Purslane: planting and care. Purslane - planting seeds and caring for a flowering carpet in the open field and on the windowsill Purslane flower growing

Purslane is a carpet annual plant that attracts, first of all, with its flowers - single, rather large (from 3 to 6 cm in diameter), they are simple, double and semi-double, color - white, orange, yellow, cream, pink, cherry and pinkish red. Flowers are located at the ends of the stem. Flowering lasts only one day - having blossomed in the morning, the flower dies off in the evening. But due to the fact that new flowers on the purslane, under appropriate conditions, are formed constantly and very much, the decorativeness of the plant does not suffer from this. The flowering period of purslane begins in June and lasts until the first frost.

Purslane is a plant that is very convenient for use in landscape design. It grows well, covering the soil with a green solid carpet - which is why it is often used as a ground cover, especially for open sunny places, on dry soils it generally acts as a substitute lawn. He feels good on stony soils, with his help you can get floral carpet both on flat slopes and slopes.

It is used everywhere in rockeries, on stone walls, in ridges, between slabs, on dry and southern slopes alpine slides. In the flower garden, it can successfully replace faded ornithogallums, muscari and other small-bulbous plants that have bloomed since early spring. AT mixborder purslane is usually planted as a foreground plant, and in dry places as a border plant.

Due to its unpretentiousness, purslane feels great in garden or hanging vases, it is well suited for growing on loggias and balconies.

Types of purslane

Despite the fact that about 200 species of purslane are known in nature, only two of its species are grown in culture.

Purslane grandiflorum

In its natural habitat, this species is a perennial, but in our conditions it is grown exclusively as an annual plant, because it, even when sheltered for the winter, does not tolerate frost. This is a low (up to 20 cm) creeping plant with a strongly branching stem, the leaves are cylindrical in shape, reaching up to 2 cm in diameter. The most popular varieties:

• Scarlet- undersized (up to 12 cm) plant with a strongly branched stem. Flowers - double, scarlet, up to 5 cm in diameter, flowering lasts from July to mid-October

• Cherry- a low (up to 12 cm) plant with simple cherry-colored flowers that can reach up to 5 cm in diameter
• Hybrid "Cream" - double flowers, up to 5 cm in diameter, cream, with a more saturated color in the middle

• Splendex- this variety of purslane attracts with its flowers of an unusual, pink-purple hue
• Sunglo- a variety that has not only the largest flowers, but also retains flowering even on cloudy days

• Orange- with flowers of bright orange color, this variety is often used as an ampelous plant.

Purslane garden

Another name is dandur or a flea plant, extremely unpretentious, most summer residents are notorious as a weed that is difficult to remove. This plant has a fleshy, bare, succulent stem, the shoots have a characteristic crimson pigmentation and can reach up to 60 cm in length, usually lying on the ground, only the growing parts are raised. The leaves are fleshy, palmate or oblong-oval, yellowish-green or green in color. Flowering lasts in June-September, but has no decorative value - the flowers are inexpressive, very small, yellow.

For medical purposes, purslane has been used since ancient times, its leaves and shoots are rich in vitamins A, E, C, PP, K, as well as easily digestible proteins, carbohydrates, carotene, organic acids, saponins, mineral and mucous salts. AT traditional medicine purslane is used as a wound healing, anti-inflammatory and diuretic, it helps to relieve inflammation in bladder, with diseases of the kidneys and liver, arthritis, eye diseases. Drinking purslane juice helps lower blood sugar and cholesterol levels.

In cooking, green succulent shoots are used, which are cut before flowering.
The greens have a slightly sour, refreshing taste with slightly burning and spicy nuances, reminiscent of sorrel or spinach. Purslane is used both for salads and in vegetable dishes, gravies and sauces for fish and meat dishes. in the Caucasus and Central Asia it is pickled and salted, as well as harvested in dried form.

Advice! You can cut off almost the entire shoot, after 25-30 days the plant is restored almost completely, one plant gives 3-4 crops per summer.

Purslane: cultivation and care

Growing purslane is easy enough, it is an ideal plant for those who cannot devote a lot of time to caring for the plant. The main thing is to choose the right soil for it. Purslane comes from Brazil and Argentina, so the main condition for its normal development and abundant flowering- the sun is very thermophilic and photophilous plant. There should be a lot of sun, because on cloudy days or in a shaded place, purslane flowers do not open. With a lack of light, flowering may not begin at all, the stem lengthens, the carpet loses its solidity.

The soil

Sandy, poor soil is best suited for planting purslane - on too “fat” land, the plant will intensively increase its green mass, but flowering may not occur at all. It is very important that there is no peat in the soil. To adapt the "heavy" soil for planting purslane, you can add charcoal.

top dressing

Purslane does not need to be fed, it tolerates poor soils well, but fertilizer can cause flowering to stop.

Watering

Purslane requires frequent watering immediately after transplantation, during the period of active plant growth. As it grows, the frequency of watering decreases. Despite the fact that the fleshy leaves of purslane are able to accumulate water, mature plant needs periodic watering, on average - 1 time per week, and in very dry summers - 1 time in 3-4 days.

Care

Purslane is very unpretentious, it does not require weeding (most often, you will have to stop its “aggressive” aspirations, thanks to self-seeding, it is capable of a short time cover enough large areas, especially vegetable purslane), loosening the soil or pruning.

Diseases and pests

Purslane is extremely resistant to diseases, the only fairly rare disease is infection with the fungus Albugo portulaceae, the defeat of which is indicated by small spots that appear on the leaves of the purslane. In this case, the stems of plants begin to deform and lose their attractiveness. To get rid of the fungus, the affected parts of the plant are removed, the remaining shoots are treated with any fungicidal preparations containing copper. Very rarely, thrips can appear on the plant - insect pests that suck the juice of the plant, which is why silver specks form on the leaves.

Reproduction of purslane

The main method of propagation of purslane is seed. Due to the fact that the maturation of the boxes containing the seeds is very uneven, and when they ripen they immediately crack, for harvesting the seeds they are collected slightly unripe and laid out on paper. And although the seeds remain similar for 2-3 years, it is better to sow them immediately the next year.

Since purslane blooms 2-2.5 months after germination, it is sown for seedlings in early March. To do this, up to 1 cm of fine gravel is poured at the bottom of a small drainage tank. The soil is a mixture of garden soil (80%) and sand (20%). Important point- in the presence of peat in the soil, germination will be extremely low up to its complete absence.

The soil is well moistened with thawed (settled) water, the seeds are simply sown from above, after which the container is covered with a film (glass). The first shoots appear after 5-15 days, after which the film is removed. Until the plants get stronger, the soil is moistened with a spray gun. Purslane is very thermophilic, minimum temperature for the normal development of seedlings - not less than + 22C, raising the temperature to + 30C improves the development of plants. Upon reaching the age of one month, when several true leaves appear, the seedlings dive into small (7-8 cm in diameter) pots.

Advice! Seedlings develop well only with sufficient lighting - the duration of daylight hours should be at least 12 hours. Therefore, it is necessary to use lamp for plants daylight, on cloudy days to carry out additional illumination, and on other days - to carry out this procedure in the morning and evening.

Purslane is planted (planting, the photo is given below, is carried out when the seedlings reach 5 cm in height and there are at least 10 leaves) after the end of night frosts. The distance between individual seedlings is 15-20 cm, soon this distance will be quickly filled with a green rug.

Advice! To improve the survival rate, the seedlings are intensively watered, when the plant grows up, they switch to the standard watering mode.

In summer, reproduction can be carried out using cuttings - all leaves, except for a few upper ones, are removed from a 5 cm long cutting and planted in prepared soil.

Growing purslane from seeds - more on the video

Purslane is a wonderful choice for decorating any flower bed. Plantings with bright lashes of this plant cover the ground with a dense rug and look very impressive. Small non-double flowers are shaped like multi-colored poppies, and terry varieties look like miniature roses.

Features and varieties

Purslane (Dandur) - genus herbaceous plants from the Purslane family. Because of the fleshy creeping stem, the people call the flower "rug". Adult specimens grow up to 30 cm. There are plants with simple and double flowers of white, yellow, orange, purple, red, pink, coffee and two-color color. Dandur can please bright colors mid-June to October. With absence sunlight they remain closed all day, but some newly bred terry varieties open even when the weather is cloudy. After flowering, a spherical fruit box is formed with large quantity small seeds.

The genus Purslane has united more than 200 species of plants, but only one of them is used in ornamental gardening - large-flowered purslane. This perennial species usually grown as an annual. It has five-petalled single flowers with a diameter of 2.5-3 cm, in some varieties they reach a size of 6 cm. The green leaves resemble fleshy needles, and the creeping stem is reddish-brown.

Garden purslane (vegetable) is an annual plant with small white or yellow flowers collected in inflorescences and a fleshy stem up to 30 cm long. This is a weed plant with medicinal properties that was used for treatment various diseases even in the time of Hippocrates. It is used in folk medicine and cooking. There are edible types of garden purslane with red and yellow leaves.

Non-decorative wild species of purslane are tenacious weeds, which can be difficult to overcome in the garden. They grow in many regions of Russia and Ukraine, in Central Asia, Transcaucasia and the Far East.

Reproduction methods

You can get a lot of young seedlings of decorative purslane when growing from seeds. The second breeding option is to carry out cuttings of the most interesting specimens. To do this, the flower is transferred to a cool place for the winter, and in the spring, cuttings about 5 cm long are cut. They are planted in prepared soil, removing the lower leaves. With the onset of heat, young plants are planted in open ground.

How to sow purslane?

Seed material is pre-sown in shallow and wide containers from February to April. Use seeds that are from six months to three years old. At the bottom there is a layer of fine gravel or expanded clay.

Peat is not used as a soil - it worsens the germination of purslane seeds.

Prepare the soil from 80% garden soil and 20% sand. The mixture is pre-disinfected. To do this, it is kept in the oven for half an hour at temperatures up to 50 degrees. Then they let the earth cool down, moisten it with settled water and sow the seeds. They are placed at a distance of about 1 cm from each other, pressing into the ground to a depth of 0.5 mm.

Pots with crops are covered with glass or plastic wrap and transferred to a room with a temperature not lower than +22 degrees. Choose a bright and warm place without drafts, regularly moisten and ventilate. The first shoots appear after 3-4 days, and within 1-2 weeks there is a mass appearance of plants. Growing seedlings.

It can be sown directly in open ground when the average daily temperature reaches +20 degrees. In this case, flowering will be later. Small seeds are mixed with river sand and placed on a pre-moistened area to a depth of 0.5 mm. A bed with crops is covered with a film until the seeds germinate. Ventilate and moisturize regularly. The film is removed at an average daily temperature of at least +24 degrees.

When the height of the seedlings is 2-3 cm, they are planted in a permanent place of cultivation. Purslane is placed in 2-3 pieces. in one hole, the distance between plants is 10 cm, and the row spacing is 15 cm. You can plant one at a time. Over time, the creeping stems of the flower will cover the surface of the soil with a dense rug.

Purslane reproduces well by self-seeding. Young seedlings almost always appear in spring on flower beds where the plant bloomed last year. In this case, it will take longer to wait for beautiful multi-colored rugs than with pre-sowing at home.

How to grow purslane from seedlings?

After the appearance of a pair of true leaves, young plants grown from seeds dive. They are transplanted into pots with a diameter of about 7-8 cm. Purslane is deepened into the soil to the cotyledon leaves. Seedlings grow slowly, with a lack of light, heat or moisture, they can get sick and stretch. Drying of the soil is not allowed, watered with warm settled water. It is convenient to do this with a spray gun. With a lack of sunlight, additional illumination is carried out with an ordinary table lamp. This is especially important if the sowing was early.

Transplantation in open ground is carried out in late May or early June, when warm weather sets in. In regions with a cold climate, purslane can be planted outside no earlier than mid-June.

Pre-seedlings are hardened for 1-2 weeks. Pots with purslane are taken out into the street in the daytime, first for 15 minutes, then the time is gradually increased to 5-6 hours. Flowers are planted in open ground, keeping a distance of 10-15 cm between adjacent specimens. Work is carried out carefully so as not to damage the brittle fleshy stem. The first week is watered frequently, then the amount of moisture is reduced depending on weather conditions.

Features of cultivation

You can get a long and numerous flowering of purslane, if you create suitable conditions for its growth and development, follow the rules of care.

• This is a heat-resistant flower that will like the most light, dry and warm place. Light penumbra is acceptable, wait in shaded areas good flowering will not work.
• Low temperatures are detrimental to this heat-loving plant. Already at +10, the lower leaves fall off.
• Purslane is a succulent that can tolerate prolonged lack of moisture. During the period of active vegetative growth, it is watered with warm settled water every 4-5 days. Water stagnation is unacceptable. In rainy weather, they do not moisturize; when it gets colder, the amount of watering is reduced.
• The flower grows well nutrient soil, and on depleted sandy or clay soil. You can grow purslane in too dense soil, but you need to add sand to the substrate.
• Excessively nutritious soil with a lot of organic matter leads to the active growth of shoots, but there are few flowers. It is useful to fertilize with complex mineral fertilizer 2-3 times in summer. In this case, the purslane will bloom more abundantly.
• The soil is loosened near young plants. Then there will be no opportunity to carry out such work, otherwise you can damage the dense flower carpet.
• After the autumn cooling, the plant dies. You can collect small purslane seeds to sow next year beautiful plant again. They mature in different time, so the seed boxes are torn off in parts. Do this when they turn yellow, but do not have time to crack. Then they are dried on paper. Non-double varieties are easier to grow from self-collected seeds. At terry varieties amount seed material less, and its germination is worse.

Pests and diseases

Fungal diseases can appear on the plant if the soil is constantly waterlogged. Often this happens if excess moisture is combined with sufficiently low temperatures. In this case, dark spots first appear on the leaves, and then the rot spreads to the roots and stems. Some types of fungus lead to deformation of purslane shoots. The affected parts of the plant are removed and the flower and earth are treated with fungicides.

Aphids and thrips are unpleasant enemies of purslane. Aphids can be detected independently. It feeds on plant sap. It is difficult to notice thrips with the naked eye, it will tell you about their appearance appearance flower: silvery blotches and stripes appear on the stems and leaves of the plant. For pest control use insecticides according to the instructions.

Use in landscape design

Large-flowered purslane is an excellent decoration for alpine slides and flower borders. It is often placed in areas with primroses. After the flowering of tulips, hyacinths and lilies of the valley, the purslane will revive the empty section of the flower bed.

Dandur can be planted in flowerpots or containers, which are used to decorate balconies, loggias and verandas. After a cold snap, containers with plants can be transferred to a warm room to extend the life of the flowers.

Attractive purslane rugs will add variety to the decoration of the flower garden. They will delight lovers of easy-to-care, but spectacular flowers.

ground cover flowering plant purslane loved by many gardeners. It is especially popular among the British, who in the middle of the last century grew it as garden plant. Intertwining purslane stems with small leaves cover the soil and form a colorful carpet on which pink, scarlet orange, yellow, white flowers bloom. The plant has several species and varieties, but in gardens it is mainly large-flowered purslane that is grown.

Purslane flowers - description, photo

Even under cover, the purslane plant does not tolerate our winters, therefore it is grown as an annual. They plant it in flower beds, in containers, hanging baskets, pots, decorating not only garden plots but also balconies.

Purslane flower is different:

• hollow inside branched juicy brown stems up to 30 cm in length;
• spindle-shaped branched root;
• fleshy leaves, which may be flattened or cylindrical;
• flowers of dark red, yellow, white, Pink colour, each of which blooms only one day;
• multi-seeded spherical pod.

Despite the fact that each purslane bud fades by evening, its flowering from June to September is so plentiful that it seems to be continuous.

Species, varieties and photos

In the wild, the plant grows in tropical regions, where there are more than a hundred of its varieties. as gardening and garden culture grow only four types of flower:

1. Purslane large-flowered. A very popular decorative garden annual in Russia. It has creeping stems, which are densely covered with cone-shaped leaves. The color of its flowers can be from white to purple or burgundy. When blooming, each bud has a diameter of up to 5–7 cm. By the end of September, a basket fruit ripens, from which it spills onto the ground. a large number of seeds.
2. Purslane ampelous. The artificially bred hybrid species is distinguished by branching stems with cone-shaped fleshy leaves. Its flowers can be single or double and have lilac, purple, pink, yellow, red, white hues. grow up ampelous purslane on balconies in street flowerpots, hanging planters. In the garden, they are decorated with ridges, alpine slides.
3. Drug, vegetable purslane garden. The succulent has fleshy stems covered with thick oval leaves and inconspicuous small yellow inflorescences. The fruit, formed in autumn, is in the form of an oval box and contains many seeds. The plant propagates easily by self-sowing. Its shoots and leaves contain many useful substances: glycosides, phylloquinone, nicotinic acid, norepinephrine, proteins, iron, copper, sodium, sugars, zinc, potassium, alkaloids, resinous substances, magnesium, potassium, ascorbic acid, organic acids, carotene. Due to its composition, garden purslane is used in medicine and cooking.
4. Purslane terry. An annual horticultural groundcover with large bright flowers. Its buds open in the bright sun, and remain closed in cloudy weather. Selected cultivars Sundance and Sunglo bloom regardless of the sun.

Purslane is a flowering ground plant.

Purslane large-flowered - varieties, photos

most popular and the best varieties this type of succulent are considered:

• « splendens"- a plant with double large flowers of a purple-pink hue;
• « Princely"- buds with corrugated petals can be scarlet, orange or white;
• « White-flowered"- bush with pure white terry inflorescences;
• « air zephyr p "- on shoots up to 10 cm long there are terry inflorescences of various shades;
• « Royal"- large simple flowers are distinguished by a wide range of colors.

Purslane - growing from seeds

When growing a plant in seedlings, its flowering will decorate the garden from June until frost. Therefore, many people sow seeds in late February, early March.

However, experienced gardeners advise planting purslane in April, explaining that when early landing seedlings do not have enough daylight hours and require artificial lighting.

Sowing seeds

It is recommended to sow the succulent in a self-prepared soil mixture. The soil from the store contains peat, which will slow down the germination of seeds. A mixture of garden soil and sand is prepared in a ratio of 4: 1. The finished soil must be calcined in the oven and distributed among seedling containers, on the bottom of which drainage is previously laid.

Before sowing, the soil is moistened with settled water at room temperature. To prevent the soil from being washed away, it is better to do this with a spray bottle.

Since purslane seeds are small, you can use a toothpick to spread them on the soil surface. It is necessary to spread the seeds about a centimeter apart, pressing a little into the soil.

From above, the container is covered with glass or polyethylene and placed in a warm place. The air temperature must be at least +22C. Under favorable conditions, the first shoots will appear in 7-14 days.

seedling care

When growing seedlings, it is necessary to monitor soil moisture and lighting. If the seedlings begin to stretch, then this means that they do not have enough light. In this case, additional lighting will be needed. Plants planted in April will be enough to put on the southern windowsill. The soil should be moistened with settled water.

When two true leaves appear, the seedlings dive. To do this, three shoots are planted in cups with a diameter of 7–8 cm. When transplanting a young plant, it is necessary to ensure that an earthen lump remains on its roots.

Sprouts will take root in a new container for about a week. As soon as this happens, it is recommended to make the first top dressing. For this, complex mineral fertilizers are used. Such top dressing will need to be carried out every 7-10 days before planting seedlings in flower beds.

Landing in open ground

In early June, as soon as the positive temperature is established, young plants can be planted in the garden. By this time, 10–15 leaves and several buds should form on each seedling.

The place for them should be well lit, because even in partial shade the purslane will not bloom. In addition, it is better to make a flower bed on a hill. Succulents do not like standing water in the soil. Their fleshy roots can quickly start to rot.

It is not necessary to fertilize the soil before planting. She must be poor. In soil rich in fertilizers, only green mass will grow near purslane, and buds will not form. When planting, the bushes are located 15–20 cm apart from each other.

Features of care

Grow in open field purslane is very simple. Succulents are drought-resistant plants and therefore require minimal moisture. In dry, hot weather, they should be watered no more than once a week. You can do this from above or below the root.

Since purslane forms mats, there is no need to loosen and mulch the soil around them. The plant does not need additional feeding.

Diseases and pests

Purslane is resistant to many diseases. But succulents are afraid of dampness, which contributes to the emergence of fungi. If the plant stopped blooming, the stems began to deform, and dark spots of rot appeared on the leaves, then most likely the flower was subjected to a fungal disease.

In this case, the affected shoots are cut out, and the bush and soil are treated with fungicides.

Of the pests, purslane can attack:

1. Aphid. Insects feed on the succulent parts of the plant. Aphids are easy to spot. When it is detected, it is necessary to treat it with insecticides, which include Iskra, Aktara, Aktelik, Decis.
2. Thrips. Insects are hard to spot. Their appearance is signaled by those that appeared on different parts plants are silvery specks and stripes. In this case, the bushes are treated with Fitoverm, Karbafos, Agravertin or Intavir.

Heat-loving purslane in the open field cannot winter. Therefore, in the fall, seeds are collected from it, which can be sown next spring.

Thinking about how to decorate your flower bed next spring! Pay attention to purslane. The shoots of the plant have needle-like leaves, intertwining, cover the ground well, and a variety of colors (red, white, pink, orange, purple) creates a multi-colored meadow. In addition, the plant does not require much time for care.

Growing purslane from seeds

There are several ways to breed purslane. The most popular way is to grow purslane with seeds, as it does not require high costs time and effort.

Did you know? The name of the purslane flower comes from the Latin word "portula" - "collar".

Sowing seeds for seedlings

For those who are eager to see the purslane bloom in June, seedlings are planted in the ground. For seedlings, seeds are sown in February-March. Any soil is suitable for them, the main thing is that it is moisture and breathable. Due to the small size of the seeds, when purslane is planted for seedlings, they are mixed with calcined sand. The resulting cocktail is scattered over the surface of moist soil, without falling asleep, but slightly pressed to the surface of the soil, irrigated with water from a sprayer. Then the pots are covered with polyethylene and transferred to a warm room (the temperature should not be lower than 20ºC). Once a day, the film is removed in order to ventilate and water if necessary.

Important! Do not overuse fertilizers. With a large number of them, the purslane will grow green and stop blooming.

Caring for purslane seedlings will not be a big hassle. Seedlings germinate in 1-2 weeks. When they appear, the cover from the pots or boxes is removed and the seedlings are moved to the windowsills. Watering is continued with a sprinkler. When the second leaf appears on the seedling, the purslane begins to dive. Seedlings dive at a distance of 4 cm from each other, deepening them to the cotyledon leaf. Purslane is planted in a flower garden at a distance of 10-15 cm from each other. Seedlings can be planted after frost (temperatures below 10ºC are critical for purslane).

Sowing seeds in open ground

Purslane is a perennial plant. It can be planted once, and then the grass will self-sow. The plant can grow for years in the same place in the flower bed. Purslane does not require specific care and special soil. Seeds should be sown after the last frost in a sunny location. When purslane is planted with seeds in open ground, the ground is first loosened and a small amount of fertilizer is applied, while the seeds are slightly pressed into the soil to a depth of 1 cm. The gap between the rows is within 50 cm. When two leaves appear on the seedlings, they break through, leaving one plant per 10 cm.

Reproduction of purslane cuttings

Purslane is well propagated by cuttings. For the winter, you need to bring one or more plants from the flower bed into the house. In the spring, part of the branches are cut off from the purslane, rooted in water and transplanted into a flower bed. When purslane is planted with cuttings, it blooms in a month.

Did you know?Purslane has a number medicinal properties. Its shoots contain vitamins of groups A, B, K, PP, E. It also serves as a source of protein and carbohydrates.

Combination with other plants and use in landscape design

Purslane is great for landscaping. The plant is used for group plantings. Purslane looks great both in front of flower beds and on the southern slopes of alpine hills. In the flower garden, purslane well replaces flowering small-bulbous spring plants.

In mixborders, it is used as a foreground plant. It is often used as a border plant in dry conditions. Growing purslane in balcony boxes and flowerpots, they transform gazebos, verandas and terraces. The plant looks good with marigolds and nasturtiums.

Purslane serves as an alternative lawn grass, since it does not require frequent watering, it does not need to be cut, it does not stop blooming, constantly pleasing the eye with bright colors.

How to care for purslane in the garden

Purslane was introduced from South America are the tropics and subtropics. Therefore, it is extremely important for him good lighting and moderate watering. Fertilizers should not be carried away, as they can harm flowering. Water the plant every 5-7 days with water at room temperature. In drought conditions, watering is carried out more often. The soil around the flowers needs to be pushed only at the beginning of growth. Mandatory is weeding from weeds.

When growing purslane in room conditions in summer it is moved to a well-ventilated and protected from rain place.

Important! Good and abundant purslane blooms only in the sun.

When to Harvest and How to Store Purslane Seeds

To breed purslane from seeds, it must be taken into account that this is only possible for non-double species. seeds terry purslane rise poorly. Seeds are formed and ripen unevenly, therefore, they are collected as they ripen. Seed boxes are plucked after they are purchased yellow unripe to avoid cracking. Dry the collected inoculum by spreading it on paper. To maintain high germination of seeds, they must be placed in a tin or plastic container by tightly closing it with a lid. Storage temperature should not exceed 4-5ºC. Germination is maintained for three years. When seeds are stored at high temperature and humidity, germination decreases.

The homeland of such a plant as purslane is the tropical regions located in the Northern Hemisphere. Varieties of ornamental culture, according to various information, approximately 100–200 varieties. The plant grows well in moist sandy places which are located on the banks of rivers and surround reservoirs. But it is possible to grow this decorative culture in the garden, field and in the garden on the backyard or suburban area.
If we talk about the name of this flower, then it originates from lat. the term portula meaning "small gate". This is explained by the fact that this plant has seed pod, which, opening, seems to open small doors. On the territory of our country, in the common people, this flower is called "rug". AT garden conditions it is possible to grow only one type of this crop - a type of large-flowered purslane (Portulaca grandiflora).

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Such a decorative flowering culture, like purslane, grown in our climatic conditions, counts annual plant, as it is not able to endure frosty winters, even if it is carefully covered. In height, purslane grows no more than 30 centimeters. Externally, this flowering culture is characterized by a well-branched spindle-shaped root, juicy, branched stems that have a brown tint of a cylindrical shape, fleshy leaves that are hollow inside, but may also resemble flattened eggs. It blooms in white, yellow, dark red colors with separate inflorescences throughout the summer period.

The inflorescences of these plants live for only one day, and at sunset they already fade. At the same time, large-flowered purslane, for example, blooms extremely abundantly and literally continuously throughout the season - almost immediately after one inflorescence fades, a new one appears. If we talk about the fruit of this flowering culture, then it is a multi-seeded box that has the shape of a ball. In addition to such a variety as garden purslane, which is customary to grow in our country both in flower beds and in pots, and using a hanging basket or container, vegetable purslane also grows well in our country - salad and medicinal plants often mistaken for weeds.

Features of sowing purslane

Most modern domestic flower growers claim that growing this flowering crop with the help of seedlings is the most convenient way its reproduction. But there are specifics on how to get good seedlings, i.e. correctly sow the seeds. Many experts believe that the optimal time for planting the seeds of this plant is February-March, but it is also allowed to sow them in the month of April - in this case, those seeds that germinate will be able to grow well and develop fully due to a fairly long daylight hours, and those sown before April, the month will have to be illuminated with artificial lighting.

Purslane seeds in a box

Before embarking on such a process as growing purslane, it is necessary to properly prepare the land, create a certain mixture - this is due to the fact that almost any soil contains peat, which significantly slows down the germination of seeds of this flowering crop. For this, we take the usual garden soil, and approximately 20% of fine-grained sand is added to it, and everything is mixed as much as possible. After that, it is imperative to ignite the soil mixture in the oven, which will allow it to be disinfected.

Then, in a shallow container with drainage holes, it is required to pour fine-grained gravel (expanded clay), on top of which place the soil mixture calcined in the oven and pour it with water - it must be settled or thawed. After that, seeds should be spread on the surface of the soil at a distance of one centimeter to each other - the easiest way to do this is if you use a wet toothpick. It remains only to gently press the seeds into the ground, to build a frame over the soil surface, on which polyethylene is stretched, that is, to make a small greenhouse. It is necessary to put this greenhouse in a bright, warm place where the temperature does not drop below +22 degrees Celsius - +30 degrees Celsius is considered the optimal temperature regime.

Getting seedlings of this plant

If available favorable conditions, then shoots of representatives of this flowering crop can be obtained after a week - another from the moment the seeds were planted. After the seeds germinate, you should free the container from the film and that's it - the seedlings are received. Growing seedlings of this plant requires mandatory periodic soil moistening using settled water - in the process, the bottom irrigation method is used. In addition, if the seeds were planted in early February or March, then additional artificial lighting may be needed. This is necessary in the case when there is too much stretching of the seedlings, which indicates a lack of light - accordingly, then they need additional lighting. It can be done with fluorescent lamps or ordinary table lamps for a couple of hours in the morning and a few hours in the evening - this will provide an opportunity to lengthen the daylight hours for sprouts. If the weather is cloudy, then artificial lighting must be on throughout the day. In the case when seedlings are sown in the month of April and grow on the windowsill on the south side of the house or apartment, artificial lighting is not needed.

Purslane picking rules

At what stage and in what way should this plant be picked? When a pair of leaves is truly formed in the sprouts, the seedlings need to be planted in threes in cups with a diameter of about 8 centimeters. After one week from the date of picking, that is, after the sprouts take root well, the first complex top dressing should be performed - it is carried out by applying mineral fertilizers to the soil. In the future, this procedure must be performed once / week or once / decade throughout the entire time until the seedlings are planted in the ground (open ground).

Important: in the process of planting, one moment is extremely important, the observance of one rule - you must definitely try not to shake off the soil lump from the root system of the seedling!

The nuances of planting in open ground

When should a culture of such a plan as a large-flowered purslane, for example, or any other kind of it, be planted? It is clear that the cultivation of any variety of such a flowering crop implies the creation optimal conditions. Firstly, this process can be started no earlier than the beginning of the month of June - that is, when one hundred percent sure that neither frosts nor a relatively serious decrease temperature regime will no longer be. This is important, because if the air temperature in the place where the purslane grows drops below +10 degrees Celsius, the plant begins to intensively lose leaves.

It should be remembered that this flowering culture feels best in a sunny place located on the most elevated site, because even with partial shade, the purslane may not begin to bloom. Under no circumstances should root system this plant was close to ground water. In addition, representatives of all varieties of this plant should not be planted in places where water stagnates - this contributes to the occurrence of putrefactive processes in the rhizome. The soil for planting this plant should be used poor, sandy, otherwise, on rich soil, the plant actively grows green mass, and the flowering period does not occur.

According to experienced domestic flower growers, seedlings of this flowering crop can be planted in open ground after 15 leaves and buds appear in the seedling. It is necessary to plant purslane in a certain order. First, the bushes should be no closer than about 20 centimeters from one another. Secondly, during the first three days after planting seedlings in a flower bed, you should water it daily - especially when the weather is dry and hot. The flowering period for those representatives of this flowering crop that are grown from seeds is about 7 weeks from the moment the sprouts appear.

Basic rule of care

Caring for such plants consists in the mandatory periodic watering, which is performed regularly. This is necessary for the normal flowering of purslane, because despite the ability of its leaves to hold moisture well, water must still come from outside. Growing this flowering crop does not require fertilizing, pruning, weeding or loosening the soil. The only rule for proper care of such plants is to ensure infrequent, but always regular watering.

What causes purslane and its pests

As is clear from the foregoing, the process of planting and caring for purslane does not require absolutely any significant effort - it is accessible and understandable even for a beginner. Even such a representative of this flowering culture as terry purslane is not difficult to grow from seeds, because its cultivation is characterized by compliance with all the same rules that are described earlier in this article. If we talk about pests and diseases, then - this plant is quite resistant to them - in this regard, problems rarely arise with it. Nevertheless, from time to time, experts note cases of a massive raid simultaneously on several nearby flower beds, gardens and aphid gardens - in such a situation, purslane also suffers. Most effective method aphid control is spraying plants with Actellik. Then, when the problem cannot be eliminated at one time, then after 7 days the treatment with the insecticide should be repeated.

Actellik from aphids

It is also possible that representatives of this flowering culture can be affected by a fungus called Albugo portulacea, which is manifested by deformation of the shoots and the appearance of numerous spots on the leaves. The fight consists in the most thorough removal of absolutely all damaged parts and further spraying of the plant with the help of a copper-containing fungicide, carried out with the highest quality.

Positive properties

Purslane like medicinal plant, has been known for a very long time - since the time of Hippocrates. In ancient times, it was believed that the seeds of this plant were able to purify human body, sheets are an effective antidote for a snake bite.