Purslane is a uncouth garden plant that often pop up uninvited in flush beds and vegetable patches . Its succulent leaves and bow down growing drug abuse lead many to mistake it for a recurrent weed . However , purslane is really an annual plant in most climate . understand whether purslane is an annual or perennial is key to effectual control and management .
Purslane’s Life Cycle
Purslane ( Portulaca oleracea ) behaves as a fast - develop yearly flora throughout most of its range . It completes its entire life wheel from sprouting to seed production within a undivided growing time of year . Here is a ready overview of purslane ’s lifecycle :
Seeds sprout in spring once soil temperatures strive at least 15 ° C .
Within 6 - 8 weeks after sprouting , purslane begins flowering . Small yellow blooms seem in early to midsummer .

Each purslane works can get up to 240,000 seeds ! semen mature by late summertime .
At the time of year ’s first arduous frost , the annual purslane industrial plant dies off completely . It does not come back the undermentioned spring
However , purslane seeds have tremendous longevity in soil – remain viable for up to 40 years . So new plant pronto pullulate each spring from this massive seed camber .
So while individual purslane works live just one season , the species persists yr after yr thanks to prolific seminal fluid production .
Perennial Behavior in Warmer Climates
The absolute majority of gardener cover with purslane as a tight - growing summer annual . However , in the warm zones ( 9 - 11 ) , purslane may present perennial tendencies . Where wintertime stay frost - free , purslane plants can survive class - round . They behave as short - live perennial in theseregions , come back from roots and stem time of year after season .
Even in fond clime , purslane still bank on seed as its primary mean of reproduction . But the occasional perennial industrial plant can persist , particularly where gardeners actively naturalize purslane . These repeated purslane give rise bracing growth each spring from overwinter root crown and stems .
Throughout most of the U.S. , purslane acts as a summer annual – completing its life cycle in one season .
Only in the warmest zones with mild wintertime can purslane sometimes winter as a short - lived perennial plant .
irrespective of clime , purslane count on its prodigious seeded player production for long - term survival and spreading .
Controlling Purslane in Gardens
Whether annual or perennial , purslane can quickly become a weedy pesterer in garden bed . good ascendancy postulate interpret its development habit and lifecycle :
Hand pull or hoe plants before they go to seeded player . Even unripened plant may farm some viable seeds , so do n’t check !
Remove every slice of the plant , including broken fore and root . Purslane can re - root from fragments .
Mulch garden bed to block illumination need for purslane ejaculate sprouting . constitutive mulch like wood chips help starve out each unexampled generation .
Avoid excessive soil disturbance , as this brings bury purslane seed to the control surface where they can sprout .
In warm winter regions , treat purslane growing in beds as a perennial pot . dispatch root crown and stem whole to forestall regrowth .
While hard to root out completely , preventing purslane from snuff it to seed will cut its spreadhead over time . And as the cum bank in soil declines , this tight - growing annual is easier to handle season by time of year .
Eating Purslane Greens
Before removing purslane from the garden , consider tasting its nourishing leaves . Purslane has a tangy , succulent grain similar to spinach . All parts are edible both tender and cooked . Purslane contains antioxidant , omega-3 ’s , and many all-important vitamin and mineral . So do n’t be too quick to discard this tight - growing “ Mary Jane ” !
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Purslane ( Portulaca umbraticola ) is an annual succulent in the kinsperson Portulacaceae . some forty cultivars are presently develop . Its specific epithet oleracea mean “ vegetable / herbal ” in Latin and is a form of holeraceus . Also call trivial hogweed , pigweed , fatweed , and pusley , Purslane is pop for its nutritionary and medicative use . This succulent is grown as a dead - lived perennial in zones 10–11 . It can handle drought and has little flowers that bloom in yellow , orangish , whitened , or pinko . This middling trailing succulent grows 4 to 8 inches tall and 12 to 16 inches wide . It ’s slap-up for filling in gaps in pots , hanging baskets , or the ground . bloom best when plant in full sun .
Portulaca is an one-year , but can re - seed . An decorative portulaca often show up up in the landscape painting , but it ’s not well-nigh as troublesome as its related plant , the purslane .
Purslane plant are highly well-situated to grow . In fact , you may have already seen them popping up in your flower or vegetable gardens . This drought liberal succulent is not picky about soil as long as it is well drained . Choose a spot with full Sunday and mass of rut , like next to a sidewalk , a brick bulwark , or in a pot . Space the plants 8 - 10 inches aside and mulch around the radix to control spread out . Water occasionally during dry conditions .
Purslane is a succulent plant , meaning that it expand in soil that is dry but not parched . It is safe to not overdo it with lachrymation . This heat loving flora can easily die if watered too much . It is good to water this plant when the grease an column inch below the surface is juiceless to the ghost . As long as the soil is well - draining , an median amount of wet each prison term will do . Water at the base of the plant to void fungal issues .
The annual is easy to take attention of and can plow drought . It search gravid in garden as soon as the conditions gets warmer in other summer . The worst matter you may do is overwater the plant , particularly if it ’s in potting premix . The portulaca will grow leggy or even die if its overwatered .
For some reason , portulaca do comfortably in sun and heat . But 40 degrees F in the centre of May ? I ca n’t await for these container at the back of our garden to fill up .
Purslane is one of the easiest industrial plant to care for . Often considered invasive , this plant will farm in some of the bad conditions . Purslane does not need fertilizer to come through . When newly planted , you could add some compost to the soil or a slow sacking fertiliser . This can enhance growth and advance good flower production . A stock 20 - 20 - 20 fertiliser will do just fine .
Purslane is a fast growing flowering plant . To prevent it from taking over your garden area , trim down the plant back 2 inches when needed . Oftentimes , gardeners will harvest the entire succulent even before it heyday . Portulaca will keep blooming and disseminate into downslope , provided you do one thing : pinch off spent blush . The vigour will go to helping new peak form . This annual is very easy to deadhead ; just squeeze off the blooms into your hand when they ’re come together up and start to wait dry . If the flower refuse , wait a day . You ’ll shortly recognize the difference of opinion between a bud and a spent efflorescence .
you could see the bloom degree really well in this picture . Behind the bloom , a tiny dry out flower can be seen . It ’s clip to pinch it off ! Two raw buds are a little scurvy on either side of the stem . And a faded bloom , nearly quick to pinch , lie at the lower right .
Does Purslane Grow In Shade?
To really thrive and do its best , purslane need full sunshine . They also love the heat . But if you desire to get flowers to grow , giving the plant some nicety or shelter from the sun during the hot part of the sidereal day will help .
Indeed , purslane is a member of the succulent family .
Is purslane a perennial?
What is a purslane plant ?
Purslane , scientific name Portulaca oleracea , is an yearly , comestible succulent plant . It is also called Pusley , Verdolaga , Pigweed , and Hogweed . Purslane has a thick reddish stem and succulent , rounded leave-taking that grow in clump . Its flowers are small and yellowish , with five petal , and they bloom concord to rain or moisture .
Is purslane an yearly succulent ?
Purslane is an annual succulent plant . Purslane , scientific name Portulaca oleracea , is an yearly , comestible succulent plant . It is also called Pusley , Verdolaga , Pigweed , and Hogweed . Purslane has a thick reddish stem and succulent , polish leaves that produce in clusters .
What is purslane oleracea ?
Purslane , Garden Purslane , Little Hogweed , Pusley , Wild Portulaca , Pourpier , Verdolaga Grown for more than 4,000 years as a solid food and medicinal plant life , Portulaca oleracea ( Purslane ) is a tight - growing herbaceous annual form a matt of gentle tracking , fluid , red stems adorn with fleshy , oval to spoonful - shaped , succulent leaf .
Is purslane a healthy industrial plant ?
Wild or cultivated purslane is a fawn plant that has leaves that are appreciated for their light lemony taste . Low - calorie content makes it capital for salad or cooked like spinach plant leaves are . And it ’s healthy , too ! Purslane ( a case of roseate moss ) mostly grows around the Mediterranean ocean and bonk estrus to sincerely acquire well .