Weeds in pots

Weeds of all sorts - including ornamental grasses - in all sizes of pots. I use multipurpose peat-free of various brands.

 

The worry is that there may be more sinister weeds in bought compost these days. Was compost sterilised in the past or was it 'cooked' at a higher temperature?
I'm reminded of the cause of mad cow disease.

 

I have to top the compost in my pots of Cyclamen with grit to stop the leaves getting damp, but thankfully it doesn't stop their babies from germinating.

 

I don't get many weeds in pots, maybe because they are on paved patios and they have annuals and herbs so the compost is changed every year. However, when I grew blueberries in pots in ericaceous compost there were weeds. I think that is because only a bit of compost on top was changed and I had the plants for a few years.

 

I get weeds in established pots, despite mulching with chipped bark and especially that nasty yellow flowered clover, but also in newly planted pots and seed trays where the seeds have clearly been present in the bought compost.

It happens no matter what i'm suing - seeds and cuttings compost or more beefy stuff for citrus plants, ornamentals, veggies and ericaceous. I also have to sieve composts now to get rid of great lumps of stuff that needs to decompose a lot longer.

 

I get lots of weeds in my pots and like @BB3 says, at least they’re my weeds/wildflowers so familiar and easy to remove or keep as wanted.

I also use my own compost/garden soil for seed growing so that’s weedy too. Only time it’s an issue is if I'm growing something unfamiliar. Then I have to be careful I don’t weed out the wrong seedlings, I’ve learnt to just let them grow on a bit longer if unsure

 

I've had a few toadstools this year.

 

Yes I had a big, white, flat-topped mushroom turn up in one of my blueberry pots.

 

Well we know how mad cow disease was caused by lowering the temperature of the feed by a few degrees ( that's ignoring the ethics of what was put in the feed)
If they're lowering the temperature or omitting the sterilisation altogether stage to increase profits, who knows what weeds and diseases will be spread?

 

If I remember correctly Mad Cow Disease was caused by a prion and transmitted through feeding ground cow containing brains and spinal cord to other cows. Prions are misfolded proteins and are relatively unaffected by normal sterilisation temperatures.
A number of other diseases are caused by prions including Kreuzfeld Jacob Disease and Scarpies in sheep.

 

I'm getting some class weeds this year. First I got this enormous Dill in my Blueberry pot. Not such a surprise, as I was growing a supermarket Dill on the patio last year and it produced lots of seed. Still, I'm sure I wouldn't have been able to grow such a specimen deliberately! Have already used a lot of the leaves in pesto.


Then a sunflower started to poke its head out of a tomato planter


And this pretty thing emerged in a pot where I'm growing a courgette plant - some variety of Coreopsis I should think, though not one that I have in the garden.


I'm seeing what look like strawberry seedlings in a couple of pots too - presumably the birds are responsible for that (and the sunflower!).

 

All sorts of weeds pop up both in bought compost and our own tho th elatter usually consists of squashes and tomatoes.

I have spent the last couple of days going thru my "nursery" of pots and have found a wide variey of weeds but the main culprits are avens (which can look like strawberries or geums till it gives itself away), that Canadian daisy and a small forest of tiny ash trees. As I re-pot, the larger specimens are getting a mulch of our own wood chips as they have to wait a wee while longer before I get new beds for everything.

 

The more you get to recognise wildflower seedlings, the more complicated weeding becomes.