Question

Grape vines and unknow   QUESTION: Hi, I just have a question about some grape vine cuttings I took this early spring (twigs with buds) of which several rooted. They are doing great, only ONE of them is not grape vine at all...

 I don't know what it is, so I just thought I'd take pics and come to this site to find out. Is this plant ok? Or is it like a weed and harmful to my grapes?

 I also found something interesting (and scary) looking on the back side of this unknown five petiole plant, and I took pictures of these opaque egg-like "droplets" that are scattered all over the stems and back side of leaves, one of which is zoomed in significantly.

 I first saw these droplets on this plant in its early stages (when it was only one-foot tall), and my first thought was that it was a type of pest egg, and truthfully the reason I didn't just get rid of that singular plant was because I realized if it was, then it's already gotten to my grape vines and I'd have to just do away with the entire pot. So I decided to wait it out and see if anything happened.

 Well, now, the plant is taller than my grape vines are, and has these things scattered all over it, but no sign of any hatchlings anywhere, and the grape vines dont have these egg-like ovules on them.

 Can you help me by telling me what this plant is, should I keep it or get rid of it, and what those droplets are? It may be helpful to let you know that this plant (you may be able to see this in the attached photos) also has some leaves near the base of the plant that have light brown spots on them.

 Thank you for your time and care!

ANSWER: Sophia,

Your strange vine is Virginia Creeper. The droplets are either condensation on the plant or plant sap. Most people can handle this plant with no problem but some are highly sensitive to it's sap. It turns a beautiful red color in the fall. It is native to the eastern half of the US and Canada. It does have berries in the fall that should not be eaten because they contain a poison oxalic acid. I suggest that you read the following 3 websites before deciding what to do with it.

http://davesgarden.com/guides/pf/go/1695/

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Parthenocissus_quinquefolia

http://plants.usda.gov/plantguide/pdf/pg_paqu2.pdf

Good luck.

Darlene

---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------

QUESTION: Thank you for those very informative links you provided for me! So do you think it's best if I remove it? Because I plan to use the grape vine leaves for wraps to eat. Thanks!

Answer
Sophia,

Unless you want to plant it on the side of a barn or at the base of a tree then I would get rid of it. You definitely do not want to eat those leaves. They are poisonous but not so much they would kill someone from eating 1 or 2, just make them terribly sick.  Good luck with the grape vines.

Darlene