found these just below the surface of the forest floor behind my house. I snipped a nearby Cats Claw Vine. Are these the tubers of the invasive vine? They are monsters! Are they going to be hard to dig up?

I've only seen it at a neighbor's home, but that does look like the tubers from it. It is horribly invasive. I wouldn't recommend it to anyone to plant even though it can look nice.

Who would plant that stuff?! Ours all over the forest smothering trees. I maintain my part of the forest keeping then at bay. Is there a easy way to get rid of them. A squirt of RoundUp?

Oh Cheryl, I truly know the pain of dealing with this monster!
I'd like to see the vine attached to the tuber to be completely certain. In my area, the tubers tend to be more "reddish" in color.
I had posted a couple of pics of roots that we had dug out here... Cat's Claw Vine (Dolichandra unguis-cati)
Without seeing the vine itself, I'm not certain.

ShadyGreenThumb said:Who would plant that stuff?! Ours all over the forest smothering trees. I maintain my part of the forest keeping then at bay. Is there a easy way to get rid of them. A squirt of RoundUp?

There is no easy way to get rid of them! And you'd be surprised that there are people that 'want' to grow them!
I knew a woman on Daves garden that begged me for some! She lived in Pensacola, and wanted to grow them up a Sycamore tree! Crazy, crazy, crazy!!!!!

I do have a neighbor that uses a very toxic tree and shrub killer... I think he called it Brush Tox.
DH patrols our yard, and digs!

Reminds me of Saw Greenbrier (Smilax bona-nox) and they are impossible!!!

edited because I meant to say ... Impossible to control or get rid of. I always just cut them off as close to the ground as I can; and keep cutting ... and cutting ... and cutting. *sigh* They are horrible plants.

A few drops of Remedy mixed with diesel applied to the base of each vine ("basal treatment" on the label) will eventually kill it.

Got it! Does it have to be diesel? I have tons of gas left from Harvey/generator supply.

I think gas is considered a bit hazardous but I bet it would work.

Hazard Schmazard! Bahahaaa

My sentiments exactly.

Strike a match to it. That will take care of the hazardous part.

We once had an 80+ year old neighbor who poured gasoline on weedy plants and tree stumps to kill them; she said that she'd been doing it for many years and that it always worked. I've since learned that it's apparently a popular method of weed control for many people but I really dislike the idea of gasoline penetrating and contaminating the soil.

I am going to cut into the tuber and carefully pour gasoline into it. Then light the match. Bahahahahaa

Lin, people used to do that in days gone by. My dad saved all of his used oil to pour on weeds. They all died, and no one ever thought about what it was doing to the soil.

Off topic as the star of this story is methane gas not gasoline.

Once, many years ago, there was a giant explosion out by our very small local airport. Multiple people reported that a plane had crashed but nothing was confirmed and it quickly fell out of the news.

A month or so later, an elderly friend was telling me about how all her windows were shattered one night (right timing) and she was pretty sure her neighbor had done it. Her story was that this neighbor, when a cow died, threw it into a big pit. (It cost money to have them legally hauled away to the tallow company.)

Anyway, many cows later, this neighbor somehow sparked his dead cow pit full of rotting dead cows and methane gas. I wish I'd been there...

Smilax isn't all that big a problem. Dig with mattock, toss on brush pile. Burn whenever.
Don't use petroleum products as weed killers, one drop poisons like 15 gallons of well water, or something nuts like that.

You'll be happy to know I did not set the forest on fire today. I dug up a huge pile of cats. Well, they look more like cats than claws! Good Heavens! There were a lot! But yes, it was work but fairly easy to dig out with a shovel. Forest soil was light and fluffy.

Good job!

porkpal said:Good job!

good job indeed! Thank goodness you didn't have to encounter the awful "claws"!!