So maybe this has happened to you….you may have been on the receiving end of a certain plant as a gift, and perhaps your knowledge of the species/genus is limited….I can remember around circa 2010 when if I had this problem I would take a picture that usually ended up on my hard drive, then I would upload it to a thread I’d start in a gardening forum.
Fast forward to now, and there are apps you can download that can identify these “mystery” plants.
So long story short, I thought I had an okra plant in the front yard bed, but two months later, this thing is sprawling and spreading like a virus….This app I downloaded, known as “Picture This” said it’s…Watermelon!
Watermelon? Get outta here!
I don’t see how anything that sprawling is going to thrive here. Watermelon can do just fine in raised beds, but there shouldn’t be anything else grown in the same bed at least not within three feet. I may be getting ahead of myself, though – all the many little fruits popping up are the size of a tennis ball. I have no idea how big they’ll get,or even if they’ll make it to adulthood.
I have 2 cherry tomatoes in there too, are they going to crowd them out?? They are flourishing, I’ve been picking them en masse for a few days now (heck, they’re doing better this year than the ones in the backyard bed – you just have to reach in more as the vines are hiding them.)
There is a fee involved with these apps, but you usually will get a free week trial, and you can cancel it before then if you don’t find it useful. I did – I only had a few other plants I was hoping to identify.
Please note that not all of these apps will be 100% accurate. There may be a false readout, or it may be one in the same family that’s close but not quite. Either way, have fun!
