Do you want to know the Best Portulaca Growing Tips? Read on to learn the best Moss Rose Growing Secretsin our ultimate guide.
Moss Roses come in various shades and look beautiful in pots, hanging baskets, window boxes, and railing planters. To enjoy an attractive floral show, follow these Best Portulaca Growing Tips!
Portulaca Plant Information
Moss Roses originally come from South America and can grow up to 3-9 inches tall. It can spread out, creating a dense mat making it a top choice for a ground cover.
You can find 10’O Clock Plants with blooms in many bright colors, such as orange, yellow, hot pink, red, and ruffled petals that look similar to miniature roses. The flowers grow on reddish stems in clusters and usually do not open at night or on cloudy days.
Botanical Name: Portulaca Grandiflora
USDA Zones: 2-11
Best Portulaca Planting Time
10 O Clock Plants are perfect for planting in the spring after the danger of frost is over in colder zones. However, you can also plant it in summer until fall while the soil is still warm.
In moderate and warm places, you can grow it in winter. Since moss rose is one of the best heat-tolerant flowers, it is also perfect for areas with hot summers where temperature rises above 100 F (38 C).
However, be careful to choose the right spot for this plant if you have pets, as all parts of it are toxic to dogs and cats.
Is Moss Rose a Perennial or Annual?
Moss Rose is a popular heat-tolerant annual flowering succulent in USDA Zones 3-9. It keeps producing flowers in abundance all season long without any additional care. For frost-free zones between 10-11, it is perennial.
However, the plant produces a large quantity of seeds, so you can see new plants returning every year after planting it once.
Purslane vs. Moss Rose
Although Purslane or Portulaca Oleracea and Moss Rose or Purslane Floret belong to the same genus of Portulaca, they are cultivated and used in different ways. While the Purslane is mainly used for consumption as a vegetable, Moss Rose is grown as an ornamental plant.
Both plants display needle-like leaves, but Moss Rose shows dense foliage in comparison. Also, Moss Rose produces more flowers that often resemble a rose, a tiny carnation, or a cactus bloom.
Best Portulaca Growing Tips
1. Grow Moss Rose in Dry, Poor Soil
As the 10 O Clock Plant is a semi-succulent plant, it loves to grow in dry, rocky, sandy, poor soil. So, if growing it on the ground, do not try to improve the soil quality. Similarly, don’t add a lot of compost or manure when planting in pots.
2. Choose a Brighter Spot
Moss Roses require direct sun exposure to produce the best flowers. While growing on a balcony or patio, moving it to a location where it receives at least 6 to 8 hours of full, bright sunlight is a great idea.
The plant won’t produce flowers in a shady space, nor will the existing flower buds open.
Note: When growing in a hot climate (USDA Zones 10, 11), provide shade in the afternoon
3. Grow it in a Wide Pot
Moss Rose’s Growing Secret is to keep it in a slightly root-bound state, in order to stop spreading it out of control. Always remember to grow 10 O Clock Plant in a container that is only one size larger than the size of the root ball.
Most Moss Rose plants thrive best in 6-8 inches-deep containers. Do not use too deep pots.
Pro Tip: The key here is to use a wider container to let the plant have enough space for the runners to spread.
4. Fertilize Less
One of the best Portulaca growing tips includes growing the plant in poor soil without much fertilizer. Do not feed this plant like any other standard houseplant.
Use a balanced liquid fertilizer diluted to one-fourth of its strength once in 2-4 weeks. You can even opt for a fertilizer high in phosphorous to promote flower production.
5. Keep a Check on Watering
10 O Clock Plant is a champ when it comes to drought tolerance, and the best way to kill it is to water it very frequently. So what’s the best way to water it? Do it only when the top layer of the soil feels a little dry to the touch.
Note: Do not let the soil go dry for long periods of time.
6. Plant your Portulaca on the Outer Side of the Container
Plant the Moss Rose on the outer portion of the planter. It will allow the beautiful plant to cascade over easily and keep it from standing in too much water at the center.
Pro Tip: You can take cuttings and plant them on the sides of the pot to make the plant bushier. Once grown, they will spill beautifully from the sides.
7. Deadhead Regularly
If you want your Portulaca to produce bountiful blooms, you must remove the spent blooms every week. This will divert the plant’s energy into growing new flowers.
If you want to know How to deadhead moss rose, then the process is quite simple— take away the flowers using your hands or scissors.
The faster, the older flowers are removed, the quicker the plant can direct its energy into growing newer ones.
8. Divide the Plant
As the plant is a fast grower/spreader, it can take over the entire container in no time. The best way to prevent that is to divide sections of the plant, along with the roots, and plant them into different pots.
This will not only keep the growth in check but will also help you have more plants with colorful blooms all around!
Moss Rose Hanging Baskets Ideas
1. On a Bamboo Pole
2. In a Mini Basket
3. Small Wonder!
4. Hanging in the Garden
Is Moss Rose Poisonous to Humans?
When ingested in a considerable amount, it can cause irregular heartbeat, muscle spasms, drooling, and kidney damage, among other side effects in humans and dogs. So, keeping it away from pets and children would be a good idea.
Moss Rose Companion Plants
Grow Moss Rose in window boxes, railing planters, containers, rock gardens, hanging baskets, or over a wall with any other annuals.
They look and work best with annuals and their contrasting foliage and blooms, such as Salvia, Creeping Zinnia, Dusty Miller, Annual Ageratum, Globe Amaranth, Artemisia ‘Silver Mound’, Floss Flower, Impatiens, Hosta, Azaleas, Ferns, Liriope and Blue-Eyed Grass.
