have a spherical, flattened from the sides, shape. Themselves uneven.

After the seeds appear, they remain dormant for about six months. Growth occurs after winter. In addition, the seeds are still capable of germinating after ten years in the ground.

The loss of seed viability in different soil layers is different. In a few years, at a depth of 5 cm, the number of seeds will decrease by more than 80%. However, at a depth of 30 cm, the volume does not decrease even by 10%.

Seeds do not germinate at temperatures below 10 degrees. The best temperature conditions for nightshades range from 22 to 25 degrees. The seeds germinate in the soil at a depth of 1 to 15 cm.

Those that are closer to the surface, in the region of 3-5 cm in depth, sprout best. Seeds below 15 cm do not pose a threat - they do not germinate.

Seeds are the only way of reproduction of prickly nightshade. When they ripen, the wind breaks the nightshade and carries it long distances. After the seeds appear on the ground, they can also "travel" thanks to the wind, wheels of cars, etc.

After the first shoots, the growth of the plant slows down very much. Only 3-4 leaves are formed per month, and branches on the stem appear after a period of 40 days. At this time, nightshade roots grow best.

The prickly nightshade has a fairly extensive root system. In addition, the growth rate of the roots is 5-6 times better than that of the outside of the plant.

In a good environment, nightshade can grow up to 30 branches and reach a height of one meter. The root of this weed plant can reach three meters in length.

Spreading

The homeland of prickly nightshade is North America, including its Mexican part. Also, this weed was introduced to other parts of the world: Europe, Australia, South Africa. On the territory of the former USSR, nightshade is found in the European part, in the Caucasus, the Far East and Kazakhstan.

Plant of prickly nightshade. Ecology

Nightshade prickly prefers warmth and good light. Because the lack of light leads to the fact that the plant grows in a smaller size than it could be. It is this property that prevents nightshade from growing in dense crops of cultivated plants.

By the time the harvest takes place, this weed has time to grow only a few leaves.

Any land is favorable for spreading. However, its best growth is provided by loose, loamy and clayey soil.

The most suitable area for the life of prickly nightshade is sown row crops, orchards. The crop has not yet been harvested, but the nightshade has already managed to form seeds and fill the soil with them. Lack of observation of the sowing plants can lead to very severe weediness of the land with seeds.

The prickly nightshade is often found in wastelands and areas that are not being cultivated. It grows so abundantly that it can crowd out all other plants.

Thorny nightshade: harm to the farm

Nightshade prickly: photo of the variety

The prickly nightshade is a noxious weed. The harm of nightshade is manifested in the clogging of seeds with crops of cultivated plants, orchards and vegetable gardens. Like other weeds, it likes to live near roads and in trashy areas.

The harmfulness of prickly nightshade is quite high. In a weedy area, up to half of the entire crop usually perishes, and in some cases completely. Such an advantage in the struggle for food with cultivated plants of the nightshade is provided by its extensive root system.

The prickly nightshade is also harmful to animals, because it is poisonous to them. Eating the thorn of this plant, the animal runs the risk of damaging its mouth and stomach. Therefore, straw containing a large amount of nightshade cannot even be used as bedding.

The prickly nightshade is home to many harmful insects such as the Colorado potato beetle, for example. This weed can also cause diseases of cultivated plants, as it is their causative agent.

Control measures

What does a prickly nightshade look like? Photo

Possible methods of controlling this weed are divided into agrotechnical and chemical ones.

Agrotechnical methods involve the use of new scientific technologies that have been tested and recommended for use in Russia.

It is worth thinking about the prevention of the appearance of nightshade at the sowing stage. If you want to sow on an already infested area, then it is better to stop the choice of culture on crops of continuous sowing. For example, cereals and legumes.

In order to prevent further development of the weed plant, stubble plowing and further semi-steam cultivation of the land should be carried out immediately after harvesting. The semi-steam treatment will eliminate the nightshade by 100% and prevent further occurrence.

With regular such treatment, before the plant forms seeds for several years, it is possible to almost completely clean them from the soil.

But it is worth considering that plowing the land before sowing needs about 30 cm in depth. The nightshade seeds that are deeper will simply not germinate. Those seeds that have already sprouted will be deprived of the opportunity to germinate. Thus, properly plowed plowing can reduce the volume of nightshade by up to 80%.

Uncultivated land must also be plowed, stubbled and cultivated. As a last resort, if it is not possible to apply these measures, mowing is performed. To prevent the appearance of seeds, you need to mow the nightshade at least three times during the growing season.

Mowing should come at the time of budding, when the seeds have not yet formed.

What are the chemical methods for getting rid of nightshade? You can fight nightshade with the following drugs: roundup, hurricane and glyphosphate. These funds have passed special tests and certification, and have been officially approved in Russia and are recommended for use.

Thorny nightshade: photo

Conclusion

Thorny nightshade is an extremely harmful weed. Each plant produces a huge amount of seeds that remain in the soil for a long time. It is necessary to deal with prickly nightshade, otherwise the germinated seeds will take away nutrients and moisture from cultivated plants.