Plant & Weed ID Megathread

looksee

Brassicas flower and seed with great enthusiasm, some years it seems that half the weeds in the garden are brassicas, then other years not so much.

Igotadose

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120247603#Comment_120247603

Hey, you were right. Brussel sprouts is a brassica. And yeah, birds, wind, whatever. Have kales growing in random places in the yard incl. cracks in the concrete as well.

Stephen_Maturin

Cool!

Will leave it there so, would be too dangerous to the plant to try dig it out and plant it in the veg patch

Doubtful it’ll get big enough to produce sprouts worth eating but interesting nonetheless

deirdremf

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120240893#Comment_120240893

Glyphosphate - please don't! Its banned in lots of places. There have been multi-million dollar payouts by courts in the US to a number of people in relation to glyphosphate causing cancer. This resulted in Montsanto going bust, and then being taken over by Bayer.

The Continental Op

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120250655#Comment_120250655

And there is still no actual proof that it causes cancer.

 ...... The EPA continues to find that there are no risks to public health when glyphosate is used in accordance with its current label.

One international organization (the International Agency for Research on Cancer) concluded that glyphosate may be a carcinogen, while several others, including the European Food Safety Authority and the Joint Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO)/World Health Organization (WHO) Meeting on Pesticide Residues (JMPR), have determined that it is unlikely to be a carcinogen.

https://www.fda.gov/food/pesticides/questions-and-answers-glyphosate

But in the case of most brassica type weeds a dose of a selective weedkiller into the central rosette will easily deal with it. I get a very similar weed Sea Radish all over the garden particular in the lawns and rough grass and it goes over with the slightest whiff of selective weedkiller. Currently I'm using Dicophar which is a mix of 2,4-D, MCPA and Dicamba. For those that love native wildflowers Sea Radish is a short lived perennial (often biannual) which takes over forming massive clumps that in the Autumn die off and decompose producing an unmistakeable smell of rotting cabbage.

deirdremf

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120251161#Comment_120251161

That comment falls into the category of There is no proof that smoking cigarettes causes cancer.

jaffa20

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120240893#Comment_120240893

I have it in a few spots and never really noticed it spreading much. Lots of dandelions and they spread more rapidly by seed. I just dig dandelions out of flower beds but leave them in the wilder areas.

The Continental Op

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120253944#Comment_120253944

There is no proof full stop. That doesn't mean there shouldn't be a certain amount of caution. Its only an opinion but my thoughts are that glyphosate itself isn't the real bad guy here. I think the real issue is all the other chemicals that Monsanto stick in with the glyphosate to increase the uptake of glyphosate. A chemical designed to break down the protection on a plants leaves can't be great if you breath it or get it on your skin?

Igotadose

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120254325#Comment_120254325

In fact, there are studies that show it doesn't cause cancer. Hundreds. And here's a systemic review of them that's worth reading.

https://www.skepticalraptor.com/skepticalraptorblog.php/glyphosate-is-not-linked-to-cancer-examining-the-systematic-reviews/

standardg60

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120250655#Comment_120250655

It's actually banned in very few.

The school caretaker who was successful in the first civil case was using glyphosate for 3 years, I've been using it for 30. Maybe he was drinking it.

The Continental Op

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120255023#Comment_120255023

I can beat you there, first time I would have used it would have been 1979 so 40+ years. Its probably the least toxic herbicide I've ever used. Thats when compared to the Gramoxon and Simazine that I used a lot of at the time. In fact apart from Glyphosate based herbicides nearly every one I used to use has since been banned. Considering the toxicity and long term damage some of them did its not surprising they are no longer on the market.

blackbox

If you dont want to use any weedkillers, that's fair enough.

If you do, you are unlikely to find anything safer than glyphosate. Follow instructions.

deirdremf

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120254851#Comment_120254851

Nice puff piece, from a blog. Have a look at this comment:

"These results do not show any causal link to anything"

Now, does this remind you of the sort of argument the tobacco industry used to use? And again:

... research ... seems to lead me to the conclusion that glyphosate is “innocent.”

That's not the great endorsement you might have imagined is it?

But I'll trump that with:

"it depends what you mean by “proof”. On the skeptical/Popperian view of science, nothing is ever proven. For classical skeptics (e.g. David Hume), there is simply no proof there to be had; what scientists term “causation” is merely “constant conjunction”. For Popper, there is only failure to disprove,"

However, if by “proof” you mean the generally-accepted standards of medical proof, I'll direct you back to the court cases that brought Montsanto to its knees. In the real world, cases like these function as a huge big red light for most of us. In general parlance, PROOF enough.

Igotadose

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120258026#Comment_120258026

None of the 'hallmark' Monsanto cases proved glyphosate caused cancer.. They proved Monsanto were fuckwits about warning people at best. Anyway, this is the plant ID megathread, and this discussion belongs elsewhere. The link I posted is in fact from a blog, which in turn links to the 200+ studies showing Roundup doesn't cause cancer.

deirdremf

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120258090#Comment_120258090

Indeed, and I doubt that there has ever been any "proof" that tobacco causes cancer either.

And yes, it's a blog. It doesn't matter how many cases he links to, and I for one do not know whether or not he was paid to write that article.

Thargor

What are these big plants actually called please? And are they the same ones that produce a big long single flower (if it is a flower and not a fruit or something else) ?

looksee

It looks like an Echium, very tall (2m-ish) with small purple flowers making a solid spike. Just a chance it might be Verbascum which has yellow flowers, but it looks more like a Echium. They are common along the Waterford coast.

The Continental Op

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120315644#Comment_120315644

100% Echium. I've been making them a little more common along the Waterford coast for a few years but they can grow all over the country.

Very much doubt there will be many around this year they are a tender biannual for the Canary Islands and the cold snap we had earlier in the year killed all the ones in our garden and our neighbours. That won't stop them for long as each plant produces a huge amount of seed with will germinate in future years.

Igotadose

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120315732#Comment_120315732

FWIW I got some starts last year from a friend with a garden full of them (a walled garden in West Kerry, where the echium have been described as 'day of the triffids' class, huge, glorious when they flower, growing all over like weeds). Two have survived in pots against a wall here despite the occasional ocean squall, one is a few feet high. I plan to repot and move the pots into another area more protected from the endless wind, hopefully they'll get some height on them.

The Continental Op

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120315779#Comment_120315779

If they grow where they seed the one thing they don't need is protection from winds. This surprised me somewhat but a dozen or so that flowered last year on a Waterford headland near me took the brunt of several storms full on and were hardly affected. Thagor's picture suggests that those ones were similarly exposed. Its the cold that kills them.

Grown on in pots and planted out would be very different. I find they never attain the same strength and easily blow over. Best way I've found of growing them is to get one to grow from a pot and then spread its seed around all over. You are then faced with the task of a lot of thinning out but the plants produced are much better.

Some of ours easily make more than 3 meters.

The Continental Op

A weird ID question here. Can anyone remember the name of the Amaryllis type HARDY bulbs that the have sold in the past in Lidl. They come in those mixed boxes of bulbs. They might have just been labelled Amaryllis ;-(

Reason I'm asking is I've a huge clump I planted years ago that has never flowered and I'm guessing at what they are. Fairly sure they aren't Crinums as I have them, the bulbs are similar but the foliage is different. Plus the Crinums flower well.

Only need the name as I'm digging up a load and giving some away.

I suspect they might be Hippeastrum x johnsonii - https://www.southernbulbs.com/hardy-amaryllis-bulb-hippeastrum-x-johnsonii/ but as they have never flowered in 20 years I don't know :-)

Thats half a 20 year old clump that started as three smaller bulbs from Lidl. I should have put something there for scale but the one on the right hand is about 15cm across.

If anyone knows how to make them flower other than moving to a warmer climate I'd love to know.

looksee

I have a notion that you are not likely to get any flowers on them in the garden, iirc its something to do with daylight hours and precise temperatures at various stages of growth, but I am not sure, I have thrown the odd one into the garden but they have never done anything.

The Continental Op

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120317331#Comment_120317331

Ours grow well enough plenty of green foliage but never a flower. You might have it about daylength. They are certainly hardy as they must have gone through one winter we had here where it was below zero for two weeks and the ground was frozen down to over 10cm.

Jim_Hodge

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120317170#Comment_120317170

Your ID is correct but I've never seen them flower planted out. They go well in containers that can be placed in flower beds but are mostly kept in conservatory type situations, They absolutely need full sun and must have the shoulder of the bulb above the soil/compost level.

The Continental Op

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120317492#Comment_120317492

You can see from the picture that the bulbs were a good bit above ground and were in full sun. I've replanted some on the ground with a mix of sharp sand and soil supporting them to see if that helps. Others I've just planted in as near perfect conditions as I can find in a neighbours garden. One clump is now by a south facing wall in full sun with decking 3 meters overhead which should help protect from frost.

tbh it would be better if the bl00dy things didn't bulk up outside as well as they do.

I've checked on line and can't find anyone reporting them flowering planted outside in Ireland.

Jim_Hodge

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120317585#Comment_120317585

As said, they're better in pots, indoors and an addition to any conservatory. Loan based compost is best too.

Gormal

Can anyone please ID these spikey leaved plants, are they to be rescued, weeds or garden flowers?

looksee

They could be cordylines - they eventually end up looking like the imitation palm trees you see around coastal areas.

Gormal

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120326629#Comment_120326629

Thank you! I think you could be right, as there is a tree over the road from the site.

Gormal

I think the plants I posted are a wildflower Tragopogon pratensis. Bit hard to say if they are all the same, and they should not be in flower yet, but the weather has obviously confused them.