What is this | Mumsnet

Sux2buthen · 2023-03-19T08:37:19+00:00

My child brought this home from nursery ages ago, I've given it the odd water. We have mo idea what it is. I am not one with nature but now I'm feeling invested

WobblyLondoner · 19/03/2023 08:42

Hard without a photo! Is it a sunflower by any chance?

bigbadbarry · 19/03/2023 08:46

Or a broad bean?

WitchDancer · 19/03/2023 08:51

Maybe cress?

happystory · 19/03/2023 08:51

Nurseries usually plant sunflower seeds or beans

LadyGardenersQuestionTime · 19/03/2023 08:53

Triffid.

Custardbanana · 19/03/2023 08:56

I thought you were saying you had picked up a child from nursery and you had no idea what it was til I realised this was gardening forum and you're probably talking about a plant.

Original poster

Sux2buthen · 19/03/2023 09:01

That's a great point about the photo, I did take one 🤣🤣

OP posts:

Original poster

Sux2buthen · 19/03/2023 09:01

Custardbanana · 19/03/2023 08:56

I thought you were saying you had picked up a child from nursery and you had no idea what it was til I realised this was gardening forum and you're probably talking about a plant.

🤣🤣

OP posts:

Jammymare · 19/03/2023 09:02

Courgette?

MrsMorton · 19/03/2023 09:02

Cucumber

ImpossibleGirl86 · 19/03/2023 09:02

Looks like courgette flowers to me

Manzana · 19/03/2023 09:02

courgette plant

Custardbanana · 19/03/2023 09:10

Cucumber. Rub the leaves the smell should give you a hint.

Sophforthe100 · 19/03/2023 09:12

It's a courgette, or some type of squash.

Santasoorplooms · 19/03/2023 09:13

These flowers could be courgette, cucumber, squash or pumpkin.

AlisonDonut · 19/03/2023 09:15

Cucumber flowers are smaller so a courgette or pumpkin.

Why on earth so early? This isn't likely to survive as it won't be able to go outdoors for another 2 months.

Original poster

Sux2buthen · 19/03/2023 09:18

AlisonDonut · 19/03/2023 09:15

Cucumber flowers are smaller so a courgette or pumpkin.

Why on earth so early? This isn't likely to survive as it won't be able to go outdoors for another 2 months.

No idea, my little girl handed it to me with no further information and now I am responsible for this plant

OP posts:

Original poster

Sux2buthen · 19/03/2023 09:18

Thanks all

OP posts:

AlisonDonut · 19/03/2023 09:24

If it helps OP the moment you plant it out it will get slugged to smithereens anyway. I always sow 2 or 3 times the number of courgettes I want for this reason.

That teacher is well out with their timings.

MereDintofPandiculation · 19/03/2023 09:33

MrsMorton · 19/03/2023 09:02

Cucumber

Not cucumber, they have small flowers

MereDintofPandiculation · 19/03/2023 09:51

Give it as much light as you can, in the coolest room of your house, perhaps buy a Baby Bio or as small a pack as you can find of pelletted long life fertiliser and give it a feed. The leaves should be darker green than that. The flowers you can see are male, and produce pollen. Soon you will get (fingers crossed) female flowers which have a tiny squash or courgette behind them. You’ll have to transfer pollen from a male flower to the sticky stigma in the female flower if you want fruit.

Both male and female flowers are good to eat, shredded into a salad or dipped into batter and fried.

You’ve been thrown into the deep end. It’s the sort of no-hope project that more experienced gardeners take on against their better judgement. You’ve done really well to get it this far.

(The reason for separate male and female flowers: it’s good to share genetic material with another plant to introduce variability in the offspring, and the capability of some plants surviving if conditions change. So the male flowers produced early on can only fertilise female flowers of another plant since there aren’t yet any female flowers on their own plant. Later the plant produces both male and female flowers, so it at least gets some fruit, even if they haven’t been cross-pollinated by a different plant. Other species of plants do things differently- it’s an endlessly fascinating subject the mechanisms by which plants balance the need to get fruit and seed at any cost with the need to get some cross pollination)

Original poster

Sux2buthen · 19/03/2023 10:20

MereDintofPandiculation · 19/03/2023 09:51

Give it as much light as you can, in the coolest room of your house, perhaps buy a Baby Bio or as small a pack as you can find of pelletted long life fertiliser and give it a feed. The leaves should be darker green than that. The flowers you can see are male, and produce pollen. Soon you will get (fingers crossed) female flowers which have a tiny squash or courgette behind them. You’ll have to transfer pollen from a male flower to the sticky stigma in the female flower if you want fruit.

Both male and female flowers are good to eat, shredded into a salad or dipped into batter and fried.

You’ve been thrown into the deep end. It’s the sort of no-hope project that more experienced gardeners take on against their better judgement. You’ve done really well to get it this far.

(The reason for separate male and female flowers: it’s good to share genetic material with another plant to introduce variability in the offspring, and the capability of some plants surviving if conditions change. So the male flowers produced early on can only fertilise female flowers of another plant since there aren’t yet any female flowers on their own plant. Later the plant produces both male and female flowers, so it at least gets some fruit, even if they haven’t been cross-pollinated by a different plant. Other species of plants do things differently- it’s an endlessly fascinating subject the mechanisms by which plants balance the need to get fruit and seed at any cost with the need to get some cross pollination)

Good griefwell I will give it my best shot.
You watch, the minute I start trying it will instantly die!
I'll try though

OP posts:

Original poster

Sux2buthen · 19/03/2023 10:21

Thanks for the advice

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MereDintofPandiculation · 19/03/2023 13:14

You watch, the minute I start trying it will instantly die! Probably! It so often seems like that!

On the other hand, I kill more things by forgetting to water them than any other reason. I don't mean forgetting to do a regular watering - more things are killed by overwatering than by underwatering - but completely forgetting their existence for several weeks.