Weed or vegetable?
May 31, 2015 2:18 PM   Subscribe

I have some new unknown plants springing up in my inherited plot. Could you help me identify some of these from the photos? I'm guessing they are about half weeds, half vegetables.

I posted a weed/veggie identification question before and received really helpful responses! There are a few new ones I'm trying to figure out now, and I tried to take better photos this time so hopefully it'll be easier. Previously: https://ask.metafilter.com/280419/Weed-or-veggie

1) http://imgur.com/a/wLnWC (2 photos) smells like a fancy salad leaf, but it's also fairly thick

2) http://imgur.com/a/g5CjJ (4 photos) a very generic looking plant, maybe the distinguishing feature is the shredder edges on the leaves

3) http://i.imgur.com/THzTwdc.jpg probably a weed but I had trouble searching for "horizontal growing grass"

4) http://imgur.com/a/PC0UR (2 photos) it spread wide horizontally like a weed

5) http://i.imgur.com/LLpsJfQ.jpg non-descript leafy plant
posted by tasty to Home & Garden (8 answers total)
 
All of those look like weeds to me with the possible exception of the first... but I am not sure what the first is.
posted by LittleMy at 2:29 PM on May 31, 2015


The first one could be a salad green. Taste it and see.
In the second set, it looks like beets are coming up in there (the plants with the red stalks and veins).
The one in the last set could be basil. Scratch and sniff.
The rest look like weeds.

Needs "canieatit" tag
posted by beagle at 2:46 PM on May 31, 2015


1. I guess arugula if it smells spicy
2. I don't know what the plant with the serrated leaves is, but I think you have carrots or dill underneath it; also those small lobe-shaped leaves with the red stems behind it look very much like beets or chard.
4. The red-stemmed succulent-leaved plant looks to me like purslane, which is an edible salad green but some people think it is a weed. It is low-growing and tends to spread along the ground. I'm not sure if that is the subject of the picture, though.
posted by Lycaste at 2:48 PM on May 31, 2015 [1 favorite]


The first one is definitely arugula. Three is definitely a weed (well, it's a vetch, so it could be hay, but in a veggie plot it's a weed). The rest look like weeds too, but it is hard to be certain.
posted by ssg at 3:14 PM on May 31, 2015


1) probably arugula, but already infested. Underneath it looks like baby swiss chard, though! See the red vein.

2) Weed (nettle? Is it spiky?)

3) weeds

4) Could be basil, if it is very aromatic. If not, weed.

It's not at all too late to plant your own stuff. You might want to weed the whole area and start fresh.

Purslane, mentioned above, is delicious and nutritious, full of minerals and omega-3!
posted by Riverine at 3:32 PM on May 31, 2015


2 looks like weedy things I have in my garden, 4 is definitely purslane which I pull. The last one looks a bit like basil, enough to be worth a leaf crush and sniff test before pulling. 3 looks like enough seedlings that I've planted intentionally that I'd probably give a few of them the season to prove themselves. It looks a lot like the cosmos I just started, for example.
posted by tchemgrrl at 4:46 PM on May 31, 2015


5 could be peppers.
posted by If only I had a penguin... at 5:24 PM on May 31, 2015


I'm guessing:
Arugula
Nettle
Vetch
Fireweed
Sorrel
posted by oxisos at 6:17 PM on May 31, 2015


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