How to get rid of dodder parasite?

Do you live near cranberry bogs? The only time I have ever seen this around here was on commercial cranberry bogs. Near to us there is a University of Massachusetts Experimental Station which has a bog infested with this and is working on the problem.

If you live near a bog, maybe it came from there. Maybe you could talk to the folks at the bog and ask how they deal with it.

I do not hear from my brother that often, but I will try to find out what they do about it on his company's bogs.
Robin

 

My original post links to a site that says this parasite grows almost anywhere, not just in bogs. I had it growing in my petunia baskets and I'm assuming that a bird planted it there. Let me know if you find out anymore on this pesky plant.

 

Will do.
Robin

 

I'm finally back from vacation and starting to get back into the swing of things (and back at checking my favorite forums once again!) and I wanted to bump this up, as it was such a problem for me last year. So far, so good, and I hope that all of you can say the same.

Our trip to Germany and Scotland were wonderful (although very expensive with the value of the dollar being so low). It as our first time out of the U.S.
Now we're back home and ready for the 4th of July. My husband has a license to shoot off fireworks and our lake neighbors all pitch in for the show. Lots of family and friends and outdoor fun. Happy 4th everyone!!!

 

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/20 ... 094158.htm

This is a link to some studies done on dodder. Apparently the dodder smells the host. I'm wondering if it could be discouraged by spraying the host with dilute essential oils. Say .25% tea tree oil in water. Insects sure don't like that smell. Other oils that might work are rosemary, mint or a .25% in water mix of more than one (add a little dish soap and shake well.). I use this to keep insects off my garden plants. Don't spray in the middle of the day/sun. Spraying lightly in the evening seems to work best. I have been struggling with dodder on a beautiful orange tree. So far it is only on one branch and I keep removing it every few days. I'm going to try the essential oils on this branch. Since the Dodder doesn't go on the leaves I will paint the dilute oils on the branches and see if it helps.