I was gifted this purple oxalis a few months ago. When new, it grew evenly in all directions, even straight up. When I repotted it (perhaps I did it too soon) it went into shock and there were no leaves standing straight up. I also placed it on the middle shelf of a three tier stool. In the weeks after when it produced new leaves, it would start off straight up but always end up sideways like this, inching towards the light.
I recently moved it to this other east facing window, it has a little less direct light than before, but more vertical height. Straight away this baby produced 5-6 new big leaves. However, in the last week or so, it’s lost several leaves alarmingly quickly and looks flattened again.
I live in socal and there’s been a heatwave, but this boi lives indoors and is well watered. There was one morning where the leaves looked a little droopy because the blinds were angled such that it got drenched in direct morning sunlight more than it would have liked.
What is going on? Should I move it somewhere darker? I water it when the soil looks dry, does that need to change? Do I need to repot it?
by moondustboi
3 Comments
They reach for the light like crazy. Move the plant or light source above it.
Same goes for all plants. Some just lean more slowly.
Oxalis are plants that will always head towards the sun so you have to be careful to turn them often so it is normal that it seeks the sun (if it stretches too much at the level of the stems, bring it slightly closer to the light source). These plants are born thanks to rhizomes so you have to be careful not to drown them otherwise they will rot so watering every 10 days or every week is recommended (make sure you have a drainage hole because most often not having brought one will cause rot). There are a few techniques to get them back: cut all the stems about 2 cm above the ground or dig up the rhizomes and check that they are not soft and repot them. Also at night they go sleepy so the leaves are a little lower than during the day so don’t panic if in the morning it is not direct towards the sun.
Fyi, these plants are really tough. Once mine get tall and scraggly I just cut everything back to the lip of the pot. You’ll have a new bushy plant back in a month or so.