You can remove those parts of the plant to which it's attached. Then be ever alert about new seedling sprouting and repeating the parasite thing.

Clover and alfalfa is especially susceptible to dodder; also tomatoes and potatoes. Safflower is especially susceptible. If you have these in your area it becomes a repeating anomolie. Remove and destroy your infested plants! Do not compost them.
hortster

Whatever you do, don't let it go to seed. There are no truly effective herbicides that I'm aware of (unless you kill the host plant also) and when it is just a small patch, I will burn it to the ground with a propane torch, then check the area for any new plants for the next 20 years. It only spreads by seed, and is an annual unless your warm climate allows it to overwinter, but it is also a parasite and requires a living host to suck the life out of. So, if you do as hortster recommends, you can save your plants, just watch that area in the future because there may be more seeds and you will have future problems.

Okay, thanks. I've tried pulling it off of the infected plants and by the next week, it's covering them again. I've truly never seen anything like it. They say to remove and burn the plants and treat the soil with a pre-emergent, Dachtyl (I think that's the spelling). If I do that, how long should I wait to replant the area with new plants? It's a planter area by my pool and will not look too good, so I want to replant whenever it's safe.

As long as they are plants and not seeds, you can replant immediately after applying Dacthal (DCPA). It should help, but probably won't eliminate all of it. You'll also need to reapply it every year, or probably more often in your zone since your growing season is more than 4 months. Also, any dodder that has emerged from the ground won't be killed, all it will do is prevent dodder seed grom germinating and growing.

Dodder is highly susceptible to glyphosate (Round-up), so if you could treat the dodder without getting any on your good plants, that could help control emerged dodder. You could try putting on a rubber or plastic glove, then a cloth glove, then dip your fingers into some glyphosate and gently wipe the dodder tendrils/vines being very careful not to get any on your crotons or any other plant you don't want to kill. Even if the dodder has attached to the plant, it is pulling from the plant and not to it, so the glyphosate should not move into your crotons. However, consider treating a little to start and wait a week or 10 days to see the results before treating everything.

It may be better to get the concentrated glyphosate rather than the ready to use, then dilute it about 50%. You won't be treating the entire dodder plant, so to get the amount of glyphosate on it to kill the dodder, you may need to use a higher strength solution than the ready to use kind provides.

If it is a relatively small planter area, your best long term solution may be to remove and discard all the plants and soil, then replace with new.

Good luck

Mine has gotten in my ground cover Ivey...about a 20x30 area...suggestions?