Growing moss rose in summer: one little trick makes a single seedling explode into a full pot with nonstop blooms

In summer, many flowers and plants stop blooming and even go dormant, but moss rose (Portulaca grandiflora) blooms brilliantly and is at its peak season. Moss rose comes in single-petaled varieties and double-petaled ones like the moss rose "Matsuba botan," looking like tiny peonies, with rich, varied colors, very beautiful. How should you grow moss rose in summer so it grows vigorously and blooms abundantly?

Moss rose planting methods and tips

Actually, to grow moss rose you don't necessarily have to start from seed. There's a simpler way to plant and propagate it: just snap off a few stems and bring them home.

Choose a 10 cm long stem and insert it into sand or ordinary sandy soil, with a planting depth of about 3 cm. Put it in a place without sunlight and with good ventilation. It roots very quickly; within a week the stem will stand upright and recover, and any flower buds on the stem will open right away.

If you want moss rose to grow from thin and weak into a lush, pot-filling plant, just master these few little tips.

After moss rose seeds sprout, there will be many small seedlings. You can thin them out, pulling up some of the thin, spindly ones and keeping the larger ones. With enough nutrients, the moss rose grows stronger and stronger.

Moss rose likes plenty of sunlight and full sun; even in summer it doesn't need shading. Only then will it grow more vigorously and bloom more. If you grow moss rose indoors, too much watering and not enough sunlight easily cause leggy growth and few flower buds. So it's best to immediately move it to a sunny spot, let it get plenty of sun, and water only when the soil is dry; that way the moss rose grows better.

Moss rose grows fast and blooms especially abundantly, so it needs frequent fertilizing, mainly with phosphorus and potassium fertilizer. Phosphorus fertilizer helps it produce more flower buds, and potassium fertilizer helps the moss rose grow thick stems and strong leaves with lush branches. Fertilize once every 15 days, so the moss rose grows sturdier and sturdier and blooms more and more vividly.

If you want moss rose to grow from one small seedling into a big plant that blooms into a ball of flowers, there's a little trick: pinching. Some moss rose stems grow relatively thin and weak, so to prevent them from growing too tall and too long and falling over, you can pinch them once they reach 10 cm.

This way it will grow a great many side branches, the stems will grow sturdier, it will bloom more, and the plant shape will look especially good, just like a big ball of flowers.

In short, to grow moss rose well, you need to give it plenty of sunlight, apply more phosphorus and potassium fertilizer, water thoroughly only when the potting soil is dry, and pinch it often; naturally it will grow vigorously and bloom especially abundantly.