Weeds or plants ?

[davlap]

Trying to start a veggie patch. Things start to grow and then die, just when you think they are going to flourish. Had a few chilli tree harvests, and basil, which have been good and edible.  Lettuce, tomatoes and carrots have produced very small pickings. But not much else.

Live in Brisbane area, so climate not extreme.

The only things to grow well recently are shown in photos. I think they are weeds. Nothing planted that I know of, but if things die I tend to spread the pot soil on part on the patch in case there are dormant roots/seeds. Resurrected a couple of things this way. The shiny leaf plant looks similar to plants we did get free from council plants. 

 

[Marisawright]

I found growing fruit and vegetables in Sydney very challenging.    SO many bugs of various kinds. Being European, my MIL had planted her garden with figs, oranges, peaches etc but she very rarely got any fruit - if the fruit flies didn't get them, the bats and birds did.  Every time I tried to grow tomatoes, they got decimated before we got to eat many.  Same with lettuces. The only thing that survived well was rocket, oregano and mint.   

The weather was also a challenge, because the sun can be too intense at times.  

I could imagine all of that being similar in Brissie.

Edited April 9, 2020 by Marisawright

[Bobj]

1 hour ago, davlap said:

Trying to start a veggie patch. Things start to grow and then die, just when you think they are going to flourish. Had a few chilli tree harvests, and basil, which have been good and edible.  Lettuce, tomatoes and carrots have produced very small pickings. But not much else.

Live in Brisbane area, so climate not extreme.

The only things to grow well recently are shown in photos. I think they are weeds. Nothing planted that I know of, but if things die I tend to spread the pot soil on part on the patch in case there are dormant roots/seeds. Resurrected a couple of things this way. The shiny leaf plant looks similar to plants we did get free from council plants. 

 

G’day mate, the first pic is one of the weeds of the solanum family (nightshades and potatoes) and the second is a healthy looking passionfruit. Train it over a strong type trestle, so the fruit can hang down slightly in 12 months, or so. 
If you live in the  “salad bowl belt”, you should be ok with almost any veggies. 
Cheers, Bobj.

[davlap]

Cheers BobJ

Wife said she thought it was a nightshade, will pull the bugger out !

Glad that is a passionfruit. Neighbour has one coming over our fence. Tried to cultivate a couple of times, no joy. Like I mentioned, I throw old pots on the patch, so looks like I go a success from that . The one coming over the fence bore a bout 20 fruits (yellow variety) this year (none last year). Got about half a dozen full size and made a compot from flesh. Rest of them were too small. This one is by the other side and would be great to train it over  the fence.

[davlap]

1 hour ago, Marisawright said:

I found growing fruit and vegetables in Sydney very challenging.    SO many bugs of various kinds. Being European, my MIL had planted her garden with figs, oranges, peaches etc but she very rarely got any fruit - if the fruit flies didn't get them, the bats and birds did.  Every time I tried to grow tomatoes, they got decimated before we got to eat many.  Same with lettuces. The only thing that survived well was rocket, oregano and mint.   

The weather was also a challenge, because the sun can be too intense at times.  

I could imagine all of that being similar in Brissie.

Hi Marisawright, sounds like you have same success as us. Some things grow, but not to a size for eating. We don't really see any bugs, see a few caterpillars (lots of butterflies around at the moment). But something eats the plants, especially lettuce and cabbages.

BobJ wrote: if you live in the  “salad bowl belt”, you should be ok with almost any veggies.  - I wish !! My Mum could grow anything and everything, all I grow is impatience ! I was so pleased that our game playing bedroom dweller man child got interested. But after a few weeks he got fed up with poor results and has given up.

There is a bat colony nearby. Neighbour has a mango tree and it had literally hundreds this year. We picked a few kilos of overhangs and fresh off the floor. They were really tasty. Bats descended of course and nibbled or ate a lot of them.

[Marisawright]

I'm in Melbourne now and am astonished at how well things grow here.  You'd think not because of Melbourne's reputation for miserable weather - but because it's cooler, the bugs aren't as rampant, there's less mould, and of course the rain is spread more evenly over the year, which is better for the plants.

I live near Carlton which used to be a huge Italian and Greek neighbourhood, so the gardens (even the front gardens) are full of trees -   quinces, apricots, olives, persimmons, lemons, oranges, grapefruit, clementines, mulberry.  Nowadays the people who own those houses don't seem to appreciate the trees as they don't look after them, but they fruit well anyway.   I have friends who give away bucketloads of apricots every year.

[Guest The Pom Queen]

We recently downloaded a phone app called “Picture This” it is expensive for the premium service I think, it’s $29.99 usd  but you can use it without. You take a photo with the app of the plant and it tells you what it is and all the info on it.  If you subscribe it will also help you if you have a dying plant and advise how to revive it.

[Guest The Pom Queen]

I think I’m an expert gardener. No one could grow as many weeds as me

Using the app one thing I did find on the land in a really random place not anywhere near the house was this plant which the app says is a purple bush bean. Now it doesn’t make it clear whether it’s edible or not. 

[davlap]

17 minutes ago, The Pom Queen said:

We recently downloaded a phone app called “Picture This” it is expensive for the premium service I think, it’s $29.99 usd  but you can use it without. You take a photo with the app of the plant and it tells you what it is and all the info on it.  If you subscribe it will also help you if you have a dying plant and advise how to revive it.

Thanks Pom Queen

Wasn't going to bother, wanted CC details even for 7 day trial, but swiped through and it allows three free Ids (not sure if per day / use etc).

Identified both plants from the photos. Well impressed, only took a couple of seconds

Will look around for free apps

[davlap]

4 minutes ago, The Pom Queen said:

I think I’m an expert gardener. No one could grow as many weeds as me

Using the app one thing I did find on the land in a really random place not anywhere near the house was this plant which the app says is a purple bush bean. Now it doesn’t make it clear whether it’s edible or not. 
 

Google is your friend - purple french/runner beans you can eat. But check it is the right plant of course, only did a quick search, but if the beans grow they will be fairly obvious

https://www.succeedheirlooms.com.au/heirloom-vegetable-seed/heirloom-bean-seeds/bean-royal-burgundy-seeds.html

Edited April 9, 2020 by davlap

[Guest The Pom Queen]

Oh and I forgot we found this, I’m not sure if it’s a wild cucumber or one left over from the sons veg garden. I’m not sure if it’s edible either

[Guest The Pom Queen]

1 minute ago, davlap said:

Google is your friend - purple french/runner beans you can eat

https://www.succeedheirlooms.com.au/heirloom-vegetable-seed/heirloom-bean-seeds/bean-royal-burgundy-seeds.html

I saw that but didn’t know if it was the same as these have never had beans on them well not what I’ve seen, maybe because they have only had ground coverage and that one fence pole.

[Bobj]

1 hour ago, The Pom Queen said:

Oh and I forgot we found this, I’m not sure if it’s a wild cucumber or one left over from the sons veg garden. I’m not sure if it’s edible either

Wild cucumber and, not edible. Neither is the purple bush bean.

Cheers, Bobj.

[Toots]

3 hours ago, Marisawright said:

I'm in Melbourne now and am astonished at how well things grow here.  You'd think not because of Melbourne's reputation for miserable weather - but because it's cooler, the bugs aren't as rampant, there's less mould, and of course the rain is spread more evenly over the year, which is better for the plants.

I live near Carlton which used to be a huge Italian and Greek neighbourhood, so the gardens (even the front gardens) are full of trees -   quinces, apricots, olives, persimmons, lemons, oranges, grapefruit, clementines, mulberry.  Nowadays the people who own those houses don't seem to appreciate the trees as they don't look after them, but they fruit well anyway.   I have friends who give away bucketloads of apricots every year.

I grow carrots, leeks, broccoli, green beans and salad things in the communal garden which is a bit like an allotment.  At home I grow tomatoes and strawberries.  I'd never had a decent strawberry in all the years I've lived in Australia 'til I grew my own.  The ones from the shops are tasteless and watery - same with a lot of the tomatoes.  My home grown strawberries are full of flavour again the same with the tomatoes.  We give away buckets of lemons and swap them for loads of apples with our neighbour.  I've got my eyes on a good harvest of wild blackberries which I've spotted on my walks.  They will be ready to pick in a couple of weeks.  Again, on one of my walks I came across a pear tree in the middle of nowhere.   There must have been a house in the close vicinity at one time as there is also a lilac tree and an old apple tree.

[davlap]

11 hours ago, Toots said:

At home I grow tomatoes and strawberries.  I'd never had a decent strawberry in all the years I've lived in Australia 'til I grew my own.  The ones from the shops are tasteless and watery - same with a lot of the tomatoes.  My home grown strawberries are full of flavour again the same with the tomatoes. 

Strawberries are a partial positive. Lots of green foliage on one plant cluster. Had three fruits, 2 of them about a size of a pea ! Tried to separate the other plant cluster, but killed all but one of the transplants.

[Marisawright]

@davlap, the secret is to recognise that you're living in a "subtropical" part of the world.    The kind of plants you'd grow in the UK in summer, you have to grow in winter and spring.  If you try to grow them in summer they'll die.  In summer, you can grow tropical plants. 

[Guest The Pom Queen]

On 09/04/2020 at 18:21, Bobj said:

Wild cucumber and, not edible. Neither is the purple bush bean.

Cheers, Bobj.

Thank you @Bobj it’s typical the only thing we manage to grow well and it’s weeds haha  

[Guest The Pom Queen]

19 hours ago, Marisawright said:

@davlap, the secret is to recognise that you're living in a "subtropical" part of the world.    The kind of plants you'd grow in the UK in summer, you have to grow in winter and spring.  If you try to grow them in summer they'll die.  In summer, you can grow tropical plants. 

So what’s easy to grow, for someone who can’t always get outside if they are wired to machines, and something I could plant now but see rewards soon.

I wouldn’t mind but we kept talking of planting fruit trees when we moved here and then said no because they take too long to grow. They would have had 4 years of growth by now lol. 
‘My son got a really good set up going, he bought a $700 canvas greenhouse had all seedlings had bathtubs filled with chilli plants, cucumbers, tomatoes, herbs etc, then we had some really bad storms come through they ripped the greenhouse from the stakes and sent it down in to the paddock along with his shelving and it really upset him. After a month he bit the bullet and set it all up again, got lettuce growing, radish then another storm came through took down a tree which landed on his greenhouse and bathtubs that was it, he has never bothered again. 

[FatCat]

Hi

I cannot comment for Brisbane.

But I found growing veggies and fruit in Sydney to be extremely easy thing to do. And I am NOT known for my green thumbs at all.

The garden I grew everything in had terrible clay soil, so I had to make up separate raised garden beds using untreated pine planks from Bunnings, plus I brought a metal tub.

I grew the following successfully and in abundance : strawberries, several types of lettuce, spinach, several types of kale, celery, cucumbers, several types of tomato, broadbeans, peppers, carrots, potatoes, parsley, coriander, chives, mint, spring onions, and garlic. 

I brought a large long cast iron bath, filled it with layers of mulch, straw, potting mix, blood & bone, compost and soil, and made a nutrient rich bed over several weeks. Then when ready, planted everything mentioned above in there, covered it with chicken wire and netting (to keep roos and possums out).

The success I believe came from having really healthy soil and also growing from "advanced seedling plugs" rather than actual seeds. You can get them from The Diggers Club online store, which is based in Victoria but ships Australia wide. I also brought them from the Castle Hill Farmers Market.

The second photo above looks like a passionfruit vine - lucky you

 

[davlap]

1 hour ago, FatCat said:

Hi

I cannot comment for Brisbane.

But I found growing veggies and fruit in Sydney to be extremely easy thing to do. And I am NOT known for my green thumbs at all.

The garden I grew everything in had terrible clay soil, so I had to make up separate raised garden beds using untreated pine planks from Bunnings, plus I brought a metal tub.

I grew the following successfully and in abundance : strawberries, several types of lettuce, spinach, several types of kale, celery, cucumbers, several types of tomato, broadbeans, peppers, carrots, potatoes, parsley, coriander, chives, mint, spring onions, and garlic. 

I brought a large long cast iron bath, filled it with layers of mulch, straw, potting mix, blood & bone, compost and soil, and made a nutrient rich bed over several weeks. Then when ready, planted everything mentioned above in there, covered it with chicken wire and netting (to keep roos and possums out).

The success I believe came from having really healthy soil and also growing from "advanced seedling plugs" rather than actual seeds. You can get them from The Diggers Club online store, which is based in Victoria but ships Australia wide. I also brought them from the Castle Hill Farmers Market.

The second photo above looks like a passionfruit vine - lucky you

 

@FatCatI've changed my philosophy since that post. I don't buy shop plants and recycle shop veggie offcuts and other dead stuff into various patches I have.

Some things grow well in one patch, not another. I mulch a lot with compost bin stuff or bought mulch.

If things want to live and grow they can, if not that's up to them ! I water, trim dead stuff and harvest soon as possible. Minimal , but daily.

Next door had passion fruit and we must have got 20 or more fruits last year where it came over the fence. I planted some cuttings and they have gone nuts.

Tomatoes, chilies and basil grow and produce good harvests. I have planted some cucumbers and harvested some great tasting largish ones. But then the vine dies. Recently I planted sweet potato tubers and they have gone wild. Didn't know their vines can grow to 10 feet, I can believe it now. you can also eat the leaves, but not tried yet. Same with ordinary potatoes, some tubers have grown a foot in a few days. Ginger is doing well. Got an ace rhubarb plant, but still a bit sour (takes a year before they sweeten enough, apparently)

Weather is hot and humid and quite lush at the moment. You can see how the passion fruit has grown. Tomatoe plant in front of his has produced tens of toms. Chilli plants in the foreground

Edited December 31, 2020 by davlap

[FatCat]

4 minutes ago, davlap said:

I don't buy shop plants

 

 

I would not class The Diggers Club as "shop" plants. It is a seed saving group, who are into chemical-free organic growing, permaculture and cultivating heirloom fruits, vegetables and flowers. 

[davlap]

3 minutes ago, FatCat said:

I would not class The Diggers Club as "shop" plants. It is a seed saving group, who are into chemical-free organic growing, permaculture and cultivating heirloom fruits, vegetables and flowers. 

Wasn't having a dig. We bought seeds, plants etc and they mostly died. Tried to grow them the 'right 'way. I just think there is plenty out there that can be 'recycled'. My main disappointment is coriander. It sprouts healthy leaves from offcuts, then quickly dies.