Orchard Portolac - an annual plant, distributed in the form of a weed everywhere. Young leaves and stems are used as a salad.
Large-flowered porcelain is an annual ornamental plant with bright large flowers. The native land of this species is Brazil and Argentina. It is well suited for flower beds, but can be grown in indoor floriculture.
Portulak is a container magnificent plant that can be placed in street pots, vases, window boxes, hanging baskets, balcony boxes.
Large-flowered purl is widely used in garden design. Planted it in flower beds, flowerbeds, on the rabbits, retaining stone walls, dry slopes, in rockeries on the joints of slabs of concrete. If the portolac is planted on a dry lawn, then it will replace the lawn.
Kinds.
Large-flowered purple. The native land of this species is South America (Uruguay, Argentina, Brazil). This species is a perennial herbaceous plant (but more often used as an annual plant) with fleshy reddish, lodging or upright stems that grow to 30 centimeters. Leaves cylindrical, fleshy, in length grow to 25 mm, and in width to 2 centimeters.
Throughout the summer the plant gives single flowers, in diameter reaching 3-4 centimeters. Flowers can be of different shades - from white to yellow or red-lilac.
The initial view of the red-colored portaloque has become a kind of basis for starting to display a large number of hybrid forms of various colors and with a double or simple aureole.
It is mainly cultivated in the form of an ornamental plant. In a number of varieties of this plant, flowers are only open in sunny weather during the day. Nevertheless, there are varieties that on cloudy days the flowers remain open, mostly terry flowers, these are the varieties - Cloudbeater, Sundance, Sunglo.
The garden porcelain is a one-year, juicy plant-cosmopolitan, which is spread all over the world. In height this species grows to 10-30 centimeters. Has strongly branched reddish, hollow, creeping along the ground or elongated, cylindrical stems. Leaves sessile, fleshy, 1.5-3 cm in length, with truncated ends, oblong - spatulate. In the sinuses of the upper leaves throughout the summer, small flowers are formed, either single, or grouped by 2-5 flowers. The flowers of this species have a light yellow color. The corolla of the flower in the dimer is 7-8 mm, has 4-6 obovate petals, the calyx of the flower is formed by two sepals. The garden portalo-flower blooms in June-August.
Portulac: Care.
Portulak needs bright illumination of the direct rays of the sun, only in this case it will blossom beautifully. If the plant grows in the room, then it is advised to place it next to the southern window. It grows well outdoors in window or balcony boxes.
Temperatures prefer to be relatively warm, about 20-26 degrees, at this temperature, a successful growth is guaranteed.
Pour lacquer should be watered often, but if the plant is in a pot or in a container, then watering should be moderate and regular.
In fertilizing, the plant almost does not need, since this ornamental plant can grow on poor lands.
Portulac: reproduction.
Portulacus sow in March. True, in the flower literature it is said that it is possible to sow on earlier terms - 3 decades of February, and also later - 1 decade of April. The sowing is carried out in mini-greenhouses under bright light and 20-25 degrees Celsius.
In a greenhouse on a sunny day, air temperature can be 50 ° , which promotes rapid growth. Lack of light leads to the fact that the seedlings will begin to stretch. Teplichku can be built from an aquarium made of plexiglas. On top of the aquarium should be covered with a new film (polyethylene) and put it on the brightest place. To ensure a sufficient amount of light, you can use a fluorescent lamp or a normal 40-60W light bulb. In additional light, the plant, as a rule, needs morning and evening time, whereas in cloudy weather the plant needs light all day.
Seeds can be sown in small plastic pots, in this case the seeds are taken a little. We fill small gravel and coarse sand at the bottom of the tank, thus creating a drainage, then we fill the container with a substrate. In the land there should be no organic fertilizers and peat. If the seeds are planted in a land in which there will be peat, they will not ascend. And if organic fertilizers are present in the soil, the seedlings will develop fungal diseases and die. The composition of the earth can add sand with a diameter of 0.1 mm (20% not more), charcoal (if the soil is heavy, with a high clay content). The container with the ground needs to be put in a drip tray, which is pre-filled with standing water, always soft, as hard water sharply reduces the germination.
After the earth becomes wet, you can start sowing - on the surface of the earth the seeds are laid out with a pointed moistened match. In this case, the seeds need to be pushed into the ground by 1 mm. Seeds lay out, from each other at a centimeter distance, and immediately put in a greenhouse. If the container with crops is not illuminated by fluorescent lights and does not stand on the window, then as soon as most of the seedlings appear on the surface of the earth, they should be removed from the greenhouse and placed on the window, closer to the glass. Additional lighting is carried out directly in the greenhouse, with the lid being open. A 40W bulb should be placed above the sprouts at 10-15 cm distance, 60W at a distance of 15-20 cm. If at night the window is cold, then the crops are placed in the greenhouse at that time (do not cover) and are highlighted, and in the morning they are again put on window. Soil should not dry up.
Remember, the plant loves heat, so do not allow the temperature to drop below 20 degrees for freshly grown plants, after a week the temperature should not be below 16 °, after six real leaves have appeared, the temperature should not fall below 10 ° C (such a low temperature will cause to the fact that the leaves begin to fall off).
Care and reproduction of the sea dog should not cause any special difficulties, since the plant is practically not exposed to pests.