Lots of wee seedlings all in a bunch

[Beverly]

I tossed some Purslane seeds on some soil and they are now coming up in a clump. The seedlings are tiny. I don't know why i seem to do this. My question is, do i have to get out some tweezers to thin them out or, will they sort themselves out if i just leave them be?

 

[Chuck]

Oh, they will sort themselves out alright. They will end up invading your entire property in a fairly short time. But for now just thin them to about 3" and harvest when needed if you are growing them to eat. My wife brought a couple of these things home and planted them in her flower garden which is about 50 yards downhill from my vegetable garden. I am forever having to pull this weed out of everywhere. Good luck.

But as an aside: When you are planting tiny seeds mix the seeds thoroughly into another fine grained substance such as sand or sugar or flour or cornmeal etc. Something that will easily go through a salt shaker. When the area you want planted is evenly covered with the sand or whatever then your seeds will also be evenly dispersed and not all in one little area. Saves a lot of time thinning especially on carrots and the like.

 

[Beverly]

Thank you @Chuck...i was hoping to avoid having to tweezer this mess apart. I didn't know they were edible. The Purslane is contained in little planter pots of a twiggy tower on the patio...of course that's not necessarily going to contain them. Each pot has growing space for 2 plants. Lots of people put them in sidewalk planter strips. As for invasive, i live in the tropics, most of my plants are native to Mexico, pretty much all of them are invasive. During the humid part of the year, they get the urge to grow and the life force is awe-inspiring. Most of us gardeners who are not in the business of farming just let things grow and duke it out among themselves. Invasive is pretty much a way of life and somehow it works out, the spanish style garden walls help alot. Thanks for the tip about dispersing small seeds. That should reduce the need to tweeze very nicely.

 

[Chuck]

Thank you @Chuck...i was hoping to avoid having to tweezer this mess apart. I didn't know they were edible. The Purslane is contained in little planter pots of a twiggy tower on the patio...of course that's not necessarily going to contain them. Each pot has growing space for 2 plants. Lots of people put them in sidewalk planter strips. As for invasive, i live in the tropics, most of my plants are native to Mexico, pretty much all of them are invasive. During the humid part of the year, they get the urge to grow and the life force is awe-inspiring. Most of us gardeners who are not in the business of farming just let things grow and duke it out among themselves. Invasive is pretty much a way of life and somehow it works out, the spanish style garden walls help alot. Thanks for the tip about dispersing small seeds. That should reduce the need to tweeze very nicely.
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You don't have to pull them out, just snip them off at soil level. Much easier. Try eating some once they have filled out leaves. Pretty tasty in a salad

 

[Beverly]

Oh good, a new edible green thing! Now instead of pruning them, i'll just munch on them from time to time. That's what i did when I had the Moringa o. tree, i ate the leaves, lovely mild radish flavor also good in salads and soups.

 

[Dinu]

Munching the leaves directly off the pot-plant! I'm picturing it!
First of all, work out why you threw the seeds like that! Now that the seedlings have grown, decide how many you want. Allow a few leaves to appear and then you can munch the extras carefully.

I used to do the dispersing using a small triangular tray with pointed edges from where the tiny seeds fell as we tapped the tray where we wanted. Even folded stiff paper would also help in this method.

 

[Beverly]

well Dinu it is not exactly a pot plant, it is a potted purslane (3 pots on the patio twig tower) and the seedlings are extremely tiny still, too tiny to taste. I don't know why i thew the seeds like that. I admit to being a little bit crazy right now after talking to Dr. P and with the procedure nearing at a rapid pace. And, i didn't know that i would get 150% germination from these seeds. Thank you for the good advice about what to do next time. It is much appreciated. I don't much like tweezing little tiny seedlings. I think i have learned my lesson. I'll send an email soon