Veg or weeds - beginners dilemma

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willowman

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Veg or weeds - beginners dilemma
« on: May 23, 2010, 08:12 »
In the spring I just planted 3 rows of seeds to see what would come up.
They were Chinese radishes, swede, and beetroot, all under a plastic cloche.

I took the cloche off yesterday to weed them and I can't tell which are the veg and which are weeds.

Because I haven't grown any of these plants before I don't know what the young leaves are supposed to look like. I did plant along string markers but this doesn't seem to have helped because some of what I think may be weeds are growing alongside the string.

I imagine I will just have to let them grow larger before I can decide.

Just as an aside - why don't slugs eat weeds with the voracity that they eat veg. Can't we breed a race of weed eating slugs?
I started out with nothing.....and I've still got most of it.

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jimthejimjim

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Re: Veg or weeds - beginners dilemma
« Reply #1 on: May 23, 2010, 08:19 »
I share your plight, I have had similar on my plot this year and I have just left it all because I too couldn't tell the difference.
I didn't use string to mark my rows, this was my improvement plan for next year but I'm guessing I may need to re think that now!

The joys of being a novice!
Please be patient! Learner gardener - allow plenty of room when passing!

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Digger Tom

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Re: Veg or weeds - beginners dilemma
« Reply #2 on: May 23, 2010, 08:57 »
 The way to tell is that weeds rarely grow in straight rows.

 Slugs do eat the weeds but they grow so fast that you dont notice.


I generaly just stick things in the ground green side up.

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corndolly

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Re: Veg or weeds - beginners dilemma
« Reply #3 on: May 23, 2010, 09:05 »
If you re not sure then best to take out anything growing that is definitely not in the row ie clear the soil between the rows.So at least the young veg seedlings are nt competing with those weeds .
When the seedlings have grown larger it should become more obvious and then you can weed and thin out to the required growing distance , best done when it has rained so that you do not disturb the roots of the plants you want to keep.
Beetroot has a reddish hue around leaf base.
 Look for leaves that are the same shape in the row chances are that these are the veg. look for pics of young veg on google see if that helps.
Good Luck.
Growing organic fruit and vegetables

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Manlea1

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Re: Veg or weeds - beginners dilemma
« Reply #4 on: May 23, 2010, 09:13 »
On the back of johnsons seeds they have a pic of the seedling of the plant  :) next time your in asda(they sell johnsons) take a peek at the back of the packs to get a idea  :tongue2:

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whippersnapper

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Re: Veg or weeds - beginners dilemma
« Reply #5 on: May 23, 2010, 09:15 »
Well, as corndolly says, there's plenty of excellent pics on google images e.g. beetroot


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DD.

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Re: Veg or weeds - beginners dilemma
« Reply #6 on: May 23, 2010, 09:17 »
The beetroot should be easy enough to spot frolm their colour, as indicated by the previous poster.

I have no experience of chinese radish, but you may have been a bit early with the swede. Sowing time is recommended from mid-May to Mid-June, so it you have to re-sow, it's the ideal time.
Did it really tell you to do THAT on the packet?

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willowman

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Re: Veg or weeds - beginners dilemma
« Reply #7 on: May 24, 2010, 07:35 »
Thanks for the advice everyone.
Looking at the pic of beetroot it seems mine has not germinated because there is nothing that looks like that.

I did clear out a lot of obvious weeds but am left with several unidentified leaves, still there's no hurry, I'll just leave them for now.



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