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A few months ago, I planted some flower seeds that looked like they were designed for wind dispersal: very light, thin, and elongated (a little shorter than one of my finger joints). Mostly black with a bit of white, if I recall correctly.

They took so long to germinate that I thought the seeds were bad. Then they started growing very quickly, and right now they grow about one or two inches per day. The vines have those little tendrils to grab on to things, so I'm not sure if it is a climbing plant.

I don't remember what kind of seeds they were. Can someone tell me what this plant is and how to best deal with it? I was expecting relatively contained, bushy flowers, but the vines are invading my sidewalk and the flowers are tiny.

If it matters, I live in a tropical environment and the seeds were from one of those little packets like they sell at Walmart.

Thanks.

Vine on grass

Vine on sidewalk

Flower

Flower close-up

EDIT December 17: Just over 25 pounds. :-) Thanks, all.

Watermelon

Pedro
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2 Answers2

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This is definitely (I should never say definitely) but when I first saw your pictures I thought squash. This looks like WATERMELON! How long ago did you take these pictures? Any signs of little gourds? A member of the Cucurbitaceae family. watermelon plants

stormy
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From the description you've given of the seeds you planted, they sound very much like the seeds of Tagetes patula, commonly known as French marigold. You've confirmed that the seeds shown in the image here do look similar to the ones you planted https://hillwards.wordpress.com/2010/10/03/green-and-gold/tagetes-seeds/

Clearly, that's not what you've got growing judging by the images you've posted, so its likely the plants you have are self set/volunteers and nothing to do with the seeds you planted. If you've grown melons in previous years, these may be from those, if seeds from inside the melons somehow got onto the soil - but the seeds don't come true, so they won't necessarily be the same as the melons you've grown before.

Tagetes should grow if sown outside in warmer regions, but in most countries, its usual to start them off with heat in seed trays or flats - it may be the conditions just weren't right for the seeds you sowed and that's why they didn't grow.

Next time you sow seeds, put a few in a pot in potting compost as well as sowing directly into the ground - that way, if they germinate, you'll know what they look like as seedlings and will be able to tell them apart from weeds or unwanted plants when seedlings start growing in the ground.

Bamboo
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