How can you tell what are weeds?

[blissthreetimes]

When the seedlings are just coming up, and you want to give them as much space as possible without being choked by weeds, they all look the same!

[SarahGuinn]

Just be patient and wait until you start to see true leaves.

[Owen'nZoe]

With experience, you get to know what different seedlings look like, and can make pretty good guesses about what is a weed and what isn't. But as the PP mentioned, waiting until true leaves start showing up isn't going to hurt anything.

I'm having the same trouble with my cover crop bed this year. It is the first time I am growing wheat, and I have no idea what a wheat seedling looks like. To complicate matters, DH accidentally got a little grass seed in that bed, and I know some of the seedlings are just regular old fescue. I'm itching to start weeding, and can't!

[CarrieMF]

If you planted in rows, the true plants will be mostly lined up.

[JamieCatheryn]

You can look up seedlings of the plants you put in to know what they're supposed to look like when it's new to you. Try putting it in google and going to Images.

[canadiyank]

Yep, looks for rows, and look for true leaves. After awhile you'll know what "x" seedling looks like.

[delly]

hehe, this is exactly why i'm not planting a "lettuce mix" this year! I did it last year, and I was having trouble figuring out what was lettuce and what was weeds because there were all sorts of different varieties in the mix! At least if I plant only one type of lettuce, I can figure out what's the real stuff because they all look the same!

[mindymom]

After a while you will also learn to recognize your weeds. To start with you can look for anything that seems to be growing randomly throughout your garden. Good luck.

[blissthreetimes]

Thanks everyone.
There's been rain and sun this last week, everything has shot up, and you're right! It's now clear what's what.

With the lettuces, when they get slightly larger, more than a copuple of leaves, they're easy to spot.

The spinach was trickier. I had some marigolds from last year, (in with tomatoes, they're supposed to keep the bugs away) the seedlings are so similar.

[MidnightCommando]

I just stumbled across a pretty informative guide to identify seedlings

http://www.public.iastate.edu/~taber...tification.pdf

[mamafish9]

Find a 5 year old, take them out to your garden. Watch what they pull up. Those are the plants. Everything else is weeds. At least that is how it works in my house. DD planted dandelions in the garden too - "they're so beautiful, mama, and then I can pick a bouquet of them for you".

[Greenmama2AJ]

LOL Mamafish9 - very true!

OwenNZoe - I once nurtured the healthiest piece of grass this side of the border thinking it was a wheat seedling, lol

[greengirl_]

Check the seed packet. Sometimes there will be a drawing of the seedling along with all of the planting info.

[My3guys]

Midnight Commando, great site. Of course, it didn't include photos of beans, corn and sunflowers which is where my current problem lies...... I did figure out what was corn so I am doing okay there.

I am just trying to wait to see what looks like what. Then, pull EVERYTHING else out.

CTK