Report on controling problem plants.

Ink-berry (Cestrum leavigatum) is a problem plant on Sondela.The reason for this being that it is poisonous to animals and Sondela has lost cattle due to the consumption of ink-berry.
In 2010 around the month of June the previous first year students treated ink-berry in two areas separated by a dirt road. These areas are the donkey pen and the dienspad turn. They treated the donkey pen by using the cut and dab method with Round-up and they also used the spray bottles. On the turn they also used these two methods but with a different chemical, a chemical called Chopper. These two chemicals were diluted 2.5%.

When observing these two areas a year later we saw that the treatment in the donkey pen was highly effective and the Chopper treated area was not effective at all. By assessing the outcome we decided on only using Round-up in the follow up treatment. This will be diluted 3%.
We are treating the chopper treated area and we will be using the cut and dab method as well as the spray bottles. We divided the area in three sections. One section for cut and dab, one for the spray bottles and the third will not be treated at all and used as a control to see if the methods we used worked and if so witch worked the best. Cut and dab is called an integrated method because it combines chemical with physical/ mechanical. Using the spray bottles you are only applying chemical control, and you have to make sure the plant is covered 70%.

We are a big group and we work all over the area so we added a blue colorant where they used red last year, to control witch plants we already treated. The advantages to using the cut and dab is that it is applied specifically and specific amounts of Round-up is used. The cut of ink-berry can also be used for compost. There is one disadvantage and that is that it takes a lot of time to work so specifically. Using the spray bottles it applies faster but the disadvantages are that the plant is still available for the animal to eat, more Round-up is used and the risk of it landing in the wrong places because of winds is very big.

These methods were applied safely by wearing the correct safety wear. There were no goggles or masks available but we did wear gloves and closed shoes with covered bodies. The equipment we used were as follows: gardening shears, pangas, spray bottles, old sponge, sticks, binding wire and pliers. These items will be cleaned after usage and put away in a safe place for further use.

A map will be printed of Sondela where the treated area will then be marked with the date and what has been done there to keep record of treatments and follow up treatments. This map will be kept in a safe place that can be accessed when needed.
In future we will then monitor the area to observe the effectiveness of our treatment. The condition or progression will then be evaluated and another treatment will then take place if needed. All findings and observations will be kept on record.