What's this growing in my SFG?

[monkeyboy]

I didn't get a chance to post this earlier but spotted it at the weekend:




Whilst I can probably use a hand fork or similar to get rid, in one of the squares, I sowed some carrot seeds. I was going to sow some more in another square today but think it's better to tackle this first.

[Jay-ell]

What's the spacing
Looks like there's chickweed, bittercress and possible a parsnip or parsley in there.

Bittercress and chickweed are both easy to pull out but they chuck out loads of seed so be prepared to come back and pull them out again.

[Jimmy]

What's an SFG
Looks like you have got some Tomatoes, Onions and Basil
Jimmy

[lottie dolly]

Square Foot Gardening
i was wondering to
then i spotted the clue

[veggiechicken]

They're weeds - that's all you need to know - and you need to remove them either by pulling them out or hoeing them off. However, if you've sown carrots in one of the squares you need to be careful as there are a couple of seedlings with 2 narrow leaves that ???could??? be carrots.


The 2 tall weeds at the back, you have more of that growing outside the netting. It needs to come out before it seeds. Its the thing with small pink flowers whose name I can never remember.

[Jay-ell]

They're weeds

VC - how could you.

They're free, bonus, home foraged wild vegetables.

[veggiechicken]

Very true, jayell and I'm very fond of land cress which I let grow wild anywhere including the GH for winter salads. I'm not sure monkeyboy meant to grow a forager's SFG though.

[Jay-ell]

I intentionally sowed dandelions in mine. Couldn't find the spacing in any list so I done 4 per square - now I reckon 9 would be better.

[Penellype]

The 2 tall weeds at the back, you have more of that growing outside the netting. It needs to come out before it seeds. Its the thing with small pink flowers whose name I can never remember.

Willowherb - there are several variations, the best known being Rose Bay which is much taller and grows on railway embankments and waste ground. Rose Bay Willowherb is sometimes called fireweed as it is usually the first weed to colonize burnt ground.

Some species are edible and have medicinal properties, but I would not be confident to identify particular ones amongst all these https://www.mdidea.com/products/new/new09303.html

[monkeyboy]

They're weeds - that's all you need to know - and you need to remove them either by pulling them out or hoeing them off. However, if you've sown carrots in one of the squares you need to be careful as there are a couple of seedlings with 2 narrow leaves that ???could??? be carrots.


The 2 tall weeds at the back, you have more of that growing outside the netting. It needs to come out before it seeds. Its the thing with small pink flowers whose name I can never remember.

Thanks VC. There's a lot of weeds growing around the raised beds. I was going to make a thread on how to neaten things up once the growing season was over so I could be better prepped next year. I'll crack on and dig them out this week.

[Penellype]

The key to annual weeds is prevention - prevent them seeding by pulling before they flower (preferably much smaller) and prevent them germinating or taking hold, either by hoeing regularly or (preferably in my opinion) by mulching. I find mulching beds with used compost from pots of eg potatoes or tomatoes works very well as long as the compost is weed free itself.

[Earthgirl Jen]

I didn't get a chance to post this earlier but spotted it at the weekend:




Whilst I can probably use a hand fork or similar to get rid, in one of the squares, I sowed some carrot seeds. I was going to sow some more in another square today but think it's better to tackle this first.

Apologies monkeyboy I don't see any carrots in your second pic , what I see is a couple of rosebay willow herb (back left and right) the rest of this square is covered in bittercress, the bain of my life in my new (to me ) garden. They seem to grow 'in the blink of an eye' throw up 'teeny tiny' white flowers which if you're not careful can set seed 'faster than the speed of light'. You only have to touch the seed heads which then 'explode' reseeding another couple of hundreds plants whilst you've removed one !

You won't need a fork to remove them , pull them at the base of the stem with finger and thumb, they'll come up easily, same for the rosebay willow herb, or alternatively hoe the tops off now, we have a couple of dry days coming up for most of the UK and they'll shrivel in a day in hot sun.

As everyone else has commented they are just both just a weed but left unchecked can cover a huge area before you've even noticed...

Don't mean to sound over dramatic sorry... Apparently you can eat the bittercress although I've not tried it....

[robbra]

My garden was over run and now I know by what. I'd looked everywhere for the answer and now I know. Bitter cress took over the front, back and drive, yes, you clear it, come back later and it's everywhere.
I gunned it with a strong weed killer, it turned red and now seems to be gone....maybe.
Rob

[Jay-ell]

As far as weeds go, Bitter Cress is not too much of a problem however it has a short lifespan which means if your not careful it can germinate, grow, flower and set seed before you even notice it. If you have any bare ground regular hoeing and hand pulling is needed to stay on top of it - otherwise mulch, mulch, mulch. If it can't see the sun it won't survive and as the mulch breaks down and you add more it's seeds end up being buried deeper. They're still there and you have to keep on top of them when you do uncover bare earth though.

[monkeyboy]

Apologies monkeyboy I don't see any carrots in your second pic

Sadly, I don't think they're growing/germinated. They were sown about a month ago, at the back square where the most weed is growing. I'm going to plant more carrots in the middle square this week.

As everyone else has commented they are just both just a weed but left unchecked can cover a huge area before you've even noticed...

Yup precisely what happened - there a few and I thought I'd weed them out and then suddenly BOOM! Covered. Very annoying.