2024 Author: Gavin MacAdam | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-16 13:38
From the side, the purslane looks a bit like a small Christmas tree, decorated with beautiful large roses instead of toys. The inflorescences are simple and terry. The latter look especially impressive
I never thought that the decorative purslane is a perennial, wintering without problems in the southern regions. Growing it for several years, I used it, like all gardeners, as an annual crop. Recently I learned from a neighbor that he hibernates well in a room under certain conditions.
Decorative views
There are many varieties of purslane in the wild, but only 2 species are used for decorative purposes: large-flowered and hybrid (ampelous).
Large-flowered purslane is characterized by large double and simple inflorescences of white, yellow, red, crimson, variegated (two-color) shade. Stems are juicy, flexible, highly branching. Under the weight of flowers and greenery, they sink close to the ground. The effect of a creeping bush is created.
The leaves are round in section, fleshy, long. They resemble needles at a Christmas tree. At the end of each shoot, 5-6 inflorescences are formed. They bloom alternately, creating a continuous flowering bush. The plant is a succulent plant that accumulates moisture in a fleshy leaf plate for consumption during dry periods.
Purslane hybrid ampelous bred from crossing wild species and large-flowered forms. Inflorescences are not double, rare pink, white, yellow at the ends of the shoots. Creeping stems, elongated. The leaves are oval, flat, more like a wild look.
Purslane blooms, sown in early spring through seedlings, from June to frost. At home - all year round. Not as abundant in winter as in summer.
Growing in a room
Both species winter well in indoor conditions. To do this, you must perform the following activities:
• supplementary lighting;
• rare watering and feeding;
• poor and loose soil.
Supplementing is the most essential factor for successful winter growth. Purslane is the most light-loving flower. With a lack of lighting, the shoots are stretched, the formation of buds is suspended. It is necessary on cloudy days and evening hours to put fluorescent lamps or phytolamps with a blue-violet spectrum over the plants.
Feels good on the southern windows, in the sun.
The soil in the pot is made up of garden soil mixed with river sand in a ratio of 5: 1. On a greasy, peaty soil, plants fatten, forming a lush green mass to the detriment of flowering. Therefore, fertilizing is used once a month with a complex fertilizer for indoor flowers, reducing the dose by 2 times. They are especially needed during bud formation to ensure continuous flowering throughout the year.
Purslane is a drought-resistant succulent that does not require much moisture. Water it once a week in moderate doses. It tolerates a period of drought better than excessive waterlogging, fraught with root rot.
When ripe, the capsules crack. The seeds spill out onto the floor and windowsill. To avoid this situation, and to increase the formation of buds, dried inflorescences are periodically removed.
Reproduction
In the room, purslane is easily propagated by cuttings. To do this, closer to spring, cut off twigs 5-7 cm long. Remove the lower leaves, put them in a glass of water and wait for the formation of roots. The liquid is changed to fresh once a week. Then 2-3 plants are transplanted into pots. Further care as for an adult specimen.
If desired, the cuttings can be immediately rooted in the ground, creating a small greenhouse over them from the film or covering each pot with a bottle.
Cutted plants quickly grow green mass and bloom.
Seed propagation is also used. Its disadvantage is the long waiting period for the first bud.
In the open field, purslane gives abundant self-seeding, which emerges the next year. If you skip the period of seed formation in the pot, then over time, new sprouts appear there, which are transplanted into other containers.
Purslane is a plant for all time. Growing it at home will bring a piece of summer to the winter landscape outside the window.
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