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Species library › Portulaca › Portulaca oleracea
Succulents Well documented

Portulaca oleracea

Common purslane, a fleshy, low-growing annual found almost worldwide on disturbed, sunny ground. It is a warm-season plant that germinates in heat, grows fast in full sun and tolerates poor, dry and salty soils, switching to CAM photosynthesis under drought.

Portulaca oleracea
Photo: ZooFari, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons
At home, aim for
Day IntermediateTargets in Plantistry
Night Close to the dayTargets in Plantistry
Humidity Dry airBand in Plantistry
Light Full sunDLI and PPFD in Plantistry
No rest periodGrows in the ground

Where it grows wild

Open, disturbed ground: fields, gardens, pavement cracks, sandy shores and riverbanks, always in sun.

Recorded from sea level to about 1,080 m (median 214 m) in the sampled European records; elsewhere it reaches higher in warm climates.

Southern EuropeNorth AfricaTropical AfricaMiddle EastWestern and South Asia

🔒 Growing it like that

The wild conditions above, turned into targets for a shelf, a tent or a greenhouse. The full profile has:

✓ Day and night temperature targets, and the limits it tolerates
✓ Humidity band, and how to hold it
✓ Light as DLI and PPFD for a grow light
✓ Wet and dry seasons, and whether to rest it
✓ Substrate and airflow
✓ A step-by-step setup to grow it like the wild

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Profiles are drafts built from measured range and climate and from published sources; each section carries its own confidence in the app. Photo from Wikimedia Commons, used under its CC BY-SA 3.0 licence, unmodified.