I have a plant growing in 3 different pots I cannot figure out what it is and if I planted it, it showed up last year, but late so it dried up and died, but now it is blooming all over the place, no flowers.
Looks to be a Chenopodium - likely C. album I'd say (tasty but can be aggressive if you let it self seed). Unless you've been trying to grow Quinoa in which case it is probably C. quinoa. Nick
so it might me a fruit? i dont remember planting it, i guess i will just have to wait and see. thank you
Not a fruit - Chenopodium is a salad green, similar to (but better tasting than, IMHO) spinach. If you planted it on purpose as C. quinoa, then you'd be growing it for the seeds, which are a tasty grainlike food.
lorax, i dont think that i planted it on purpose, but im not sure. so ur saying i can cut the leaves and put them in salad or do i have to cook them first?
And personally, I'd say that they're better raw, especially when they're young and tender like the ones in your photos.
Meh, just pull off a leaf and taste a little bit. If you like it, into the salad it goes. If not, pull it up!
I am sure that the suggestions you have received so far, are more accurate on this one then I will give you, but I have some food for thought. Looking up Chenopodium, I found the yummy for your tummy plant that has been suggested, but the leaves on the plants I saw in that plant family, didn't look like the ones you have in your pots to me, and the stems were more delicate. That doesn't mean there isn't a match in that family or subfamily to match your plant. I looked under wikipedia.org. When it comes to sharing information freely about inedible plants that is one thing, but eating the not so sure edible plant? Unless I have a complete positive ID on it (seeing and knowing is believing), I wouldn't eat it. You can leave it grow for fun to see what you get, if you end up not liking it, buy some seeds of an edible plant and grow one from scratch. How often do you plant veggies in a pot? I noticed the Hyacinth plant tag laying beside the pot, and one thing I do know...that is not a Hyacinth you have growing in that pot!LOL
lynne, actually i got my hubby to try one leaf, he said it tasted like grass, so i think i will just let it grow. hayacinth is just recent but it actually dried up not long after i bought it from the heat in michigan. this is my second year growing veggies, i have upside down tomato planter, cucumbers, parsley, i have tried dill and cilantro but not much luck, also some of those pots are from last year and this year with flower seeds. but not a lot is growing. garlic and onions i grow in jars at first. my goal is to move to a house soon so that next year i will have an actual garden space and not bagilion pots taking up space on the balcony, but i love it, this plus knitting and crocheting gives me time to think.
Lynne, not to be offensive, but I'm 100% certain of the ID; the plant is Chenopodium album, a widely morphologically variable member of the Amaranth family. I'm more than familiar with it, and grow it myself (although never on purpose - it's one of those lovely gifts that pops up in the garden). C. album is hardly ever planted on purpose, but it is an extremely common volunteer in pots and gardens across the western hemisphere. I would never have counselled the original poster to try even a tiny nibble if I wasn't 100% certain of the ID. In fact, if you review my posts, you'll find that I more often than not counsel against eating the unknown plants we're asked to ID here at the forums. I live in a land where only a tiny fraction of plants are edible, and where the rest could do me lasting damage or even kill me - if anything, I'm overcautious. Just not with Chenopodiums.
About 8-10 weeks after it comes up, at least, here at the equator. If you don't want it to spread, pull it up before it flowers - it's not a great cut flower plant (the blossoms are tiny and have little fragrance) and once it's bloomed the leaves become bitter.
I am going to add another 100% of certainty. Yes, it is, as Lorax has said, Chenopodium album, the one on the first two pictures, 100% edible (I am alive and doing well). If you will let it go to seed next year you will have enough to feed the whole town.
I get that you are very comfortable in your skin with a sense of humour! Smart gal to get the hubby to try it first. I didn't have luck with the spinach I grew this year or last, so next year I'm not going to even try that one again. You seem like the type of person whom will have a lot of fun with your yard with that house your buying. AAAHHH...to be young and starting out with years of fun gardening ahead of you. You go girl! All the best.
lynne, i actually tried it in my salad, it was ok. as far as my hubby he will try anything, i go to university and my bio teacher gave us a little piece of soap that you can melt in microvawe, he almost ate it, but chose to ask me first...that man is like a child.lol.
Good! Not offended. Sorry if you felt insulted. One thing I would always advice, even if it is something that I am 100% sure of, is that once knowledge is shared whether it be a great guess (nothing wrong with that) or an experienced 100% sure, that anyone getting the information should check it out for themselves, to feel comfortable with it. They are at least on the track in knowing what they are looking for themselves. It is a good educational experience for all of us, one way or the other, and I appreciate the effort that anyone makes to contribute. LOL You have made me smile!
hey, so I finally got a house and my dad will help me with setting up the garden, i am even going to try and grow corn supper excited.
This thread is so funny. There are women who never know how to deal with men, and there are other women who manage men so well as to say, "Here, Honey, would you be a sweetums and try this leaf for me, just in case it's deadly poisonous?" I think people reading this thread will be thinking to themselves: "She must be some woman." heehee/very good reading
It looks like a vine fruit of sorts. Do you eat fresh fruit outside or do you have kids that do? It almost looks like grape but the leaves look darker and a bit fuzzy. Are they a bit fuzzy or are they smooth and shiny? Grape goes dormant in the winter so it would seem dead maybe to some.
no kids and this was at the apartments where we lived it suddenly showed up, i have seen it at the new house when we were looking to buy it, but so far they have not returned.
