My pepper plants got bigger than I thought.

[Jade Dragon]

'Volunteers' is the term used by gardeners that describes any plant that wasn't planted by the gardener. Typically, the tomato plants you referenced from your compost, or even flowers in a bed that came up due to seeds being cast from the year before.

We got volunteer, black cap raspberries growing throughout our yard. The birds eat them from deep in the forests, and fields, and end up not digesting the seeds. So obvious stuff happens that isn't the most pleasant sounding, and we get plenty of raspberry plants.

 

[Althea]

We got volunteer, black cap raspberries growing throughout our yard. The birds eat them from deep in the forests, and fields, and end up not digesting the seeds. So obvious stuff happens that isn't the most pleasant sounding, and we get plenty of raspberry plants.

I find the weirdest stuff growing in my lawn/beds. They might be 'weeds', but they have beautiful flowers sometimes. I've already planted some of these invaders in other beds, only to find out that they don't know how to get along with others....opting to take over the beds. That's when they either get evicted, or I just weed 90% of them, and only allow a few to grow.


But...the thing about volunteers, they often don't replicate their parents' trends, because they came from hybrids. So you get some interesting specimens. With food plants, you might take up valuable garden space with a plant that doesn't give you the fruit that you expected.

 

[Irish Exit]

Yea...I have a bin that prob holds about 100 gallons or more. I put my leaves in it every fall, and add salad scraps/etc as the summer goes on. By fall, I get about 100 lbs of worm castings. More than I can use in my mature gardens. I just bank it, and use it when I start new beds, etc.

Technically, glyphosate is a foliar application for weed killing, but your point is valid. I used to get manure only from people with a horse or two, instead of a huge farm...for the exact reasons you mentioned.

It isn't used exclusively for weed killing though. Growers have been using it to facilitate harvesting, particularly grain farmers. If there is a certain percentage of their crop ready to harvest, some--too many--will spray it all with roundup to start drying out the rest so they can harvest it all at once as a lot of it needs to be dry to process. It allows them to optimize their yields and reduce their harvest hours. It is part of the reason so much of the stuff is in the food supply even beyond round-up ready GMO's. It isn't because people are spraying it nearby (though it can translocate). It is because it is going straight on the harvested plants just before harvest so it doesn't have time to dissipate.

 

[Althea]

Behind the hummingbird feeder, is a plant with a small purple flower. That originated from a bi color columbine, that spread seeds throughout the bed. It looks like a wild columbine, and nothing like the parent plant.

 

[Althea]

It isn't used exclusively for weed killing though. Growers have been using it to facilitate harvesting, particularly grain farmers. If there is a certain percentage of their crop ready to harvest, some--too many--will spray it all with roundup to start drying out the rest so they can harvest it all at once as a lot of it needs to be dry to process. It allows them to optimize their yields and reduce their harvest hours. It is part of the reason so much of the stuff is in the food supply even beyond round-up ready GMO's. It isn't because people are spraying it nearby (though it can translocate). It is because it is going straight on the harvested plants just before harvest so it doesn't have time to dissipate.

Yes. I've read about wheat desiccation via Roundup. It's hard to get accurate data for this discussion, because there's a lot of false information on both sides.


Those who won't admit that it happens, claim that using Roundup for desiccation is very expensive, and not a viable expense. Still, I believe there are those who use it.

But...it only 'kills' when applied to the foliage. In theory, the existence in compost shouldn't kill anything, but I still don't want anyone's pesticides in my garden.

 

[Jade Dragon]

I find the weirdest stuff growing in my lawn/beds. They might be 'weeds', but they have beautiful flowers sometimes. I've already planted some of these invaders in other beds, only to find out that they don't know how to get along with others....opting to take over the beds. That's when they either get evicted, or I just weed 90% of them, and only allow a few to grow.


But...the thing about volunteers, they often don't replicate their parents' trends, because they came from hybrids. So you get some interesting specimens. With food plants, you might take up valuable garden space with a plant that doesn't give you the fruit that you expected.

I had a weird plant grow in a flower bed, it had beautiful berries, put the purple hued leaves made it look toxic. I found out it was this, and while toxic, parts are eaten from it in the south. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phytolacca_americana

 

[Irish Exit]

I had a weird plant grow in a flower bed, it had beautiful berries, put the purple hued leaves made it look toxic. I found out it was this, and while toxic, parts are eaten from it in the south. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phytolacca_americana

It is everywhere in my area. Older people like 70+ year olds will eat poke salad but you have to go through a process to detoxify the leaves. Some people swear by eating the berries for arthritis. But apparently there is a narrow window between what is safe with the fruit and what will kill you.

 

[Althea]

I had a weird plant grow in a flower bed, it had beautiful berries, put the purple hued leaves made it look toxic. I found out it was this, and while toxic, parts are eaten from it in the south. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phytolacca_americana

It is everywhere in my area. Older people like 70+ year olds will eat poke salad but you have to go through a process to detoxify the leaves. Some people swear by eating the berries for arthritis. But apparently there is a narrow window between what is safe with the fruit and what will kill you.

Yea...it's all over the place here too. I have heard of using it in remedies, and it's odd that it's toxic, but birds eat the berries. I guess the birds know when it's safe?

 

[Irish Exit]

Yea...it's all over the place here too. I have heard of using it in remedies, and it's odd that it's toxic, but birds eat the berries. I guess the birds know when it's safe?

Toxic for one animal isn't necessarily toxic for another. My yard is full of plants toxic to cats that my cats just never touch so I think it is instinct.