Akk! It's everywhere! Help!

Discussion in 'Garden Pest Management and Identification' started by wonderthumb, Apr 20, 2008.

  1. wonderthumb

    wonderthumb Member

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    Bay Area, California USA
    This is my first post, I'm sort of desperate.
    I have a baby who is a year and a half and I'm afraid that he will eat one of the prickly seed "apples" growing off this vine. They are everywhere!!!!!!! It has spread over my backyard like a winding mat. It swirled up my olive tree and in three months has completely blanketed it; I spend three hours today yarding the vines out of the tree. It doesn't attach to the tree, but just climbs. It has a delicate leaf that is very unlike Ivy. It is soft, and crushes easily. When the vine is severed the leaves wither rapidly within minutes. If you take a prickly seed pod in your hand it is the size of a small orange, if you step on it it bursts open with a damp puff of air. The "juice" inside the chamber has a peculiar odor and is really memorable. Each pod has several seeds the size of a quarter but bean shaped and hard.
    Is it dangerous? What is it? Why does it grow so fast? How do I get rid of it?
    I apologize for linking to photobucket, but I am pretty lame with computers....
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  2. KarinL

    KarinL Well-Known Member 10 Years

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    I don't know the plant but was curious, so typed a few key words into Google and eventually came up with cucumber vine. I wonder if that's it:
    http://www.extension.umn.edu/projects/yardandgarden/ygbriefs/h524cuke-wild-bur.html
    That link came from this old Gardenweb thread, where some people seem to grow in on purpose!
    http://forums.gardenweb.com/forums/load/north/msg0215484320789.html

    Sounds like to get rid of it you should dig it up where it's growing, and carefully clear away all the seed pods. Then keep on top of pulling any seedlings that come up over the next year or two.

    Just what you need with a toddler - something else to stay on top of :-)
     
  3. wonderthumb

    wonderthumb Member

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    It really seems similar to what you linked to. However there are no flowers (yet), and the seed pods are circular and not oblong. It must be some sort of cucumber weed though, because now that you mention it, that is the weird smell emanating from the pod.

    Does anyone want some seeds from it?
     

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