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Wednesday 9 November 2011

Deadly Dodder

It seems as if my subject matter is heading towards the dark side lately - Poisonous Cycads, and now Creepy Dodder. I promise, its purely circumstantial and no substantive change in direction…

After not having seen any Dodder (Cuscuta sp.) for about 10 years, I've spotted 2 infestations in the last week in gardens that I've visited. If you don't know of Dodder's reputation, then its about time someone passed on its diabolical legend - its really the plant equivalent of a super-villain.
Cuscuta (Dodder)
Dodder is one of the only plants that don't have chlorophyll, and therefore cannot make food from sunlight. You would think this would put it at a disadvantage, but actually, this is where the story takes a bizarre twist into the horror-genre of the plant kingdom.

Dodder is a parasitic plant which feeds on its host plant by entwining its leaves and stem, and then producing haustoria - suckers which grow into the host and then literally suck the life from its limbs. If this isn't scary enough, it also has the ability to grow from even the tiniest fragment towards its next unwitting victim. It doesn't even need to have the apparent crutch of a root system to hold it back.

It appears to have the ability to 'smell' its next victim and grow towards it - with plants surviving about 5-10 days without a host. It also spreads by seed - tiny little pea-sized seeds which germinate very easily.

All these aspects of its incredible design is also what makes it so tough to get rid of. Here are a few simple steps to rid yourself of Dodder:
  1. Try to catch it early, the more there is of it, the harder it is to remove.
  2. Catch it before it seeds itself - as the seeds can lie dormant for quite a while before sprouting.
  3. It is best to place a piece of plastic as close as possible to where you are working to catch all the pieces of the plant that might fall onto the ground.
  4. Cut back the host plant well below where the dodder attaches itself, because the plant can regrow from its Haustoria.
  5. Ensure that you try to get rid of as much as possible without dropping any pieces.
  6. Burn all the traces of the plant, and don't try to make compost from it!
  7. Follow up - keep looking for traces of it (Go back to Step #1)

5 comments:

garden girl in SA said...

As I started reading I thought I had found the perfect solution to getting rid of my Brazilian Pepper, but as I read further I decided it wasn't worth the risk! This sounds like a real menace - so glad I don't have any in my garden.

stoneware70 said...

Well GG, I've seen pictures of Dodder completely covering an Acacia - so maybe its not unlikely...pity it is so rampant though;-)

stoneware70 said...

What do you know - I spotted my third sighting in a week at least 50km away from the other 2 gardens. I hope this isn't a sign of things to come...

Kaveh said...

Dodder is just an absolute drag. I had it in my old garden and it is almost impossible to get rid of once it establishes itself.

stoneware70 said...

I hope you didn't have to move to rid yourself of it;-)

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