Kochia (Fireweed)
 Family Chenopodiaceae
Kochia scoparia
Designation/Status
Arizona Noxious Weed List -
Not Listed
Federal Noxious Weed List – Not Listed
Origins
Kochia is a native of regions
through out Asia.
Plant
Characteristics
Life Cycle: Summer annual,
Flowers and produces seeds July to October. Produces up to 14,000
seeds per year of which are normally viable for 1 to 2 years.
Disperses seeds by breaking away from root and
tumbling.
Visual Appearance: Many
branched stems, round, slender, soft-hairy red-tinged leaves (when
mature), normally branched from the base with a taproot. Mature
plant is 2 - 8 feet tall.
Habitat
Kochia is present in Elevations up to 8,500 feet. It prefers
disturbed areas such as cultivated fields, gardens, roadsides,
ditch banks and waste areas. Saline soils, southern desert,
coastal growing areas, but will also thrive in sandy and alkaline
soils. Cold hardy and can survive with as little as 6 inches of
rainfall.
Control
Measures
Mechanical and Cultural:
Shallow early tillage in the
growing season will force seeds to sprout or decay. Blanching of
weed tissue without allowing the fire point to be reached, can
control after two applications.
Biological: None
Chemical: Gramoxone
Extra, Glyphosate, and Dicamba have all had favorable results.
Other Points of Interest
It escaped from cultivation for
livestock feed. It has shown resistance to herbicides such as
acetolactase synthase (ALS) and triazine.
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