Parasitic plant · Alfalfa and tomato
Dodder: remove the patches while they are small
Cuscuta campestris and Cuscuta epithymum
With every cut that goes by, the circle gets bigger. We fly the lucerne (alfalfa) and tell you where each patch is, so you can cut it out and take it away before it sets seed.
We have not flown this problem ourselves yet. We work it out with you, on your field.
The problem
A yellow circle that keeps growing
Dodder is a parasitic plant: it has almost no leaves, only tiny scales, and lives off the lucerne. You see yellow or reddish threads wound around the stems, and around them a circle of yellowish, thin lucerne that gets wider all the time.
It spreads by seed: seed mixed in with the sowing seed, seed stuck to machinery, or seed carried in forage or manure. That is why a patch that is not removed quickly ends up in other fields.
How it works
One flight before every cut
1
We fly before the cut
Before each cut, when the circles can already be told apart from above.
2
We send you the map
Each patch with its position and size, including small ones in the middle of the field.
3
You remove the patch
That patch is cut and taken away before you mow the rest, and the mower is cleaned on the way out.
Where it shows up
Also in tomato
- Alfalfa
- Tomato for processing
In tomato, the orange of the dodder stands out from the air in summer. Marking the patch early lets you pull it out before it sets seed.
What farmers ask us
Dodder: your field questions
How did it get into my field?
Mostly through seed: in the sowing seed, in manure, or stuck to a machine that came from a field with dodder.
Why is there such a hurry?
Because every patch that reaches seed leaves a store of seed in the soil for many years, and forage and machinery carry it to other places.
Which product should I use?
It depends on the crop, and what is authorised changes from year to year. Before you spray, check in your country’s official pesticide register that the product is approved for your crop (in the UK, the HSE register of authorised products; in the US, the label registered with the EPA and your state), or ask us. We do not recommend products.
Know someone this would help?
Send them this page. If they have dodder in their fields, you save them some searching.