Purslane weed: how to get rid of and 5 ways to fight, is there any benefit, preventive measures

In order to grow and harvest a rich harvest, it is necessary to provide plants with competent agrotechnical care, which includes not only watering and fertilizing, but also weed control. One of the hard-to-remove weeds found in the gardens of summer residents is purslane, which has good germination and can drown out planting crops for several days. However, if you know how to get rid of purslane, the weed will not cause problems.

Weed description

Purslane belongs to the Purslane family, which includes about 100 varieties of annual herbaceous plants.Most of the species are succulents that are not found in the areas of domestic summer residents and do not cause problems for gardeners. The struggle has to be waged with one representative of the family - garden purslane, which is considered one of the most common weeds, which, moreover, multiplies rapidly and captures large areas of the plot.

In Europe and Russia, this plant is found in almost all regions characterized by a warm climate. However, in recent decades, gardeners of the Non-Black Earth and Moscow Regions have also noticed this grass in their gardens, which reproduces by self-sowing, despite frosty winters. Weed patches are found not only in vegetable gardens, but also in adjacent territories, as well as in fields and river banks.

Before you start fighting a weed, you should study its biological description and learn how to distinguish it from other weeds. You can recognize purslane by the following characteristic features:

1. Smooth and fleshy stems, having a round-cylindrical shape and a void inside, grow up to 40 cm in height.
2. They have a reddish-brown hue, and when intertwined, form a continuous creeping carpet.
3. Leaf plates of the weed are large and wide, have a green color with a wax coating.
4. Flowers are formed in the axils of branched stems or leaves. The weed blooms from July to August, after which it forms multi-seeded boxes. After cracking the box, the seeds spill out onto the ground, and a fruit forms in its place, this happens at the end of August or early September.

The danger of such a weed as purslane is due to the following factors:

1. On one plant bush, about 3 million seeds are formed per season, which remain viable for 40 years.
2. If you leave the boxes in the garden, then even there they can ripen and scatter around the site next season.
3. Not only seeds pose a threat to cultivated plants, but all vegetative parts of purslane, which form aerial roots in wet weather, deepening them into the ground.
4. It is not enough to simply cut a mature plant at ground level, as this will only encourage the growth of dormant buds, both at a depth of 3 cm in the ground and from the damaged above-ground part of the grass.

Are there any benefits?

Despite the danger that purslane poses to gardeners, the plant has a number of useful and medicinal properties and is used in the preparation of traditional medicine.

Healing effects of the weed:

• regulates blood sugar and cholesterol levels;
• fights conjunctivitis and inflammation of the oral mucosa;
• relieves spasms and pain from urethritis and cystitis;
• normalizes the functioning of the heart muscle;
• fights helminths by influencing their muscular organs;
• removes warts;
• normalizes liver function.

Methods of dealing with purslane

There are several ways to deal with a malicious weed, the main thing is to prevent the moment when the grass captures large areas of the plot.

Mechanical methods of struggle

Mechanical methods of weed control take more time and effort than the use of herbicides, but allow you to do without the use of chemicals in the garden. They are effective if there is little weed in the area.

Regular weeding

Regular manual weeding allows you to remove the weed growth in time and prevent it from spreading throughout the garden. Carry out work after each watering or rainfall, using a chopper for this purpose. It is important to completely remove the purslane root system, and not cut off the top, otherwise it will quickly sprout again. After weeding, all grass must be collected and taken outside the site, buried or burned there.

Mulching

The use of a mulch layer makes it possible to limit the germination of the weed and restrain its flowering, after which a huge number of seeds are produced.Mulch is laid out around cultivated plants and between rows either immediately after planting seedlings or after each watering. It is necessary to pay attention to the fact that a protective layer 2-3 cm thick will not give the expected effect and will not restrain the germination of the weed.

The layer should be at least 5-6 cm, after it has settled under the influence of winds and precipitation, it is recommended to add new material. Sawdust, high-moor peat or straw are used as mulch.

Digging

This method is only suitable for spring and autumn; when cultivated plants are planted, it is better to use another weed control agent. They dig up the area for one and a half bayonet spades, turning the layers over and immediately picking out the roots. Since the grass is quite tenacious, you can not leave it in the garden, but immediately remove it outside the garden.

Emergency Watering

To destroy the purslane helps watering the area with hot water.This method is used in those regions where warm autumn. After harvesting and all plant residues from the site, the soil is leveled with a rake and spilled with water heated to 50-60 degrees. Since the liquid consumption is large (it is necessary that it wet the ground by 10-15 cm), the method is used only in small gardens.

Chemical control methods

If the weed has grown strongly, you will have to purchase chemicals. However, most herbicides are ineffective in the fight against purslane, this is due to the waxy coating on its leaves, through which the working solution of the chemical does not penetrate well. Good results are demonstrated by tools such as Tornado or Hurricane.

Prevention measures

To prevent the spread of weeds, the garden should be dug up and weeded regularly. When a small pocket of weed appears, it is worth immediately starting a fight with it until it has dissipated throughout the area.

Recommended