I have been given some seedlings and wondered if it was a good idea to let get naturalized in the garden or, is it a plant, like acanthus, that is best eliminated if possible?
A strange gift. Nicandra is weedy and spreads quickly in warm climates. It is a common railway track weed in inner Auckland. If it were me I'd bin those seedlings
I planted it once because I was told it deterred white flies in the vege garden. It seemed to attract them (and in this way I guess saved more susceptible planst like my tomatoes!?) and yep it came up everywhere the next year. I just hand weeded them all out as it didn't go futher than the boundaries of my vege patch. But after a few years I can see how it might be out of hand. I don't think it's worth it if you want it for white flies anyhow, and it was very tall (c. 1.5-2m) - almost shaded out the tomatoes I wanted protected from white fly.
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