Are these weeds?

[Dave2072]

New gardener here, hello!

I planted some broccoli in the small container and lettuce mix in the big one. Lettuce I did in one line in the centre which is why it's odd there's lots of sprouts coming up. Are these weeds in bith containers ? I used a bagged vegetable compost.

Http://imgur.com/a/sXzdH to see the Images

Thanks!

[Scoot]

They're broccoli seedlings. Lots and lots of them. They'll need thinning out and planted in either a larger pot or a part of the garden.

[Martin H]

Hi Dave, the seedlings in both containers with heart-shaped seed leaves are definitely brassicas, could be broccoli but it's too early to tell.

I think I can see a line of tiny lettuce seedlings in the middle of the big container, they have round seed leaves. You need to pull up the brassica seedlings very carefully so that the light can get to the lettuces.

[Zelenina]

Both lots look like brassica seedlings to me, Dave. Can't tell for sure whether they are broccoli or some other kind because they all look much the same when they are young. I'm not sure which is the big container, but I can kind of see a line of smaller seedlings in a row in the middle of the window box. Maybe they are lettuces. Is there any chance that you or someone else sowed stuff in there twice by mistake? Or do you have kids that might have been "helping"?

SNAP! Martin

[Dave2072]

Thanks all, glad they aren't weeds!

Definitely didn't put broccoli in the bigger pot so why would they all be there? And no kids have helped either! But it was just a line of lettuce seeds so why are they suddenly growing everywhere rather than in a line?

Sorry, very new to this! Can I plant the brocolli in the smaller pot into my square foot garden now or should they grow in cold house more first?

Thanks again!,

[Martin H]

Dave, on your first point, the ones not in a line are not lettuces so they need to be eliminated.

Re the broccoli, they aren't big enough to go out yet, especially in this weather. Also when they are a bit bigger you may be able to tell if they are actually broccoli...

[Bigmallly]

I may be going blind in my old age but both containers look like Brassicas to me.

[spamvindaloo]

As others have said, brassicas in both pots but that doesn't mean they are broccoli as they all look the same at the stage. Have you got any other brassica seeds (cabbages etc)? You could pot them all up but there's no guarantee they are broccoli, especially as you say you haven't sown any in one of the containers.

[Penellype]

When you say you planted a lettuce mix, did it say "lettuce mix", or "salad mix"? Some of the salad mixes are in fact brassicas, such as mizuna, komatsuna, pak choi, rocket etc.

You can eat brassicas at all stages of growth. If you decide to pull the ones up from the bigger pot, you could eat them as microgreens rather than throwing them away.

[Dave2072]

Salad mix i believe.

My confusion lies in the big pot knowing I planted in one long line in the middle. Why therefore would there be shoots growing everywhere?

[Lumpy]

Radish?.....

[lolie]

Salad mix i believe.

My confusion lies in the big pot knowing I planted in one long line in the middle. Why therefore would there be shoots growing everywhere?

How have you been watering them?

I find seed which sown only a few mm deep will often move out of place even with fairly gentle misting.

The sheer number of seedlings means that you put a lot of seeds in the pot. Even if you intended to sow in a straight line, if you sprinkled them from more than a few mm away then you would have got some in unintended places and others would have migrated.