Although the front of our property is pretty baron because of all of the excavation we have done, the surrounding property is lush with Mango trees, palm trees, salsa trees and a bunch of other jungle looking foliage.
For the past month, all my friends and neighbors have been telling me I need to go into the jungle and trim all of the pica pica (translates to: Itch Itch). Everyone says how bad it is, once the winter hits because the pods grow little fiberglass like hairs that will blow in the wind into your house, onto your sheets, on your laundry hanging on the line to dry, into your car, onto the wax on your surfboards…etc. You get the point.
Everyone that has told me these horror stories has gotten the same response from me; “Will you please show me exactly what the vine looks like so I can go down there and eradicate it?” Instead of giving me answers or walking me up to a plant, they continue telling me how bad it is. I hate asking a question and having to politely listen to someone sensationalized answer that never even comes close to answering the question, especially when it comes to something that seems so time sensitive.
Unfortunately for me, I got the closest thing to an answer yesterday and it seems that almost every vine we have hanging on both sides of our house (about 2 acres….covered) is some form of Pica Pica. I am not stoked on that.
Yesterday, I started cutting down the underbrush (covered in Pica Pica) at the top of the property. My goal is to complete the entire property in two weeks. This section took me 3 hours. I should have taken a before picture…it was 7ft tall. The tough thin is that you need to chop up the vine in an up and down motion before you can cut out the bottom of the plant or the Pica Pica just moves lower to the ground..and once the huge labyrinth of vines are on the ground…still alive, it is impossible to get to it and chop it up and it stops you from going the next 10 feet. Here is the start of my fantastically itchy voyage.
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What about extra-strength RoundUp. I wiped out amazing amounts of tough poison oak with RoundUp mixed with Scythe. It did a great job and killed it at the root. The Scythe opens up any waxiness to let the RoundUp do its deed. I was careful not to wipe out the other natural vegitation.
That is what I thought…but the problem is the pod, not the vine…it just so happens that the pod grows on the vine. So, once the vine matures, it produces pods. The pod doesn’t get itchy until dry season when the plant pretty much dies for the winter…then the pod dries up into a little fiberglass hell string bean blowing super itchy little fibers into the air.
Any kind of pesticide means airborne particles from the dead pods next week instead of in December. The only way to eradicate it is to cut it all down and then spray weed killer on it as it grows in or just continually chop it down.
Aaack!
It really is funny how pica-pica strikes fear into the hearts of all Puerto Ricans. They make it seem like it’s going to kill you if you touch it, but according to other people it’s just itchy and annoying. I found some more info on Pica-pica, here:
“Mucuna pruriens (Pica-pica) is a climbing plant, with long, slender branches, alternate, lance-shaped leaves on hairy leafstalk, 6 to 12 inches (15 to 30 centimeters) long, with large, white flowers, growing in clusters of two or three, with a bluish-purple, butterfly-shaped group of petals. The pods (legumes) are hairy, thick, and leathery, averaging 4 inches (10 centimeters) long, and contain four to six seeds. The seeds are a rich dark brown color, thickly covered with stiff, stinging hairs which can cause mild skin irritation.
Contact with needle-like, stinging hairs on the seed-pods of this plant can release minute amounts of Dimethyltryptamine and other poisonous alkaloids which can cause SKIN IRRITATION AND SKIN RASH (DERMATITIS). DO NOT TOUCH OR EAT THE SEED-PODS OF THIS PLANT.”
[…] the inside of the house. As I’ve been watering, weeding and planting, (I’ll leave the pica pica to Stefan ;)…) I’ve been getting ideas for how we are going to lay out the garden(s) […]
Hello!
Welcome to PR!
This is my approach to pica-pica, very early morning while the foilage is still wet with dew and after dressing up with long sleeves and jeans boots the whole nine, I get a machete and chop @ it as close as possible
to the ground, being very careful as not to disturb or break an of the pods. As you go you roll the vines into manageable clumps trying to keep the pods on the inside of the roll, bag it “keep them ligh”t and place on the curb with your garbage hopefully Waste Management will pick it up and take it away.
Sorry you will always have to battle with pica-pica it is well spread, right now pods are almoat ready to open up and spread they’re stuff, I hope you guys already have it under control, burnig,spraying or allowing them to mature and spread is not wise or practical.
Good Luck with your new life in PR!
Alfie
Mayaguez,PR