Summer in Florida brings forth many things: onerous heat, perpetual rains, exciting vacations, and renewed physical activity. Before the cool fall harvest and reclusive winter, it is not too late to enjoy this season of growth. Purslane (Portulaca oleracea L.) is a vegetable packed with nutritional value you can grow easily at home this time of year.
Recent EDIS publication #HS1484, “Purslane: The Reigning Champion of Vitamins A and E Among Vegetables and A Potential Crop for Home Gardens” tells all that is good about purslane, covering what numerous nutritional benefits it offers, as well as how to grow and harvest it at home.
Health Benefits of Eating Purslane
Purslane contains a whole host of nutrients, minerals, and compounds, like amino acids, protein, and melatonin, to name a few. If you are like me who does not eat fish products, you can eat purslane as an alternative source of omega-3. Raw purslane has a higher IU level of vitamin A than broccoli, tomato, and lettuce combined. The same goes for Vitamin E. This plant is also pleasant and nutritious when cooked. It even has medicinal properties.
Growing and Harvesting
You can enjoy all these benefits and more by finding purslane at your local ethnic market, or you can grow it yourself by seed. Plant the seeds and see growth in as soon as eight weeks. Then harvest the purslane by cutting every 10 to 20 days. Follow up a few days after that by adding nitrogen fertilizer to the soil. You can continue harvesting and fertilizing until mid- to late fall.
Purslane often grows in various places as a weed, which lends to how it is so easy to grow in your home garden. You are bound to come across it in the wild, but be aware that some species are not edible. Also, there are similar looking plants that are toxic. HS1484 describes Portulaca oleracea as having smooth, red stems and green leaves that cluster together at the stem ends and joints. At the stem ends are clusters of yellow flowers, which produce black and red seeds. The plant produces these seeds in large quantities, so try to harvest within the four-week mark to keep control of your planting.
Learn More
See the publication for exact detail on nutritional values and the home growing practices for purslane: https://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/publication/HS1484.
See also an example for cooking or preparing your harvested purslane in HS1484, as well as in this blog by an Extension agent who stumbled upon the vegetable in her garden: https://blogs.ifas.ufl.edu/indianriverco/2022/07/25/purslane-in-the-summer-garden/ .
Instead of growing purslane for consumption, also grow purslane in home gardens ornamentally. This blog suggests planting another species to brighten your garden with more color variety: https://blogs.ifas.ufl.edu/highlandsco/2020/05/15/summer-plantings-for-florida-heat/. Another blog lists it as a mowable lawn alternative: https://blogs.ifas.ufl.edu/browardco/2023/05/11/the-time-for-mixed-mowable-species-has-come/.
For more information about purslane, other species of the same genus, or additional vegetables for the home garden, go Ask IFAS.
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