This Week, for Plant Tip Tuesday...

With St. Patrick’s Day this weekend, it’s the perfect time to talk about the Oxalis Plant! Often referred to as the Shamrock plant, these cuties come in green, purple, or with fancy variegation like the ‘Iron Cross’ variety, which we currently have in stock.

These plants are considered a bit higher maintenance due to their watering needs, but they are worth the effort to enjoy their prolific flowering and unique characteristics – and, despite their sensitive nature, in the event of an unfortunate plant catastrophe, they are known to dramatically bounce back and re-foliate!

Oxalis like soil that is always lightly moist, but are prone to crown rot if watered too heavily. Crown rot is the soft decay of flowers and foliage at the top or center of a plant. One way to try and avoid this is to direct your stream of water along the inner edge of your plant pot, and to consistently give smaller volumes of water at a time.

These plants display a neat habit of responding to light, called Nyctinasty. Watch how the leaves open and close and follow the sun, just in the span of a couple of hours. Oxalis will be happiest growing in bright indirect light, keeping in mind that they are sensitive to major fluctuations in temperature, especially heat.

A mild fertilizer can be used a few times throughout the growing season, between March and October, but these plants are not known to be heavy feeders.