Update: 416 pots filled with soil, infested by Striga gesnerioides seeds and sown with 104 cowpea accessions in 4 replicates✅
Good work @SansaOlakunle ! In a few weeks we can start the screening for Striga-resistance.
#ParasiticPlants @NRInstitute @IITA_CGIAR @commschols

After weighing 420 seed batches, today starts phase-2 of @commschols PhD-student @SansaOlakunle's work on Striga gesnerioides-resistance screening of cowpea accessions: mixing soil with Striga seed & putting it into pots ... @NRInstitute (@IITA_CGIAR/@unaabweb) #ParasiticPlants
Parasitic plant alert: forbidden spaghetti edition

Common, or swamp dodder (Cuscuta gronovii)
These parasitic plants are non-photosynthetic and obtain all water and nutrition through haustoria - root-like structures that tap into other plants. Here, parasitizing spotted touch-me-not (Impatiens capensis), aka orange jewelweed