How to Grow Ice Plants Canada

By the SoilCommander Editorial Team, under the guidance of Nitin Sharma, Co-Founder · · How we check our facts

On this page
  1. Ice Plant (Mesembryanthemum crystallinum)
  2. At a Glance
  3. Quick Facts
  4. Growth Stages
  5. Harvest & Storage
  6. Diseases
  7. Plan your Ice Plants planting
  8. Growing Ice Plant in another region
  9. Sources
  10. Frequently Asked Questions

Ice plants (Mesembryanthemum crystallinum).

Core growing advice on this page is checked against named horticultural sources — see References.

Ice Plant (Mesembryanthemum crystallinum)

Close-up of ice plant (Mesembryanthemum crystallinum) succulent leaves — “Kluse - Mesembryanthemum crystallinum - Eiskraut 01 ies” by Frank Vincentz is licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0.

2 sources cited · Verified

At a Glance

Reddish-green ice plant groundcover in its natural coastal habitat
Reddish-green ice plant groundcover in its natural coastal habitat. Photo: “La Palma - Barlovento - Carretera del Faro - Mesembryanthemum crystallinum 04 ies” by Frank Vincentz, CC BY-SA 3.0.
Mesembryanthemum crysta… Ice Plant Damping-off (seedling c… Root rot (unspecified) DISEASES

Quick Facts

Close-up of ice plant (Mesembryanthemum crystallinum) succulent leaves
Close-up of ice plant (Mesembryanthemum crystallinum) succulent leaves. Photo: “Kluse - Mesembryanthemum crystallinum - Eiskraut 01 ies” by Frank Vincentz, CC BY-SA 3.0.
Factor Value
Drainage Prefers well-drained soil (PFAF); tolerates light/sandy, medium/loamy or heavy/clay soils, mildly acid to mildly alkaline, and genuinely saline conditions -- PMC: irrigation up to 35 dS/m (roughly seawater salinity) showed no adverse effect on biomass.
Edible parts leaves, stems

Growth Stages

A low, spreading mat of ice plant growing on volcanic ground
A low, spreading mat of ice plant growing on volcanic ground. Photo: “La Palma - Barlovento - Carretera del Faro - Mesembryanthemum crystallinum 01 ies” by Frank Vincentz, CC BY-SA 3.0.
Stage BBCH Notes
Sowing under glass 0 PFAF: sow in spring under glass, only just covering the seed. Seedlings are prone to damping off, so avoid overwatering and keep them in a very sunny, well-ventilated position.
Pricking out and transplanting 2 PFAF: prick out seedlings into individual pots once large enough to handle, and do not plant out until all risk of frost has passed -- the plant "will be killed even by a light frost."
Establishment and growth 3 PFAF: grow on in full sun -- "cannot grow in the shade" -- in well-drained soil; genuinely tolerant of poor and even saline ground once established. PMC: independently confirms strong salt tolerance, with irrigation up to 35 dS/m (roughly seawater strength) showing no adverse effect on biomass.
Harvest 8 PFAF: pick the thick, succulent leaves and stems through summer as needed, eaten raw or cooked as a spinach substitute. First frost ends the season for this half-hardy annual.

Harvest & Storage

Harvested ice plant leaves sold as a leafy vegetable
Harvested ice plant leaves sold as a leafy vegetable. Photo by Tomchiukc, CC BY-SA 4.0.

When to pick: PFAF: pick leaves and stems as needed once plants are established and growing strongly through summer -- they are thick and succulent with a slightly salty tang, best used while young and crisp.

Storage

Best eaten fresh, as for other tender succulent salad leaves; PFAF also notes the leaves can be pickled.

Diseases

Close-up showing the glistening, ice-like bladder cells on ice plant leaves
Close-up showing the glistening, ice-like bladder cells on ice plant leaves. Photo by Arnoldius, CC BY-SA 4.0.
Damping-off (seedling collapse)

Rhizoctonia solani

Damping-off (seedling collapse at soil line); Wilting with chlorotic, dropping leaves

PFAF: young ice plant seedlings are prone to damping off -- avoid overwatering and keep seedlings in a sunny, well-ventilated position.

Root rot (unspecified)

PFAF: young plants are also prone to root rot; the pathogen is not specified, so kept as a generic entry rather than a fabricated species.

Plan your Ice Plants planting

When to sow and plant Ice Plants depends on your own frost dates. Check the Canada vegetable planting calendar. To work out where it fits in your beds, sketch your plot in the free Garden Layout Planner.

Growing Ice Plant in another region

Sowing dates, frost timing and local advice differ by country. Use the guide for where you garden.

Sources

The full list of 2 sources behind this guide (Plants For A Future (PFAF), PMC (peer-reviewed journal, hosted by NCBI/National Library of Medicine)) is in the references of our UK guide to ice plants; they describe the plant itself, which is the same wherever it grows.

Frequently Asked Questions

What problems affect ice plants?

Our data links 2 diseases to this crop. See the sections above for each one and how to manage it.

Plan next season before the problems start

Short-season growing is arithmetic before it is technique: days to maturity against frost-free days decides what will finish at all. The Canada Garden Planner does that subtraction for your region before you sow.

Get the Canada Garden Planner →

Instant PDF download · Written for Canadian growing conditions

SoilCommander Editorial Team — under the guidance of Nitin Sharma, Co-Founder

Every growing guide is checked against RHS, USDA Cooperative Extension, and other named horticultural authorities before publishing. How we check our facts.

How this guide is put together

The growing data on this page — sowing windows, pests, diseases, soil and site requirements — comes from named horticultural sources, listed in References below, checked against Canadian hardiness-zone and frost-date data, with provincial agriculture and university extension sources cited directly where one exists for a crop. An automated pipeline assembles that verified data into the page you're reading: it selects which facts to lead with and builds the surrounding prose and layout. It does not invent a date, a source or a number — where a verified value for a field isn't available, the page leaves it out rather than guessing. A person reviews and publishes each page; nothing goes live unverified.

Vegetable Growing Guides Canada

Crops With the Same Problems

Last verified 2026-09-05

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