Hi Everyone, I am new to this forum and need help to identify this plant that has grown in my indoor window box alongside my mint plant. It has a "reversed heart or m-shaped" or "apple-shaped" small leaves with a red stem. Thank you for your assistance.
that is different. did you try smelling the leaves? could be an herb? Otherwise i have no idea. thought i would likely end up letting grow, see if it flowers. :P
You are quite right, its different and has no scent to it. Hopin' someone can solve this mystery :) Thank you for your reply, Cdpage
Probably one of the several species of Amaranthus weeds. Hard to tell which one exactly at that stage. The leaves get very different as the plant grows. :)
http://www.extension.iastate.edu/Publications/PM1786.pdf http://www.ediblewildfood.com/pigweed.aspx The good news is that all are edible(with the possible exception of the spiny types).
Thank you, Tom for your response! I purchased organic soil, is it possible for weed growth to produce from it or dangerous to continue to grow this plant indoors? Do you advise to let it grow a bit more to determine what it could be? If so, then I will upload another picture within a month's time! "To grow or not to grow, that is the question" :) Thank you, Saltcedar for your reponse. However, I don't think it would be wise for me to eat these leaves until I know what it really is. By the way, I checked the pasted link, it doesn't show anything close to what is growing in my indoor window box. Once again, thanks!
If it were mine, I would pull it now. Identification is really hard with these, as they vary so much in appearance based on environmental factors & age. For instance, here is a juvenile form of Amaranthus spinosus, but the same species, under different growing conditions and a little older, looks like this. Here is another seedling that is in the ballpark of yours. I believe your red coloration can vary to nil, depending on the amount of sun the plant gets.
As per your suggestion, I pulled it out and checked out the links which shows several pictures similiar to what was growing in my window box. Oh my, this was extremely helpful, thank you so much Tom :)
