Help! I have gotten some strange invasive plant thing in my garden. It started on my basil and has spread to other plants. It is characterized by sticky yellow tendrils that attach themselves to the branches of my plants and seem to live off the juices of my pepper and basil. I could not find roots anywhere. Any ideas of what this 'thing' is and how to get rid of it???

I have pictures I can email if that would help to identify it.

I love a challange. e-mail the pics to:
charleneclinger@hotmail.com

I'll do my best to help you out. Also, I need to know where you are geographically. That will help in narrowing down the identification.
Charlene

Post the answer when you discover what they are - I'd like to know what you find!

Charlene-
thanks for taking a look at the pictures. I have forwarded them to your email.
Located in Zone 6 in eastern Massachusetts.
Looking forward to hearing ANY ideas of what this is.
Lisa

Ooops. Looks like the picture is too big for your hotmail account. I have thrown together a web page with some photos: http://mysite.verizon.net/vze4m5j7/
Thanks!!!

That's dodder, a parasitic plant, also known as love vine, strangle weed, gold thread, devil's hair and hell-bind.They are related to morning glories and commonly attack clover, alfalfa and flax.The seeds of these plants are sometimes contaminated with dodder seeds. You must get rid of it before it sets seed,as it produces quite a lot, so pull it off or trim off the parts of plants it is attached to.

What part of eastern Mass? I'm in Randolph, south of Boston.

Abigail - thanks for that information. Strange that I would get it in my garden since I have not bought or received any alphalpha, clover, or flax seeds ever.

Kathy - I live in Belmont, close to Waltham. Gardening on a postage-sized lot but I have had excellent luck with tomatos, cucumbers, and peppers. Although this spring I had to re-seed everything because all my seeds were washed out. Let me know if you are ever up this way and I would love to get together with a fellow organic gardener. DH works in Norwood which I think is closer to your neck of the woods.

Thanks again!
Lisa

Yes, Norwood is nearby. I think Snappy lives up in your area. Foxglove is from the Framingham area I think. We should probably all get together sometime. I'll definitely let you know if I'm up that way.

OK - I have never seen this stuff before EVER. Weird looking to say the least. BUT, when searched my reference material specifically for "dodder", it seems to look like the pics you sent. Quite the pain in the gardeners hiney this stuff is, but on the UP side (yea, there is a up side) it seems to have many medicial qualities as well, including liver, gall bladder, and urinary tract. Bonanical.com had a very interesting write up on it. The common consensus for irradicating it was to pull it up host plant and all and dispose of it. The seeds can stay dormant in the soil for years, so catching it before it goes to seed sounds like a must. Sorry I couldn't be of more help to you, but I sure did learn a lot!
Charlene

Hey, really cool pictures of the dodder. I've only ever seen the stuff growing once, though mine wasn't that brightly colored. I also had no idea where the seed came from. Even though it is a weed that needs to be gotten rid of, it is very interesting to watch it grow.