Strange growings on...

Discussion in 'General Gardening Discussion' started by Pirate_Milk, Sep 5, 2010.

  1. Pirate_Milk

    Pirate_Milk Apprentice Gardener

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    Hello all...my first post and I feel it is a very perculier subject.

    To begin with I have a beautiful 9month old daughter. During the later stages of my partners pregnancy she was advised to drink raspberry leaf tea to bring on labour. After devouring nearly all of a box of the stuff we had our daughter and everything was smooth and perfect.
    Roll on 9 months and we had a craving for a raspberry tea. Opening the small cardboard box at the back of the kicthen cupboard we found one single tea-bag remaining and intact with string and cardboard tag. Accompanying this bag was what looked like a mini-rice cracker that was soft disc shaped. Protruding from this seemed to be approx. 3inches of roots...thick and pale.
    My partner wanted to dispose of it straight away but my curious nature got the better of me. This box had not been opened in 9 months, dark and room temperature. If the growth had come from another tea-bag it would have had another string and label...which it did not.

    So, I originally decided to submerge it in a pint of water...nothing happened for a few days. Then I took it out and planted it in a small pot with compost. Note, the mini-rice cracker part detached in transit, but I planted it all the same. I know very little about gardening but the outcome seemed very strange to me...it started growing leaves withing 1 week. It is getting bigger gradually and more leaves are appearing.

    I guess an identification is what I'm after...maybe some advice to promote growth more? Anyone ever heard anything like this? I mean the tea box was obviously tight closed and we don't feel anything could have fell in or let alone survive so long.

    Here is a picture...if anyone needs more details or photos please ask. If this does not seem so strange to you good people then I am sorry for wasting your time, but replies would be appreciated all the same.

    Thanks.

    Ad
     
  2. pete

    pete Growing a bit of this and a bit of that....

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    looks like a potato to me.
     
  3. strongylodon

    strongylodon Old Member

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    Looks like a Fuchsia to me but I don't think it is.:scratch:
     
  4. Marley Farley

    Marley Farley Affable Admin! Staff Member

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    :scratch: Yes looks more Fuchsia like I think Strongy, but I was wondering what else was in Raspberry leaf tea... :scratch:
     
  5. Phil A

    Phil A Guest

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    Hi Pirate milk & welcome to gardeners corner,

    Blimey, thats a great story, just the sort of mystery we love.

    Contrary to the others, it looks like am impatiens or policemans helmet flower. These have exploding seed pods, so could have exploded into the rasberry leaves & stayed there till the buscuit got damp.

    If you put a seed pod in your mouth, it explodes from the heat.
     
  6. Phil A

    Phil A Guest

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    Nah, ignore everthing I just said & try busy lizzy:o
     
  7. theruralgardener

    theruralgardener Gardener

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    This is SO intriguing :scratch: But I really can't work it all out. If only you had taken a photo of the mystery 'mini rice cracker with roots, pre potting up!!

    Could this 'rice cracke thing' have fallen into the box 9 months ago whilst you were preparing the last cuppa pre delivery of your baby?!!! If so, it had it's own 9 months to gestate and grow? Could a sliver of potato peel have dropped in....mind you, it doesn't look much like a potato, apart from the fleshy root.

    Anyway, keep us posted with the progress reports

    Julie
     
  8. theruralgardener

    theruralgardener Gardener

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    Does look like a busy lizzy
     
  9. Pirate_Milk

    Pirate_Milk Apprentice Gardener

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    Thanks guys! Great replies.

    Yes it is a shame we didn't take a photo pre-potting. Could have cleared things up considerably!

    Had a look at a few photos of potato, fushia and busy lizzy plants...I obviously don't have as keen an eye for these things as you guys but looks like it could be any. I guess it's still a very early stage.

    I will certainly post more photos and updates on this thread in good time.

    Interestingly...and I'm reasonably sure there is a logical reason for it, I was watering the plants yesterday and I found a small crystal in the pot lying on top of the soil. I have a few other plants in my garden I care for including chili pepper and tomato and have not found anything similar in their soils. My partner knows a lot about crystals and she's pretty sure it is a quartz. Wondering if quartz is used in compost at all? Find it strange how it just appeared overnight.

    Anyways, more to follow!

    Thanks again to all.
     
  10. Axl

    Axl Gardener

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    It does look very much like Potato.

    Would there be a need for a piece of cut potato in a box of tea bags? Unless it's fallen in. Could someone have dropped a potato slice in when making Hot Pot!? :scratch:

    [​IMG]
     
  11. Pirate_Milk

    Pirate_Milk Apprentice Gardener

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    I do like hotpot! I think it is obviously potential. Can't see that an organism grew from nothing. Would a potato peel just start growing 3 inches of root? Would that root once planted grow leaves? It all happened very quickly too.
     
  12. Aesculus

    Aesculus Bureaucrat 34 (Admin)

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    I'm going for a member of the busy lizzy family myself:wink:
     
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