Oxalis Triangularis plant

Appearance:

Oxalis is a beautiful indoor plant. Its leaves look like clusters of small butterflies. It will grow very well in indirect bright light. Its leaves and flowers open and close in response to light.

They open during the day time and close at night.

It has small flowers of white and light pink colour. Which look more eye catchy in purple leaves. Its common name is shamrock. This is one of the best houseplants.

Potting Mix and planting:

Oxalis likes well grained soil, so to make potting mix for oxalis I take 60 percent garden soil, 30 percent cocopeat and 10 percent compost. Many people mix perlite in a potting mix of oxalis but I do not have perlite so I skip it, but I did not find any problem with my oxalis. It grows very well. Oxalis stems store water in its stems so it gets rot very quickly if water will stock into the pot. Hence it is very important to make a well drained potting mix for it.

To grow a new oxalis plant. Take any pot of 6-inch size. Make 3-4 drainage holes at the bottom and cover those holes with some stones. Now fill the ⅓ rd. pot with a potting mix. New oxalis plants grow from bulbs. Oxalis bulbs are small, pinecones. Now insert the oxalis bulbs in a previously prepared pot just spacing an inch gap between them. Plant more bulbs to fill the pot early. One thing: make sure when you poke the bulb in soil that the part of the bulb from which the leaves stem will come out should be in an upward direction. Add a little more potting mix over it, then water it thoroughly once a week till the new growth appears. Keep the pot where it gets enough bright indirect light.

Sunlight:

Oxalis triangularis open and close their leaves and flowers in response to light. It likes bright indirect light. The morning and evening low direct sunlight is also good for it. It will do very well in shade also but make sure it will get enough bright light.

Do not expose it to direct harsh sunlight (In summer days). Direct sunlight may burn their leaves and make some spots on it and the plants lose their beauty. Some species of oxalis which have darker leaves which tolerate more sunlight. According to me, in winter oxalis can tolerate direct sunlight the whole day.

Water:

Oxalis have a thin 6–7-inch stem and at the end of that stem there are leaves. Oxalis stores the water into those stems. So do not overwater it. Overwatering will rot the stems and send the plant back into dormancy. Hence to grow oxalis healthy just water it only once in a week when new growth appears. Just make sure the soil should be slightly moist in its growing period. Let the soil dry between the watering.

In winter do not overwater it because the winter is its dormancy period. So, in winter just lightly water it. After the winter goes, the oxalis will again start to develop new growth.

Fertilizer:

According to me if the oxalis is newly planted there is no need for any fertilizer for at least for one season. Because when we plant oxalis we have already mixed the compost in its potting mix so it is ok for that season, but if the soil is older than one year then give some water soluble fertilizer to it once a month in its growing period.

Organic liquid fertilizer is best for the oxalis. Do not fertilize oxalis in winter because in winter it goes dormant.

Propagation:

Propagation of oxalis is done by the divide method easily. Just remove the whole plant from the pot gently and divide the bulbs into two parts and plant them as separate plants.

But if you want to fill the whole pot early then plant the many bulbs in the pot one inch apart.

Diseases:

I have had oxalis for the last 3 years. I have seen powdery mildew and the roots or tuber rot disease in my oxalis.

Powdery mildew in oxalis: -

The powdery mildew grows behind the leaf. The Whole leaf in the back looks like white. This will happen if the water falls on the leaves. So, avoid making the leaves wet. To treat the powdery mildew just cut the affected leaves from the plant and spray the whole plant with any fungicides. Repeat this procedure till the plant gets free from the disease.

Roots or tuber rots: -

Root rot or tuber rot will happen due to overwatering. So do not overwater it just let soil dry between watering. But keep the soil moist in its growing time.

Toxicity:

Some of the plants like oxalis contain oxalic acid, such a plant is harmful for pets and humans so keep it from the reach of kids and pets.

Common problems: -

Common problems with Oxalis triangularis: -

Overwatering is one of the common problems the oxalis has. When overwatering is done to oxalis the stems and tubers get rots and the whole plant looks like dying. So, when you see these symptoms, cut all the rotten stems and decrease the watering frequency. After 2-3 weeks new growth will start appearing and leaves also look healthy.