Volunteer plants

[Babble64]

Well, my zucchini plant went NUTS the week I was gone on vacation. It was hot and humid and the plant obvious liked the weather better than I do. I don't think I've ever seen leaves so big...one of them must be over 18 inches across. So, I have a variety of blossoms and finally had some female ones open while I was around. I pollinated two of them yesterday and I think it may have worked! I did two more today, so I'm kind of excited. The neat thing is I would never have realized about the difference in the two genders of blossoms if I didn't have just one plant. Not only do they look different on the outside, but they do on the inside as well. Pretty neat! (I know this might seem really obvious to some, but I'm not that deep a thinker for this kind of thing.)

Several of the tomato plants have fruit on them as well and are getting bigger each day.

I also have several as yet unidentified volunteer plants growing in my new garden area. They have little yellow bulbs at the base of the female blossoms so I'm suspecting yellow squash but as they are only about 1/8 of an inch across I'm not sure. I'm just enjoying the fun.

And if nothing else they are all just so pretty!

 

[Patsy]

Veg plants are pretty when we take time to look at them in that way. I have some Butternut squash with really pretty marbled leaves that would make them worth garden space even if they don't produce fruit.

 

[Babble64]

Okay, egg on my face, kinda. As it turns out my "zucchini" plant is actually (or so I now believe) a pumpkin plant. It has gotten HUGE and I'm loving that! There are many, many blossoms on it, both male and female. I've seen bees in the blossoms several times so I'm not worrying about pollination anymore...will let nature take it's course. The blossoms are gorgeous as well. At any rate, I have a fruit on it that is definitely not a zucchini and is still a "baby", even though it's a good 5" in diameter. Waiting to see if any of the other little girls get to grow up as well. The plant is taking over that part of our yard. I love to just go out and look at it. Like Chanell's butterfly watch, I check on it every day to see what looks new and different.

And as for the volunteer plants I hoped would be cucumbers....looks like ornamental gourds. There are several little yellow fruits with green at the end. They have surrounded the cast iron stove we placed and container planted a few weeks ago. They look very nice surrounding the bottom, though they are trying to wrap themselves around the flowering plants in that garden.

Who was it that asked a few weeks ago about giving up on gardening? I had taken a long respite, and I can't be full-on into it at this point in my life, but I sure am having fun with the little bit of veggies we have going this year!!!

 

[Patsy]

Doesn't really matter what they are if they're giving you pleasure, does it?

 

[Babble64]

Doesn't really matter what they are if they're giving you pleasure, does it?

I absolutely agree, Patsy! I'm absolutely LOVING the immensity of that pumpkin plant. And I now have three "babies" getting bigger each day!

 

[claudine]

I love that our gardens always surprise us in so many ways and that there is always something new to be excited about. Even little weeds can look very pretty. Gardening is the best way to fight boredom

 

[happyflowerlady]

I love my little garden, too, but this year it has gotten away from me. It was just so hot and muggy for a while that I could not be outside and get the weeds pulled, so now the weeds have taken over.
I am going to have to find the plants that are still hiding in there, dig them up, then weedeater the whole thing and till it again, and then I am going to plant a new crop for a fall garden. The weather seems to be cooling a bit already, so once I get it started, I should be able to keep the weeds pulled this fall.

 

[Babble64]

I love my little garden, too, but this year it has gotten away from me. It was just so hot and muggy for a while that I could not be outside and get the weeds pulled, so now the weeds have taken over.
I am going to have to find the plants that are still hiding in there, dig them up, then weedeater the whole thing and till it again, and then I am going to plant a new crop for a fall garden. The weather seems to be cooling a bit already, so once I get it started, I should be able to keep the weeds pulled this fall.

We had this happen, oh, about 20 years back, I guess. It was such a wet early summer (similar to what it was here) and you couldn't find the veggie plants for the weeds. It's annoying when you put so much time into getting it started, then just can't keep up. Hope things turn around for you. Our weather (NE USA) has turned away from the hot, humid, wet weather we had for the first half of summer and I'm quite happy about it!

 

[ChanellG]

I found another volunteer tomato plant growing out of the side of my compost. This time I waited to let it get a little taller before trying to transplant it. I have it sitting in a partly shady spot, but I'll need to keep an eye on it to be sure it doesn't immediately wilt and die off. I am hoping it's a yellow variety, but it could also be a cherry or grape since those are the ones most likely to have ended up in the bin.

 

[Babble64]

I found another volunteer tomato plant growing out of the side of my compost. This time I waited to let it get a little taller before trying to transplant it. I have it sitting in a partly shady spot, but I'll need to keep an eye on it to be sure it doesn't immediately wilt and die off. I am hoping it's a yellow variety, but it could also be a cherry or grape since those are the ones most likely to have ended up in the bin.

Even the one tomato plant that was broken off is now bearing fruit. It looks like we have at least two varieties, perhaps three. There are clusters that I'm pretty certain are grape tomatoes, and larger varieties as well. LOTS of tomatoes on just a few plants.

The pumpkins are also growing like gang-busters. I think I counted 8, in varying sizes, yesterday.

 

[ChanellG]

Even the one tomato plant that was broken off is now bearing fruit. It looks like we have at least two varieties, perhaps three...

I am completely envious, lol! I will be happy just to see this plant survive and produce one tomato. I tried growing tomatoes years ago from a Hawaiian variety that was supposed to do well in the heat. Well, it lived, but I never saw a tomato. Fingers crossed with this volunteer.

 

[zigs]

Found a few volunteer Tomato plants in the field near me.

Growing on big piles of poo from the sewage treatment place. Tomato seeds go straight thru the digestive tract unharmed.

 

[ChanellG]

Found a few volunteer Tomato plants in the field near me.

Growing on big piles of poo from the sewage treatment place. Tomato seeds go straight thru the digestive tract unharmed.

Wow. A few tomato plants? That looks like a few tomato fields! People must eat quite a lot of tomatoes over there, lol. Can't even think about it!

 

[zigs]

Smells a bit in that field

 

[ChanellG]

No kidding! If the plants bear tomatoes do you think anyone would actually eat them? Might be a market, lol. Just like those expensive coffee beans.