Biological information:

• Common name: Curly Dock
• Scientific name: Rumex crispus (acid, curled)
• Family or class: Polygonaceae

Symptoms and or signs to watch out for:

• green leaves early in the spring, tinged with red
• distinctive waved or curled edges
• favors wet/overwatered/poorly-drained soil
• can be toxic to livestock (humans can eat it)

Life cycle:

• perennial flowering plant (buckwheat family)

Mode of reproduction:

• seeds or sprouts (taproot)
• seeds can survive 50+ years

Vectors for the pest:

• yes (caterpillar–eats foliage)

Overwintering habit:

• fruiting stems die in late summer, new leaves form in early winter

Alternate hosts:

• water, wind, animal fur, humans
• rust fungus, leaf spot fungus

Horticultural production information:

Preventative strategies:

• tilling
• improve soil drainage

Threshold levels:

• varies depending on if it is hosting pests, if it is directly in bed/on side, etc.

Control options:

Physical controls:

• mowing
• tilling
• dig out using spade/digging fork (at least 2 inches below the soil surface)

                             -animal grazing

Biological controls:

• none

Chemical controls:

• herbicides (clove oil, acetic/citric acid)

 

Historical notes from Farm to YoU NH:

Date/circumstances observed (Pictures)

Control method used, efficacy of control method

• manual removal (broadfork, by hand)
• works effectively on small scale

 

References:

http://www.cabi.org/isc/datasheet/48059

http://extension.usu.edu/rangeplants/htm/curly-dock

http://ext100.wsu.edu/whitman/2013/10/30/curly-dock/