Is there any way I can avoid "leggy" oxalis? I've got a nice bunch of them, but after woke up, they got really tall and droop over the pot. Should I put them back to sleep ... or ????
Thanks Jiffy, that was good advice because I was having the same problem. I moved them to an east facing window and they seem happier as long as a drowned them in water. They really can drink it up. Is that because it is blooming? I have lots of pretty pink flowers on it. And they are so cute opening and closing with the sun.
So how do you "put them to sleep" when the time comes? And how do you know when to do that?
i have the green with purple centers. Should they stay dormant one month or three?
Sorry for all the questions but I've never had these before.
You can start over by cutting it down to the dirt.Then give it plenty of water and it should stay compact as it grows when given enough light.I have very good luck growing them outside with plenty of sun.
I cut mine down to about 4 inches when I put it outside about a week ago - they had grown ridiculously long and were flopping all the way over. I then put it outside on my deck - gets mid-day sun and is then shaded. It has new leaves and lots of flowers - YEA!
Why are the leaves not all the same? Before I put it outside, they were all the dark red centers!
I have a "Lucky" Oxalis as part of an outside pot on my east facing porch. It gets morning sun. I know little to nothing about this plant. Am I doing something wrong?? It is sounding like I can bring it in in the fall?? and what is "drying it out"?? I am all for saving as many of my flowers for next year as possible.
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Life isn't about how to survive the storm, but how to dance in the rain!! .....
Junie - the only oxalis I have wintered indoors so far, was in a small pot - I got some from Cindy a little over a year ago. It did extremely well all year, until I moved it to a different window, and then had to be away unexpectedly for a week. My husband is not "plant oriented" at all, and didn't water any of them while I was gone - quite a few of them fried! :mad:
It has taken from mid-March while I was away, til just this week for Cindy's to show some signs of life again, but it's greening up, and I am THRILLED!
Sorry Lynne, I'm loosing what little mind I have left. I read over my posts and they don't even make sense to me half the time.
I'll try to do better.
I'm glad to hear that they can come back like that. I always worry when it comes to plants that go dormant. I haven't had a bunch of luck with those yet.
One spring I had 6 burgundy oxalis left over from a plant exchange. Since I did not want 6 more houseplants I stuck them in the front of my perennial bed as a border. They multiplied all summer.
Before the first frost I dug them out as one would cannas. Shook off most of the soil, put them in a wide wash tub foliage and all and let them decompose. When they got slimy I dumped them into another tub so the top could dry and kept doing that till I had a mass of dried bulblets. Store them dry in the tub in a basement over the winter. In late spring after your area frost date, spread them on the ground, pat them in, water, and they will take off. Feed over the summer as you would any flowering perennial.
Outside they look like fluttering purple butterflies.
As a houseplant oxalis growing season is from fall to late spring, at which time the leaves and stems will start to fall off and the plant will go dormant. The plant needs a dark spot and no water so it can rest. Then it is brought out in the fall, watered, put in the light and it grows again. Planting outside reverses the process. Right now oxalis is almost given away at nurseries that sell houseplants. I saw some in 6" pots for $1.50. Those can be divided into three or four plants. That's quite a bargin for an edging plant.
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