Weed of the month: Tropical Soda Apple

Published on 19 October 2023

Description

The Upper Macleay has the unfortunate honour of being the first identified Australian site for the noxious plant pest, Tropical Soda Apple. Later investigations found infestations at Wingham, Grafton, Bellingen, Coffs Harbour, Bonalbo, Casino, Murwillumbah and Wauchope.

Discovered in Australia in 2010, Tropical Soda Apple is a native of Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay and Uruguay, but over the past 40 years has spread into the US, Africa, India, Nepal, West Indies and Mexico.

The weed is an aggressively invasive, prickly, thicket forming perennial shrub 1–2 m high. Its foliage is inedible to cattle, but they like to eat the fruit, which helps to spread the seed.

This agricultural pest forms thorny thickets so dense that animals are unable to access shade and water and can form a hectare sized thicket in six months.

Herbicides kill the plants, but do not kill the seeds inside the fruit. In the USA, this plant infested over half a million hectares in 5 years. In NSW it is critical to achieve site-based eradication of this plant before it becomes widespread.

Control

If you find tropical soda apple, contact your local council weeds officer as soon as possible for advice and assistance to eradicate it from your property.

To tackle tropical soda apple:

• seek advice on the control of mature plants as soon as you become aware of them
• check stock quarantine areas for new seedlings emerging from dung 1 to 2 weeks after the quarantine, and kill any seedlings
• check for new plants in spring and summer
• kill plants before they are 2 months old to prevent fruit and seed set
• collect and dispose of fruit to reduce seedling numbers

• Remove/destroy all fruit to reduce seedling numbers and prevent animals feeding on them.

Prevention

• Hold new stock for at least six days in a paddock that can be inspected for weeds
• Hold stock in a paddock free of the tropical soda apple for at least 6 days before selling before sale or movement
• Check your property often, particularly in prime growth months of Spring and Summer.

For more information on what weeds to watch out for in the Kempsey Shire visit our website

For more information, visit the DPI Information page on Tropical Soda Apple  

If you see this plant, call Council on 6566 3200 or the NSW Department of Primary Industries Biosecurity Helpline on 1800 680 244.