How can a single plant grow up to a foot per day and what powers that kind of speed?

Phenomenon Description: Kudzu growing along the road
Location: Wake County
Grade Level or Course: Biology

Question: How can a single plant grow up to a foot per day and what powers that kind of speed?
Crosscutting Concepts: Cause and Effect: Mechanism & Exploration 
Provide other related questions you considered about the phenomenon:
What makes kudzu so unstoppable in the U.S., but not in its native environment?
Can kudzu actually strangle trees and how does it do that without moving?
Why can’t most native U.S. plants compete with kudzu’s growth?
How does kudzu affect soil chemistry and native ecosystems?
Can kudzu be turned into something useful—like medicine, biofuel, or food?
Could kudzu help with climate change by absorbing carbon—or would that cause more harm than good?
If kudzu can grow so quickly in the South, what stops it from taking over the entire country?
Science Domain: Life Science   
NC Standard:
LS.Bio.5 Understand ecosystem dynamics, functioning, and resilience. 
NC Objective:
LS.Bio.5.2 Engage in argument from evidence to evaluate various solutions to reduce the impact of human activities on biodiversity and ecosystem health.