Dealing with jimson weed

[manitobagardener]

Hello! I'm not sure if this is where I can put this as I didn't see a section for weeds, so please move if this isn't the right place!

This is my first post on this forum and I'm hoping someone out there can help me! I moved into my current house with my husband 2 years ago and was blessed with a huge garden! I was very excited. When we moved in in September, we noticed these plants growing that, with some research, I eventually figured out to be jimson weed. During this research, I discovered these plants to be very poisonous and I'd love to get rid of them (although with 2 years trying, thy still grow!). What I've done the past 2 years is pick them as they sprout, but because each pod can seed up to 100 seeds, you can imagine being in the hot sun picking tiny seedlings is not my idea of fun gardening.

I guess my questions are:

1. As we suspect they acted as pest control for the previous garden owner, will leaving jimson weed in the garden harm my other plants or can it make the vegetables toxic as well?
2. When can/do I have to remove the plants? Should I continue as I've done in the past by pulling them up as soon as they sprout from the ground, or can I wait until their flowers/pods appear (but obviously haven't cracked open yet) and then pick them then?

Any advice you have for me will be greatly appreciated. Thank you in advance!

 

[Chuck]

Jimson weed is one of the most dangerous plants there is. It is all over Texas and ranchers have been fighting it forever. My generation used the stuff as a hallucinogenic and it resulted in a few deaths. It is not an animal deterrent. Domesticated animals will eat it, wild animals won't. All parts of the plant are dangerous. It is very difficult to get rid of. It doesn't come back from the roots. It comes back from seeds and the seeds are viable for many decades. So even if you pull the plant up there are still seeds in the soil. This is why ranchers have been fighting it so long. Roundup will kill the plant after multiple applications. 2-4-D works better than anything but it lasts a while in the soil. Most people around here just use a machete everytime it comes back.

 

[Marck]

Greetings, welcome to the Forums.

Jimsonweed (Datura stramonium) is one of numerous Thorn-apples (Datura spp.) native to warmer regions of the New World. The plants are indeed toxic but rarely consumed, except by livestock with no other forage, ...and also intentionally by humans, for various drug and ritual purposes. Whether such individuals are knowledgeable or foolish is one of many debates about this plant.
If asked, I would not recommend its consumption, only its admiration.

In my own garden I attempt to cultivate various species, such as the native Datura wrightii, both for the strikingly beautiful flowers and fruit and to encourage the presence of equally spectacular Sphinx Moths, which are the plant's main pollinator.

Clearly the OP seems overwhelmed by the fecundity of Datura and unappreciative of its charm. Still, I think the exotic beauty of the plant can easily earn it a place in a garden devoted to either aesthetic beauty or botanical curiosity, if not indeed both.