Author Topic: Alt. Florida Lawn Coverings ex. Mimosa strigillosa  (Read 2158 times)

palmcity

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Alt. Florida Lawn Coverings ex. Mimosa strigillosa
« on: November 06, 2019, 08:28:52 PM »
Pineislander brought up this subject in a different thread::: http://tropicalfruitforum.com/index.php?topic=35400.0    "Not many usable legumes grow under the drip zone of a 12 ft tree, they may put down roots but will head outward to sun. In Florida the best lawn alternative I found was Mimosa strigillosa. If you want info just PM me I am close to 2 acres lawn free and working towards selling the mower when I get all 4 acres done."

Well, I'm all for no more mowing so please pictures, explain more, any other people doing this, & where is a good price for seeds etc.???

 https://plants.usda.gov/plantguide/pdf/pg_mist2.pdf   
Is saying mowing/herbicides is still needed " Powderpuff is not an overly aggressive plant and
other plants will eventually come into the stand.
Unwanted plants can be controlled by mowing or use
of an herbicide wick. Glyphosate can be applied to
treat cool season weeds after powderpuff goes
dormant in the fall; however, care should be taken as
powderpuff may not become dormant in the most
southern portions of its range."

You said you will sell your mower... are you sure???   Just reading...






SeaWalnut

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Re: Alt. Florida Lawn Coverings ex. Mimosa strigillosa
« Reply #1 on: November 06, 2019, 10:04:56 PM »
Pineislander made me to google this plant and i wanted to buy it( seeds) but couldnt find any on ebay.
Its for the bees that i would like to plant it.

sahai1

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Re: Alt. Florida Lawn Coverings ex. Mimosa strigillosa
« Reply #2 on: November 06, 2019, 10:52:01 PM »
said this variety thornless, I would not plant it, might be impossible to get rid of later, too many scarred fingers from dealing with the thorned kind.

pineislander

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Re: Alt. Florida Lawn Coverings ex. Mimosa strigillosa
« Reply #3 on: November 06, 2019, 10:54:02 PM »
It makes negligible seeds, very few and mainly empty pods which could only hold 1-2 seeds. It is possible to root cuttings if they have some roots. It isn't aggressive enough to hold it's own with annual weeds or perennial grasses. I had to eliminate those and mulch heavily then plant well rooted plants on 4 ft. spacing.during the rainy season.

I did dig some plants at a friend's house and got them to root, but I also bought 200 rooted plugs in 2" cells and put them into 1 gallon pots. The best way to propagate is by leading the runners from established pots into fresh soil filled pots.
Once I had a long line of established pots I could cut the network of post loose and keep adding fresh pots on either side of the line every month once they had roots down to the bottom of the pots. That way the multiplication became exponential and eventually I had 1400 pots full. Planting was simple I used a two-handed hand post hole digger and dropped the pots in and watered once.

Occasionally I pass through the area and hand pull scattered weeds to prevent them from beginning to run or set seed.
This plant is very tough and the only thing which seems to slow it down is shade and standing water for too long. It won't grow into deep shade or thrive there. During a time of heavy rain when some areas got flooded it seemed to lose some of the leaflets but once the area dried up it came back better than before.

This was the propagation area:

This is showing how I led runners from pot to pot. They root at every node even just laying on soil but it was better to dip the runner into soil leaving the tip exposed. When actively growing they send multiple runners out of each pot so you can easily put fresh pots on either side of an established pot. Now that I have established ground cover I can root directly out in the field.



This video doesn't focus on the strigillosa but you can see it has climbed up and into the pineapple bed. I had established some perennial peanut there but the mimosa is outcompeting it.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y20U4UJFV-U
factsheet:
http://blogs.ifas.ufl.edu/nassauco/files/2017/05/Mimosa.pdf

pineislander

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Re: Alt. Florida Lawn Coverings ex. Mimosa strigillosa
« Reply #4 on: November 06, 2019, 10:55:08 PM »
The Florida native has no thorns whatsoever, can walk barefoot in it.

pineislander

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Re: Alt. Florida Lawn Coverings ex. Mimosa strigillosa
« Reply #5 on: November 06, 2019, 11:10:56 PM »
wholesale sources, you may need a business license to purchase from these vendors.
https://www.afnn.org/plants/detail/mimosa-strigillosa

eduardo_98

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Re: Alt. Florida Lawn Coverings ex. Mimosa strigillosa
« Reply #6 on: November 06, 2019, 11:49:06 PM »
Thanks for starting this topic, I’ve been waiting for something like this. For awhile now I’ve been looking into different ground covers but still have not found anything I like. The ground cover in this video however has sparked my interest and I have been trying to figure it out for some time now.
https://youtu.be/Fb67lz5fHVI
Can anyone help identify the ground cover that is seen throughout the video?

pineislander

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Re: Alt. Florida Lawn Coverings ex. Mimosa strigillosa
« Reply #7 on: November 07, 2019, 08:08:22 AM »
https://youtu.be/Fb67lz5fHVI
Can anyone help identify the ground cover that is seen throughout the video?
That is the perennial peanut, there are multiple varieties. One is stoloniferous and creeps on the surface, the other is rhizomatous and runs underground. The one in your video looks like the stoloniferous type which you can get seed for but very expensive. The rhizomatous type is used for hay and grows by cuttings. I have some of each and for me the stoniferous was more successful. The member here named shot graciously allowed me to get some of the rhizome type which established well on his place. For me, it spread much slower and has mostly been overcome.
Both of these benefitted by plenty of water and mulch. At shot's place mowing seems to have benfitted it into becoming dominant.
At one time there may have been sod for the peanut available just like grass sod. I don't know if it is still available. I have seen some around but I also heard the sod growers had problems growing it weed free. I expect they had gotten nutsedge in the field and if you are seeking a nice flat mat having green pom-poms of nutsedge sticking up defeats the purpose of a no-mow product.
I Costa Rica with adequate rain they take runners of the stoloniferous type, fold it over and stick in the ground. As seen at 27:00 in this video:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hM5WO5vW00A

SeaWalnut

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Re: Alt. Florida Lawn Coverings ex. Mimosa strigillosa
« Reply #8 on: November 07, 2019, 09:03:16 AM »
On Daves garden it said that Mimosa Strigillosa is hardy to zone 6 because it self seeds.
I dig all my land every year and then mow the weeds but im thinking to plant somme miscellanelous crops between the trees ,like this mimosa for bees ,Phacelia Tanacetifolia (this grows tall) and peanuts ( real peanuts to harvest,they also grow verry low but need loose soil).
At the entrance of my home ive planted an Albizzia Jullibrissin ,mimosa tree wich is verry similar looking to this groundcover and for sure il try the sunshine minosa also in the future.

pineislander

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Re: Alt. Florida Lawn Coverings ex. Mimosa strigillosa
« Reply #9 on: November 07, 2019, 06:04:04 PM »
Hardy only to zone 8a, damaged at 15F, does not produce much seed at all.
Here is an example of the stoloniferous perennial peanut 'Golden Glory' variety under avocado trees. It was established from seedlings transplanted in pots. It struggled for a while but this plant can be rejuvenated by throwing mulch over it while actively growing. I did this a couple of times leaving just a little green showing through. It is on a pretty high mound in very sandy soil with low water retention and probably wouldn't make it without irrigation in the dry season. When I get the material I plan to lay down logs over the bed leaving some gaps. I expect this to act like a mulch.


Here is a closeup you can see some of the 'pegs' that extend down after flowering, the pegs run down into soil and make a very few superficial seeds.
 

This shows the rhizomatous form of perennial peanut. I dug out and planted rooted divisions two years ago, it didn't compete well with weeds but after mulching some of it has come through. It hasn't competed well with the Mimosa you can spot it in the center of the photo.

Another clump:



« Last Edit: November 07, 2019, 06:25:59 PM by pineislander »

Tropheus76

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Re: Alt. Florida Lawn Coverings ex. Mimosa strigillosa
« Reply #10 on: November 08, 2019, 08:57:06 AM »
I grow it in the "butterfly garden" area of my yard, about a quarter acre. It has spread throughout the area among my trees and flowering bushes. It isn't a real ground cover as the grass and weeds grow through it no problem. It is neat to see in the morning with all the pink pom poms poking up and various bees visiting them. Gets mowed every weekend. All started from I think 4 small pots 3 years ago. I am in 9b

Triphal

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Re: Alt. Florida Lawn Coverings ex. Mimosa strigillosa
« Reply #11 on: November 08, 2019, 01:26:11 PM »
said this variety thornless, I would not plant it, might be impossible to get rid of later, too many scarred fingers from dealing with the thorned kind.
In zone 13 tropical South Asia have been struggling for years to get rid of this weed from one of our  fruit garden. Would Sahai1 recommend how to get rid of it?

pineislander

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Re: Alt. Florida Lawn Coverings ex. Mimosa strigillosa
« Reply #12 on: November 08, 2019, 08:27:13 PM »
The thorny ground hugging mimosa Triphal mentions is most likely Mimosa pudica. Pudica is much more rapidly sensitive to touch than Mimosa strigillosa, which has no thorns. The strigillosa is sensitive, you can clearly see where you have walked through in about a minute and it does close in rain.
One thing both plants have in common is a sulferous stink when the roots are disturbed. I was at one time plagued by armadillos which burrowed around incessantly during the night searching for grubs and insects underground. I believe the mimosa puts out enough stink they aren't able to find prey with their sensitive noses, and never find they dig around where it grows.
As Tropheus76 said, unless you give it a good head start by eliminating all perennial weeds & grass and growing it over mulch it will require mowing or be overcome. If you give it a head start by ridding soil of weeds and mulching it can become a solid ground cover.

Triphal

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Re: Alt. Florida Lawn Coverings ex. Mimosa strigillosa
« Reply #13 on: November 09, 2019, 09:10:36 PM »
  Yes it is Mimosa pudica. Two varieties; one with and the other without thorns as far as I remember. We do not use chemical non organic weed killers. Tried twice carefully spraying diluted vinegar + water + soap combination. It withers,dries out and in couple months reemerges. Do not want too much acidity and ground PH alteration. Thanks. Triphal