Kudzu, originally native to Japan, is known as "the vine that ate the South." The federal government began paying farmers $8 an acre in the 1930s to plant it across the south because it was touted to revitalize the soil. It actually worked, but ultimately kudzu grew out of control, spreading nearly a foot a day and rooting wherever it touched. Along with its super-high growth rate, it had no natural enemies in the region. The government only stopped paying farmers to grow kudzu in 1953 and the Department of Agriculture finally declared it to be a weed in 1970.
It was a decades-old risky experiment in land management. The so-called miracle vine was introduced to restore nitrogen to Southern soil that had been stripped of it over time. Ninety years later, kudzu is still a big problem. It is still most widespread in the South, but it has reached a total of 32 states, showing up everywhere from Florida to Washington state to Massachusetts.
These days, kudzu is even a bigger problem. When the vines tangle themselves onto the crowns of trees and dry out in the winter, they can become what is known as a ladder fuel. One spark near the ground can easily ignite the vines and the flames climb to the tops of trees. This has been happening in places like South Carolina where, in March 2025, a spark on a patch of kudzu unleashed a 600-acre forest fire.
There are people dedicated to combatting Kudzu - they are known as Kudzu Warriors - who work tirelessly removing as much of the fast-growing plant wherever they can. However, experts say that we will never be rid of Kudzu on a regional scale.
