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Monster weed

I've been asked several times when I'm going to dispose of this weed but I can't until I know what it is!

It appeared sometime around July, which was when the following photo was taken. It is now over 6 feet and showing no signs of stopping. No flowers, but it is throwing out a new branch at every leaf node and getting terribly large! The stem, or should I say trunk, is some 2 inches across, and it has roots going up the side, where it is leaning over. The stem is speckled with pink-purple dots, similar to a giant hogweed, starting from the base and spreading up as it matures.

Any suggestions eagerly received.

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Posts

  • nutcutletnutcutlet Posts: 27,445

    Can you do a side on view to show the shape of the plant please



    In the sticks near Peterborough
  • archiepemarchiepem Posts: 1,155

    triffidimage


  • Gardening in Central Norfolk on improved gritty moraine over chalk ... free-draining.





  • Forester2Forester2 Posts: 1,477

    It looks like it could be Himalyam Balsum.

  • Panoply,

    Looks like it may well be Himalyan balsum - if it is it should be producing pink flowers by now. The bumble bees love the flowerer, howevers if it's the only one around in your neighbourhood I would remove it before the seeds set, otherwise there will be twenty plants next year and a thousand in a couple of years. We have it everywhere around here as we have an unmanaged common nearby. This stuff is even out competing the japanese knotweed!

  • Forester2Forester2 Posts: 1,477

    If your monster plant is a Himalayan Balsam then get rid of it and don't allow it to seed everywhere.  It has now become a nuisance along river banks even though it is very pretty. Such a shame for an attractive plant and it has  an amazing way of shooting out it's seed with a loud popping sound.   

  • Thank you all for your help. I think you are right that it is Himalayan Balsam. Only thing that doesn't seem the same is my plant's stems are green with red speckles, rather than having a solid red stem, but I guess this is natural variation.

    I'm surprised it hasn't started flowering yet since it is an annual. I will keep it around until it flowers and then chop it down. I may try boiling it too! Enough to feed the family!

    Here it is in all its current monstrosity alongside the fennel and sunflowers, and shots of its rooty base and the speckly stem.

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  • nutcutletnutcutlet Posts: 27,445

    I'm not convinced. I haven't seen it lately but I remember a sort of translucence to the red stem. and some red on the leaf, maybe the mid rib?

    these stems have a coarse solidity to them that  doesn't seem right.

    and here we are at the end of september, 6' tall and no flowers



    In the sticks near Peterborough
  • I agree it's concerning that it's not flowered yet if it's to be an annual. Even my most tortured annuals have managed something. I don't like to think I may have to keep it another year or so before I can know what it is though! Next year I shall not let weeds get my interest!

    The stem is indeed very solid and bumpy lower down, which I assume is where roots would come out were they nearer the ground.

    I thought it came from the bird seed, as this plant is near to a bird table and all around the base of the table there are what appear to be seedlings of it. I hoe them down frequently, but unfortunately this giant fellow got itself under a cloche and was quite large before I found it, so I don't know for sure it's the same, though it seems likely enough.

    The leaves look right for the Himalayan balsam, so I shall have a look through other Impatiens and see if there's another giant that might fit the bill. If only it were Impatiens niamniamensis!

  • nutcutletnutcutlet Posts: 27,445

    I should think something out of the bird seed is very likely and not likely to be any sort of impatiens.The first pic didn't say HB to me and the later ones even less so.



    In the sticks near Peterborough
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