How to grow a purslane: features of planting and care

Purslane is a wonderful choice for decorating any flower bed. Landings 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 double varieties look like miniature roses.

Features and varieties

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

The genus Purslane has united more than 200 species of plants, but only one of them is used in decorative gardening - large-flowered purslane. This perennial species is usually grown as an annual. It has five-petal 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 in color.

Garden purslane (vegetable) - an annual with small flowers of white or yellow color collected in inflorescences and a fleshy stem up to 30 cm long. This is a weed plant with medicinal properties, which was used to treat various diseases in the days of Hippocrates. It is used in folk medicine and cooking. There are edible varieties of garden purslane with red and yellow leaves.

Non-decorative wild types of purslane are hardy 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 many young seedlings of decorative purslane when grown from seeds. The second breeding option is to graft the most interesting specimens. To do this, for the winter, the flower is transferred to a cool place, 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 warmth, young plants are planted in open ground.

How to sow purslane?

The seed is pre-sown in shallow and wide containers from February to April. Seeds are used that are from six months to three years old. A layer of fine gravel or expanded clay is placed at the bottom.

Peat is not used as a soil - it impairs 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 for half an hour in the oven at temperatures up to 50 degrees. Then they let the earth cool, moisten it with settled water and sow seeds. They are placed at a distance of about 1 cm from each other, pressing them into the ground to a depth of 0.5 mm.

The pots with crops are covered with glass or plastic wrap and transferred to a room with a temperature of at least +22 degrees. They choose a bright and warm place without drafts, moisturize and ventilate regularly. The first shoots appear after 3-4 days, and within 1-2 weeks there is a massive appearance of plants. Growing seedlings is carried out.

You can sow directly into open ground when the average daytime 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. The seedbed is covered with a film until the seeds germinate. Ventilate and moisturize regularly. The film is removed at an average daytime temperature of at least +24 degrees.

When the height of the seedlings is 2-3 cm, they are planted in a permanent growing place. 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 also 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 shoots almost always appear in the spring on flower beds, where the plant bloomed last year. In this case, the wait for beautiful multi-colored rugs will take longer than with preliminary 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 until the cotyledon leaves. Seedlings grow slowly, with a lack of light, heat or moisture, they can hurt and stretch. The soil is not allowed to dry out; it is watered with warm, settled water. It is convenient to do this with a spray bottle. With a lack of sunlight, supplementary lighting is carried out with an ordinary table lamp. This is especially important if sowing was done early.

An open ground transplant is carried out in late May or early June, when the weather is warm. In regions with cold climates, it is not possible to plant purslane outside until mid-June.

Seedlings are pre-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 the distance between adjacent specimens - 10-15 cm. The work is done 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 partial shade is acceptable; in shaded areas it will not work to wait for good flowering.
• 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. Stagnant water is unacceptable. In rainy weather, they do not moisten, when it gets colder, the amount of watering is reduced.
• The flower grows well both on nutritious soil and on depleted sandy or clay soil. You can grow purslane in too dense soil, but it is necessary to add sand to the substrate.
• An overly nutritious soil with a large amount of organic matter leads to active growth of shoots, but there are few flowers. It is useful to carry out additional fertilizing 2-3 times in the summer with complex mineral fertilizer. In this case, the purslane will bloom more abundantly.
• Soil is loosened near young plants. Then there will be no opportunity to carry out such work, otherwise the dense floral carpet can be damaged.
• After the autumn cold snap, the plant dies. You can collect small purslane seeds to sow a beautiful plant again next year. They ripen at different times, so the seed pods are torn off in parts. They 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-harvested seeds. In terry varieties, the amount of seed is less, and its germination is worse.

If you wish, you can save the flower in room conditions after the autumn cold snap, if at this time you plant several shoots in a pot and place them on a light southern window in the house. Purslane will bloom all winter.

Pests and diseases

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

Aphids and thrips are unpleasant enemies of the purslane. Aphids can be found on their own. She feeds on the sap of the plant. It is difficult to notice thrips with the naked eye, the appearance of the flower will tell about their appearance: silvery blotches and stripes appear on the stems and leaves of the plant. To control pests, 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 moved to a warm room to extend the life of the flowers.

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