I get my starters from a local park about 200 yards from my home in Mesa AZ. In a balding spot at the lower region of a sunken park that serves as an emergency drainage area in the event of a 100-year flooding of the Salt River or nonstop monsoons for the entire month of August. The purslane is beaten down by mowers, lack of water, and occasional foot traffic...but it survives and competes with the Bermuda grass and other native "weeds".
The starters have dark red stems due to the lack of water. These starters begin with flimsy tentacles resting on the ground; they become quite literally something else.
The leaves are small, the plant is thin and weak...it is planted below a serrano pepper plant. In about 2 weeks, the plant has become indeed different.
I also tried a cutting method with a broken arm. In a pot that I planted a starter I dug up, I also stuck a broken arm into the soil to see what would happen...check it out below.
The sprig growing at 12 o'clock is the cutting. There are two small transplants in the pot that have sprouted smaller shoots and maybe some small independents joined given I just dropped the loose dirt from the 10 or so transplants I took about 3 weeks prior. I will probably transplant this into a nice pot and give it to a friend.
Eventually, the plant will grow, about 4 weeks, into a larger entity that can be harvested.
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