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Seeking Tips for Reducing Presence of Perilla or Beefsteak Mint

 
Posts: 56
Location: North-facing Hillside in Missouri Ozarks, 6b, 45" avg. precip.
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I have quite a few areas in my woodlands where perilla grows in a long continuous line around 6ft/2m in width. This appears to be due to ground disturbance and potentially hitchhikers from heavy forestry machinery that operated here a few years back.

Let me say off the bat: i am intrigued by the possibility of putting perilla to work as a medicinal and food plant. However, i’m going to start removing it from places i don’t want it, and i’ll still have plenty left for a long time to come!

At this time of year the plants are dried-out. It appears their seeds have already fallen (see image). If i pull them up and use them in my compost, i shouldn’t have to worry about spreading the problem, right?

Could anyone say what would be the ideal time to pull up the next year’s crop to prevent them coming back? Would it be as soon as the new growth is high enough to pluck, in the spring? And the worst time would be late summer/fall when handling the plants and moving them would spread seeds?

So say i pick the right time of year – should i think of this as a good chop and drop opportunity? Does anyone know if there’d be the possibility of the seeds still germinating if i chop and dropped too late in the season? And given that this plant has such shallow roots and is so easy to pull up, would there be much of a drawback to doing pluck and drop instead of chop and drop? I guess i’d be disturbing the soil by pulling up a bit of it each time.

Finally, i’m pretty sure the answer is no, but figured i’d ask here – are those little green sprouts, which i saw around the roots of many of the plants i pulled up, are they germinated perilla seeds?
IMG_0305.jpg
Dried perilla, no seeds visible to me
Dried perilla, no seeds visible to me
IMG_0306.jpg
Root of perilla, could those be new emergent perilla?
Root of perilla, could those be new emergent perilla?
 
Posts: 93
Location: USDA Zone 6
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Liam Hession wrote:Finally, i’m pretty sure the answer is no, but figured i’d ask here – are those little green sprouts, which i saw around the roots of many of the plants i pulled up, are they germinated perilla seeds?



I think it is too soon to know for sure, but those cotyledons look generally similar to other Perilla frutescens cotyledons I have seen.
 
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Location: Due to winter mortality, I stubbornly state, zone 7a Tennessee
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You get a maybe from me too. But I'm in 7a and have no perilla sprouts yet. Henbit sprouts look kinda like that too. My henbit is in full bloom, though it is still sparse after our colder than usual winter killed most of them. I expect more to be sprouting soon. It does not generally grow in full shade hete.

As for chop and dropping Perilla, I wait till it gets 2 or 3 foot or so tall. Or when they get in the way. In my garden, they grow to near 4 foot tall before the flower stalks form. Adjust your chopping height to whatever is appropriate for your expected mature height.
 
Mark William
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I'm attaching an image of some of my green shiso perilla seedlings, coming up outdoors in USDA zone 6b, in plastic jugs. Mine still look a bit ambiguous too, but they're definitely perilla.
received_561688349247089.jpeg
green shiso perilla seedlings
 
gardener
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i let perilla run wild in my yard because we eat/make drinks with it and it's easy rabbit fodder that lasts all season (and often comes up in different waves through the season).
That said, it's a super seasonal plant (and I live in a place where seasons are not clear cut and are oscillating wildly, so I really appreciate this function!). When it gets the first flower spike buds I know the cold is coming.
As for the seeds- almost certainly the seeds fell out in the fall. I think you're safe chop/dropping because the seeds are already in the ground. I'd agree that those sprouts are probably them. I also agree about coming back when they're maybe two feet tall- I don't find they really put out seeds until fall comes- some occasional plants may make flowers early, but I don't see the seeds until they're drying right before fall. I think you'd be safe cutting them. You also may have them come up in waves, I know even when all the seeds come out at the same time in my wild garden, I do have different groups of them coming up. If you wait til they're big you can get some of the younger ones too.

As for chop-drop vs pull-drop: the plants will often sprout back from a cut stem if you leave the bottom "branches". If you pull them you'll disturb the ground- i think it's a 6/half-dozen sort of situation.
 
pollinator
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Location: Missouri Ozarks
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In my experience, perilla is easier to get under control than most other weeds. That is because it doesn't have any viable seed until the end of the season. In my experience, perilla rarely even shows a hint of flowering until after September 1st, and doesn't have viable seeds until late September. Since its an annual, keeping it from going to seed is all that's needed to reduce the population. If you chop the plants down once in early September when they have just started to flower, they will not have time to regrow and seed before the weather gets too cold. The density of plants in the area should be significantly less even the next year. Keep doing this for a few years and it will be virtually eliminated from the area, unless its an area that receives runoff water during heavy rains that bring seeds from another patch somewhere uphill (perilla patches are common in such areas).
 
Joylynn Hardesty
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Hmmm.... it seems I have not been paying as much attention as I'd thought. Look! First set of full leaves! Purple is the variety dominant in my garden.

20230307_131709.jpg
[Thumbnail for 20230307_131709.jpg]
 
pollinator
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I'd be cautious of using those in the compost. You could easily end up spreading the seeds to new areas and making a worse problem. Do you have chickens? If so just throw the whole plants in their run. They will pick out any seeds and eat them, or any shoots as they germinate.
 
Liam Hession
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Richard Kastanie wrote:In my experience, perilla is easier to get under control than most other weeds. That is because it doesn't have any viable seed until the end of the season. In my experience, perilla rarely even shows a hint of flowering until after September 1st, and doesn't have viable seeds until late September. Since its an annual, keeping it from going to seed is all that's needed to reduce the population. If you chop the plants down once in early September when they have just started to flower, they will not have time to regrow and seed before the weather gets too cold. The density of plants in the area should be significantly less even the next year. Keep doing this for a few years and it will be virtually eliminated from the area, unless its an area that receives runoff water during heavy rains that bring seeds from another patch somewhere uphill (perilla patches are common in such areas).



Want to say thank you to everyone for sharing your insights.
I think my fellow MOzarker (lol) Richard sums it up with the above. My takeaway is:

Wait until around September 1 to do chop and drop (over pull and drop). They’ll be plenty tall and with there being limited time until first frost, it’s unlikely many will resprout from their base and go to seed in time. I'll do mostly chop and drop to leave the plants to decompose in place, some will go to join compost pile(s). It doesn't seem like that transport should be a problem if they've not yet gone to seed. And unfortunately no, no chickens here yet Michael!

I won't stress about getting every last one, since a) why stress? b) there will still be fewer next year c) i do want the opportunity to learn to put this plant to use like Mark and Tereza do!
 
Liam Hession
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Joylynn Hardesty wrote:Hmmm.... it seems I have not been paying as much attention as I'd thought. Look! First set of full leaves! Purple is the variety dominant in my garden.



I really dig this picture Joylynn!
 
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I agree the best option is to chop or pull before it sets seed. Since it's an annual, it's probably got a pretty good seed bank going so it will probably persist a while, even if you were to get every single one there. I'll note that in maple-shaded woods in Missouri, I've seen absolutely tiny, light stressed individuals set flower and seed. I'm talking three inches tall. Good luck.
 
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