Biological information:

• Common name: Hairy Vetch
• Scientific name:Vicia Villosa
• Family or class: Fabaceae

Symptoms and/or signs to watch out for:

• small slender green shoots that spiral and cling to other plants

Life cycle:

• Perennial
• establishes in fall
• grows through winter and spring
• flowers late summer through early fall

Mode of reproduction:

• taproot or rhizome
• Seed pods

Vectors for the pest:

• Aphids
• Armyworms
• Cutworms
• Weevil
• Slugs
• vetch bruchid

Overwintering habit:

• roots develop over winter for fast growth in spring

Horticultural production information:

Preventative strategies:

• Don’t plant it
• Proper mowing before flowering

Threshold levels:

• Very hardy

Control options:

Physical controls:

• Mowing
• ground cover (plastic)

Biological controls:

Chemical controls:

• Any common herbicides

 

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