Making rubber from dandelions 1

[ornerynorsk]

"bred the plants to grow to up to a foot (30 cm) in height"

Yawn. Anyone else here from the Midwest US? Dandelions over a foot in height with a taproot 1-1/2 times that is the norm, rather than the exception. You may have to go outside of the tightly controlled environment of the pristine suburban lawn to find them, but they're everywhere. Meadows, river banks, roadside ditches, anywhere that is not sprayed.

As long as we're going to do GMO voodoo on them, let's request the blossom be replaced by an orchid-like flower, maybe bear some variety of delicious fruit or nut, and emit Chanel No. 5 when picked.

It is better to have enough ideas for some of them to be wrong, than to be always right by having no ideas at all.

 

[1gibson]

Something tells me that if you plant a field full of GMO super dandelions, you'll have a hard time getting rid of them.

 

[cranky108]

If we do go with GMO, we might want to think about making them seedless.

It is true that dandelions do grow over a foot tall in the midwest US (or what I call the midwest), but we do have to understand they are not native to the US, and have very few natural controls. So it should go without saying that a roundup proof dandelion would be a concern to other farmers who use roundup to kill dandelions.

I always hated having these and other weeds shorting out the electric fence when I was growing up. And the cows would not eat them.

Which brings up the question of how to dig up the tap root? I would assume something simular to potatoes.

 

[ornerynorsk]

We grow a lot of sugar beets and potatoes here, too. A beet lifter would work extremely well, or some modification thereof. They are naturally some hardy devils, seems like common sense to find a practical use for them. Soil quality is a non-issue, they seem to grow better the poorer the soil is.

It is better to have enough ideas for some of them to be wrong, than to be always right by having no ideas at all.

 

[moltenmetal]

Ornerynorsk, your suggestion reminds me of the creation (off license) that got the Time Bandits sacked. They were assigned undergrowth, shrubbery etc., but one of them made a tree, 500 feet tall, bright pink and which smelled awful. The Supreme Being sent them packing, which us what we should do with anybody who wants to make super dandelions....

 

[ornerynorsk]

molten, agreed. My previous post was a bit tongue-in-cheek.

It is better to have enough ideas for some of them to be wrong, than to be always right by having no ideas at all.

 

[TomDOT]

Instead of digging up the tap roots, might just collect the tops and let the leaves resprout. Should take less energy and speed up harvests. Might manage a monthly harvest, with no replanting.

 

[cranky108]

I can see a need to study the best heigth in which to cut the weeds. Harvesting should be easy, just add the bagger on your lawn tractor.

Then maybe a press to extract the liquids?

 

[1gibson]

I assumed the useable stuff comes from the root (admittedly did not read the article until now, which confirms this.)

 

[KENAT]

As a kid we used to goof around with the 'milk' from the flower stem which I'd guess is the same stuff they're interested in in the root.

YOu'd hope they'd have considered whether harvesting this was an option, my guess is not as beneficial as the root but who knows.

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[TomDOT]

The leaves, stems and flowers have quite a bit of latex.

*shrug* If they want to deal with more expensive machinery, slower growing cycles and more contamination (dirt) - go with roots too.

 

[cranky108]

I agree that working in air is much easer than digging in dirt.

I really think there should be more interest in dandelions because they grow in more places than rubber trees do. But where the rubber trees grow the labor should be cheeper. The only thing that can bring down the cost of rubber production is machines.

If free trade remains like it is, than dandelions probally won't mature as a crop. However if free trade, or even wars, than it might become worthwhile.

 

[ornerynorsk]

We've already had (at least) one war over rubber trees, I'd hate to see one over dandelions.

It is better to have enough ideas for some of them to be wrong, than to be always right by having no ideas at all.

 

[1gibson]

It may not make economic sense now, but the process needs to be developed. If demand (even short term, or local) outgrows supply for whatever reason, the immediate availability (compared to planting more rubber trees) of the crop should make it commercially viable.

 

[urgross]

If this were discovered earlier, we could have lived with one less really bad Frank Sinatra song.