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Air potatoes reduced, but still a park nuisance
By JULIANNE WU, Times Staff Writer SEMINOLE -- Birds and animals won't eat them. And they increase and multiply faster than bunny rabbits. But, thanks to some judicious spraying and persistent pruning, Lake Seminole Park officials have taken a bite out of the air potato plants that have plagued the park for years. "The park is beginning to change," said Fred Stager, park supervisor. "It's hard to say exactly, but about 95 percent of the pesky plants are gone in some areas. However, it will take a long time to get rid of them completely. The vines and potatoes just keep coming back." Besides Lake Seminole Park, air potato plants are particularly bad at Anderson Park in Tarpon Springs and Sawgrass Lake and War Veterans parks in St. Petersburg, says Debbie Chayet, Pinellas County parks horticulturist. And, they aren't confined to county parks. For instance, the George McGough Nature Park at Largo Narrows, a Largo city park, has them, too. Stager and his staff have done everything to eradicate and stop the growth of the exotic plants that at one time covered about 100 acres of the 258-acre Lake Seminole Park. Since November 2000, through a state grant for $73,408, EnviroGlades Inc. of Loxahatchee has made two applications of an herbicide, Garlon 4. Because there is about $44,523 in grant money left from the Florida Department of Environmental Protection, the company will return to spray again in the spring, Stager said. Then, park officials will decide whether to apply for another grant. Outside of regular maintenance by the park staff, the process does not cost Pinellas taxpayers any additional money. The herbicide, which is mixed with a type of vegetable oil to ensure it sticks to the air potato plants, is applied to the roots and to the spuds on the ground, just as they are about to sprout. The growing season is from May or June through about October. "Thankfully, we have found that the herbicide does not kill the native plants," said Stager. Native plants in Lake Seminole Park include palms, oaks, pine trees and other types. "In fact, some other native plants have come back since the spraying," said Stager. He mentioned habenaria, which is a terrestrial orchid, and sundews. The air potatoes look like regular potatoes and their heart-shaped leaves and vines are pretty. But, they wreak havoc on other plants and trees. The vines, which grow about 8 inches a day and up to about 70 feet, produce 200 to 300 spuds per vine. They wrap themselves around trees and bushes, often choking the life out of them. As soon as the potatoes fall on the ground, they sprout. And the process starts all over again. "It all started in the mid 1980s, when we were trying to clear the area of another invasive plant, the Brazilian pepper," said Stager, 48. "Once we got rid of those plants, the air potato plants moved in. We've tried everything to get rid of them (the air potatoes) ... even seeing if pigs or goats would eat them. But, they won't touch them. No animal will." According to the University of Florida Center for Aquatic and Invasive Plants, the air potato is believed to have been introduced to Florida as a food plant about 1905. Today the potatoes are still cultivated for food in West Africa, but uncultivated forms such as those found in Florida are reported to be bitter and mostly poisonous. But, spraying is only half of the effort to rid the park of the pesky plants, Stager said. In addition to the park staff of 11, there are six regular volunteers who work several times a week and "Spud Busters" days where 20 or more volunteers are recruited to help pick up the potatoes from the ground. During the last Spud Busters day Feb. 2, Stager said, 482 pounds of potatoes were picked up by 22 volunteers. The next event will be in April. "I've been doing it for about 18 months, but sometimes it seems like a lifetime," said volunteer Jim Toler, 78, of Seminole, who wields a machete and picks up about 1,000 pounds of tubers and vines twice a week. "It's good exercise, though." In addition to the individual volunteers, court-ordered volunteers help pick up air potatoes as part of their community service, Stager said. And, at least one student, Allen Overby, son of park employee Roger Overby, picked up 427 pounds of potatoes recently as part of his community service requirement for a state Bright Futures scholarship. Allen Overby, 17, attends Lakewood High School in St. Petersburg. After the potatoes are weighed by park officials, they are carted off to a solid waste facility where they are incinerated. -- Information from Times files was used in this report. Looking for a project?Groups such as Boy Scouts, Girl Scouts, seniors and individuals can volunteer to pick up air potato plants in Lake Seminole Park. Contact Pinellas County Volunteer Services, 464-3945 or Fred Stager, 549-6156.
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From the Times South Pinellas desks |
