HELP... veg,weed or flower?????

[lynda66]

i'm certain its cucumber

nope, nothings been in there, it's been under plastic sheet, then net, but if they are all weeds, then it kinda explains why everythings not in neat rows lol .... i planted the seeds then covered with a bag of compost, and theres only this bed, where these weeds are growing, so actually it's probably not messed up at all, i just don't have any veg in neat rows

good job i planted things elsewhere innit

[Nicos]

When we changed allotment site a few years ago, we had many similar weeds to the previous site, but plenty of different ones.
We had a nosy at the other plots on the new site to see what weeds were growing where- just for an idea.
It still didn't stop me from weeding out the rudbeckia and leaving one variety of weed!!

I learned from this not to sprinkle seeds in situ ( except for lambs lettuce) but to sow at home and transplant seedlings. MUCH easier to keep weeded!!

[Flummery]

Now I wouldn't call that white-splashed lamium (dead-nettle) a weed. I'm always prepared to give the decorative stuff house-room. One man's weed is another man's biodiversity!

[Wren]

I agree, 3 looks like a brassica .

[Flummery]

Nah, fat hen. You can actually eat it. I think you have to be a bit starving though. And collect a mountain of it.

[zanussi101]

This is a really good site for identifying weeds when they're seedlings (and further down the line if you're like me and don't like to pull anything up! ) Weed Seedlings for recognition

[SlugLobber]

Number 2 is definitely cucumber. I have plants at exactly the same stage. Numbers5 and 8 looked like weeds.

Number 9 is Ragwort!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Pull the b@stard!

[lynda66]

I learned from this not to sprinkle seeds in situ ( except for lambs lettuce) but to sow at home and transplant seedlings. MUCH easier to keep weeded!!

yeah, the veg growing was a random decision, after finding half price seeds in poundstretcher, i dashed home, and planted them all .... and waited ages for anything to happen, since then i've started everything off in those little fibre pots that you bury straight in the ground, they get going much quicker in my boiler cupboard.

Now I wouldn't call that white-splashed lamium (dead-nettle) a weed. I'm always prepared to give the decorative stuff house-room. One man's weed is another man's biodiversity!

if it had black red or purple flowers it could stay, but i dont do pink lol.

I agree, 3 looks like a brassica .

it's definitely not broccoli or cauli, cos i can tell them, and when they came up they had long thin leaved not dumpy ones.

Nah, fat hen. You can actually eat it. I think you have to be a bit starving though. And collect a mountain of it.

i'd rather be eating parsnips lol

This is a really good site for identifying weeds when they're seedlings (and further down the line if you're like me and don't like to pull anything up! ) Weed Seedlings for recognition

brill thanks, i'll have a look at that .... i'm sure i'd be ok, if i'd got the weeds elsewhere, but when they are confined to one bed and you think they are flowers or veg, it's hard to believe they are weeds lol

Number 2 is definitely cucumber. I have plants at exactly the same stage. Numbers5 and 8 looked like weeds.

Number 9 is Ragwort!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Pull the b@stard!

i'm so excited about my cucumber, at this rate it will have the whole bed to himself ....... i shall call him George

i'm still hoping that number 5 might be a bat plant, or one of my other weird things, theres 4 of them, but it's been a bit too wet for them, so i dunno lol ..... probably a weed. number 8 has its death sentence, number 9 eeeekkkkk thankfully i have no horses, i know what they look like when they are big, i hoped it was gonna be something cute

thanks all you're doing great, keep em coming ..... so far only george is safe

[SlugLobber]

p.s. Pull wearing gloves. It's even more toxic to humans than to livestock.

Gawd bless George the Cuke! I have six of the little blighters growing in the greenhouse. I shall name one Mildred, just for you!

[lynda66]

i shall get my gloves on forthwith ...... i'm sure george will be suitably impressed, we should let them have a photo of each other to put on their bedside tables

[Flummery]

Horses usually recognise and avoid ragwort when it's fresh. It's when it appears in cut hay that they eat it and are affected. Unless ragwort is somewhere where it will be eaten by horses or taken up in a hay cut I'd say leave it. It is a host to caterpillars and is a valuable part of our biodiversity (cor, I LOVE that word!)

[lynda66]

it may be suitable for caterpillars, unfortunately it isn't black red or purple lol ..... if it doesn't fit the colour scheme it has to go

once the builders have finished at the back of the garden, i will have a huge area, that i'm going to plant fruit trees/plants/bushes in, i also think i'll seed it with wild flowers, and leave it as a wildlife area ... so slugs and snails will be safe lol, i'm sure the ragwort will be happy there (unless it's poisonous to chickens) cos i'm thinking of letting them free range in there ..... if i ever get round to getting any that is.

[lynda66]

OK numbers 1, which i think may be redshank.... 3, the fat chicken 6,dead nettle 8,euphorbia/rose bay willow herb and 9, ragwort ...... are all now pulled up and left out in the sun (yes its sunny)

2, george the cucumber has been moved to the back of the bed where he can stay until he produces or dies lol, but under the broccoli/cauliflower i found a georgina ....... he is currently waving his leaves at her across the bed, and being totally unfaithful to mildred. 4, the hollyhocks, are staying where they are, 5, i'm leaving where it is, cos as there are 4 of them, all the same size, i'm hoping they are bat plants, and as no one knows for certain, they won't do any harm, 7, the borage, is also staying where it is, well all 3 of them are, though i may move them to the back of the bed, cos they may be a bit tall where they are.

i also spread the row of brocc/cauli out to fill the rest of the bed, so hopefully they won't need moving again, thought i may as well, being as how nothing else has come up at all.

the kitten was out in the garden with me tonight, and she seems to like the taste of slugs ..... she was eating one, she then found an old snail shell, and was chasing it round, and fell in the pond ..... oopssssssss (i didn't laugh ....honest)

i also went to the library for gardening books, did a bit of shopping, and now i'm knackered ..... this gardening stuff is killing me ....... i really wanted to dig up some more of the front lawn today too ..... oh well maybe it'll be nice again tomorrow

thanks for your help ..... i now have more weeds that i know without looking

Lynda xx

[SlugLobber]

S'alright, Mildred has 5 other cukes to keep her happy - oo er!

You're thinking of the cinnebar (or is it cinnibar?!?) moth, Flummery. It feeds solely on ragwort, but given that it's freely growing on verges and in fields with livestock, with each plant producing 40 000 seeds, I doubt the world will mis two rosettes

[Two_Sheds]

I'm fairly sure that No. 9 is not ragwort. Ragwort's leaves are more frilly: http://www.english-country-garden.co.../ragwort-3.jpg