Knotweed Hysteria

I think I have heard it all now. In response to the supposedly uncontrollable invasion of the plant Japanese Knotweed (Fallopia japonica), the so-called experts are now going to import its Japanese predator, the psyllid bug Alphalara itadori. This bug feeds voraciously on the knotweed plant and, according to the experts, doesn’t like any other plant. Well, years ago, they thought it would be a great idea to import some rabbits to Australia – and now they are an uncontrollable pest. They also thought it would be nice to import Mink into the UK, and now they reportedly eat Water Voles and expensive Koi Carp from peoples’ ponds. Some parakeets ‘escaped’ in the south of England, but ‘experts’ didn’t worry as they wouldn’t survive the cold UK winters. But, would you believe it? They ADAPTED – as nature does. And now these beautifully colourful birds are thriving in the wild, but also causing untold damage to ornamental trees! This new psyllid bug is nowhere near as pretty as the parakeets, but I’m sure it will be just as keen to survive, and when it runs out of Japanese Knotweed, it will be looking for something else similarly tasty to get stuck into. In Colorado, New Zealand and France (and probably other countries I haven’t noticed) there is another psyllid which is causing extensive and expensive damage to tomato and potato crops. This is the Bactericera cockerelei. It injects its toxic saliva into the leaves of the plant it is eating, thus killing it off. The plant appears to be dehydrated – drooping brown leaves. But close inspection to the underside of the leaves will reveal the culprits: beige, oval-shaped insects. They lay their eggs around the outer edges of the leaves. So far, there is no known cure, either natural or chemical.
But don’t worry – the experts will probably discover another predator to kill off the psyllid. They will import that, and in five years time, we’ll be facing all of this all over again.
Japanese knotweed is NOT uncontrollable. If it is in your lawn, regular mowing will eventually get rid of it. If it is in your flower bed, spray it regularly with glyphosate weedkiller. Or blast it with a gas flame-weeder. It is not the end of the world, but for some tomato and potato growers, the psyllid has caused untold ruin.