Oxalis flower (oxalis) is a herbaceous perennial and annual plant of the Oxalis family, numbering more than 800 species and growing in South Africa, South and Central America, and Central Europe.
Happy Home Clover
Ireland's national symbol, the flower of St. Patrick, the country's most revered righteous man, has high decorative qualities and is quite popular in indoor cultivation.
Oxygen (in Latin oxys) is named for the sour taste of the leaves, in Europe it is called the clover of happiness, in Russia it is hare cabbage.
A specific feature of oxalis is its ability to slowly fold the leaves and close the flowers at nightfall, in cloudy weather or when touched. In Europe, indoor oxalis is popular as a gift for the New Year tree: it is believed that a flower with purple, green or burgundy leaves will surely bring good luck and prosperity if it settles in the house a day before the New Year.
Popular indoor views
Having many types, in indoor cultivation, oxalis is represented by the two most popular:triangular and four-leaved.
Triangular oxalis (otherwise - purple), whose homeland is Brazil, is a tuberous plant with tripartite purple leaves located on long petioles. It is for the leaves, outwardly associated with the fluttering wings of a butterfly, that the violet oxalis flower is also called “Madame Butterfly”. The flowers of a pet are small, lilac, light pink or white in color. Propagated by rhizomes.
Four-leaf oxalis (Deppe), referred to by the British as "lucky clover" or "iron cross", is characterized by four-lobed obverse heart-shaped leaves of light green color with a brown-red middle.
The flowers are crimson-red, with a yellow base, collected in inflorescences. Flowering, starting in August, the four-leaved oxalis pleases for a rather long period, until October.
Oxalis in all its diversity
In open ground, you can grow Bovey's oxalis flower, characterized by dark pink flowers placed on thin long peduncles, and leathery green leaves. Flowering occurs in May.
Trifoliate leaves of common sorrel - a perennial rhizomatous plant about 10 cm high, very similar to clover. The flowers are white, solitary. Creeping shoots, in the process of growth actively fill the free space, so the plant is widely used as a ground cover.
Oxalis ferruginous - a winter-hardy crop that forms low bushes, inabout 15 cm in diameter. Flowering occurs in mid-summer (June-July). The flowers are silvery, rather large, with streaks of pink. Grey-green leaves consist of multiple oval-shaped lobes.
Oxalis multi-colored is very beautiful in cultivation with its white flowers, decorated with a red border around the edge.
Shaggy oxalis is a stemless flower about 30 cm high, forming tubers. The leaves consist of 5-9 leaflets, on the underside of which red spots are clearly visible. Purple-red flowers in several pieces are collected in umbellate inflorescences. Flowering is abundant, occurs in August-October.
Attractive dark pink, in the middle yellow flowers against the background of other types of oxalis, poor oxalis stands out. The plant is small-tuberous, with trifoliate leaves located on thin petioles. The flower is optimal for growing in open ground, prefers sunny areas.
Red Oxalis is a perennial culture, up to 40 cm in height, with trifoliate leaves, fleecy closer to the base, and attractive red flowers.
Volcanic Oxalis - undersized (no more than 15 cm in height) plant with small yellow flowers. It grows well, occupying free territories. Forming a continuous grassy carpet, ideal for alpine slides and flower beds. Can be grown indoors and outdoors.
Weed plant due to active uncontrolled growth is consideredcarob acid. Characterized by small yellow flowers and cherry-brown leaves.
Of the available types of oxalis, giant oxalis stands out with impressive size. A 2 meter tall plant with straight shoots, drooping branches, three-lobed leaves and attractive yellow flowers.
Nine-leaved Oxalis is a low plant that forms solid silver-green carpets, decorated with white-pink flowers. Flowering period - May-June.
Ortgis' Oxalis is a herbaceous low flower with pubescent stems and apical trifoliate brownish-red leaves, characterized by an obverse heart shape. Yellow flowers are small, up to 1.5 cm in diameter, collected in inflorescences. Yellow. This acid is common in indoor growing.
Oxalis: home care
In home cultivation, oxalis is absolutely non-capricious and is limited to the activities necessary for normal growth: watering, fertilizing, spraying, comfortable temperature, the optimal indicator of which in summer is 20-25 ºC. In winter, the plant has a dormant time (1-1.5 months), at which cool conditions are recommended, not higher than 12-18 ºC. At this time, oxalis (the photo shows the beauty of this plant) stops growing, can shed its leaves, thus suggesting the onset of a rest period.
Lighting should be intensely diffused, avoiding direct sunlight that can cause burns. Tolerant oxalis at homegrowing conditions refers to penumbra, however, with a long stay in it, it may lose the decorative effect of the leaves.
Irrigation and fertilizing activities
Quality care for oxalis involves timely top dressing with complex mineral fertilizers. They need to be applied once every 2-3 weeks, during active growth and flowering; while the concentration of the composition should be 2 times less than indicated on the package.
The plant needs abundant regular watering in the summer (without stagnant water) and its reduction with the onset of cold weather. As soon as new shoots begin to appear, the flower should be transplanted into a new substrate, returned to its usual place of growth, resuming feeding and watering.
Plant transplant
Young flowers are transplanted every year into a mixture consisting of leafy and soddy soil, sand and humus in equal proportions. To avoid moisture stagnation, the bottom of the pot must be covered with a drainage layer of expanded clay. For adult plants, this procedure should be carried out every 2-3 years.
Diseases and pests
Oxygen is a fairly disease resistant plant. With improper care, it can be damaged by red spider mites, scale insects, and aphids. They should be controlled by the use of insecticidal preparations. Actellik is effective against spider mites, aphids can be overcome with a soapy solution (1 teaspoon of liquid soap for 1 glass of water), the shield is removed mechanically (manual collection), after which the plant needs to be sprinkled"Aktar". After a week, it is desirable to repeat the treatment. Be sure to protect the soil in which the plant is located from getting drugs.
With too much watering, oxalis can get sick with fusarium or gray rot. In this case, the drug "Fundazol" is effective.
Oxalis: breeding at home
Oxalis is a flower crop that can be propagated in several ways. Seeds that ripen in a plant shell that easily explodes when touched, oxalis reproduces naturally, and this method is unpopular with indoor cultivation due to its duration. In early spring, plant seeds should be scattered over the surface of the soil, consisting of 4 parts of leaf humus and peat and one part of sand. Do not cover seed. The planting container must be covered with glass in order to provide one hundred percent humidity necessary for germination. Lighting should be diffused, temperature - 16-18 ° C, soil - constantly wet. For watering, it is recommended to use a spray bottle. An important factor in the success of the event is the daily ventilation of crops. Germination of seedlings will occur within a month.
We propagate vegetatively
The easiest propagation method is to separate the nodules or daughter bulbs of oxalis during the spring transplant. Landing should be done in several pieces in one container, which is then determined in a shaded cool place. The soil should be moistened occasionally. As soon as the first shoots appear, it is recommended to rearrange the pot with the future plantcloser to the world. In a month and a half, a beautiful, luxuriously flowering bush will stand in this place.
Also, the oxalis flower can be propagated by nodules. To do this, after waiting for the first new leaf to appear after a dormant period, the tuber should be removed from the soil, cleaned and washed in a weak solution of potassium permanganate. Then cut into pieces, cut the slices with crushed charcoal. Planting oxalis, or rather the resulting divisions, is carried out in separate containers, which should be placed in a place with diffused lighting. Twice a month, from the second week of planting, the future plant should be fed; moistening the soil to produce after drying the surface of the soil.
Medicinal properties of oxalis
Oxalis (see photo below) is a medicinal plant whose properties have been evaluated by folk medicine since ancient times.
The ground part of the bush was treated for scurvy, treated for wounds and ulcers, used as an antidote for mercury and arsenic poisoning. The high content of vitamin C in oxalis helps to eliminate colds and strengthen immunity.
