oxalis not going dormant

I've had an oxalis for over a year now. No idea what variety but it is solid green on top and purplish underneath and produces white flowers.

It was given to me by a co-worker who didn't take very good care of it (she had it in a low-light spot and was always overwatering it). The minute she gave it to me, I repotted it and put it in my south-facing window at the office. It has really flourished, going from only having 3 stalks to being a nice big clump with constant blooms.

My question -- isn't this supposed to go dormant every year? Should I force it into dormancy? At the moment, it shows no signs of slowing down at all but I don't want to stress the plant by not letting it have a rest period.

cruz4him: If it's doing well, I would just let it be. My thinking is if a plant wants to go dormant, it will. It sounds like your Oxalis is happy and thriving under your care so I'd let it do it's own thing. I'm not certain but there might be some Oxalis that don't go dormant. I have one with the purple leaves and light pinkish colored blooms and when we have really mild winters it doesn't die back. It actually went for quite a few years of warm winters without going dormant. I didn't look at all of the Oxalis that are listed in Plant Files but found a couple that say they are evergreen:


http://davesgarden.com/guides/pf/go/71231/
http://davesgarden.com/guides/pf/go/54316/

cruz: I just found this post that you might be interested in reading where someone asked the same question about their Oxalis: http://davesgarden.com/community/forums/p.php?pid=7409607

oops ... that's the answer that tapla gave. Here's the complete thread: http://davesgarden.com/community/forums/t/1054920/

Thanks, Lin! I really didn't like the idea of forcing a plant to do anything so I'll just wait it out.

Also some oxalis species go dormant in summer not winter, so unless you know what kind you have and what its normal behavior would be I definitely wouldn't force it to do anything. If it starts to look tired and ratty then that would be a sign that it may need a rest, but as long as it's green and growing I'd leave it alone.

We usually think only of predictive or innate dormancy because they occur as a result of a regular group of stimuli - days get shorter/colder and perennials go to sleep .... BOOM - dormancy. Oxalis though, is genetically predisposed to tolerate a type of dormancy termed 'consequential (sometimes 'secondary') dormancy', which is a type of culturally induced dormancy that commences after the onset of adverse conditions - most commonly drought. Inducing this type of dormancy can actually be good for the plant - especially if it is combined with a full repot (as opposed to potting-up) into a free-draining soil.

Al

So you're saying I should induce the dormancy period by not watering the plant at all for a while, then re-potting it in fresh soild after a month or so of dormancy?

Mmhmm - if it's looking ratty. The plant will take it in stride if you have the patience to wait. I'd just put it in the basement for 6 weeks & then repot into a soil you can keep damp, but is porous enough that it holds no perched water (no saturated soil at the bottom of the pot). If you're planning on using a bagged potting soil, I would suggest you add a wick to the pot, which will go a long way toward eliminating excess water from the soil, if employed correctly.

Any 3:1:2 ratio fertilizer is an excellent all-purpose choice for your houseplants. The commonly found 24-8-16 and 12-4-8 are both 3:1:2 ratios, but I've been particularly impressed by Foliage-Pro 9-3-6 after having used it for the last few years; also a 3:1:2 ratio fertilizer, but it contains ALL the essential nutrients in a favorable ratio to each other, which is rather important.

Al

Thanks, Al!

The plant still looks pretty healthy and bushy so I'll wait it out.

I'll look for that Foliage-Pro fertilizer. Can't say I remember seeing it around here. The ones I have are the Miracle-Gro All-Purpose 8-7-6 and Schultz 10-15-10 fertilizers.

Plants use about 6X as much N as P, so your 10-15-10 supplies 9X more P than your plants can use. The extra P in the soil solution unnecessarily raises the salt level in the soil (making it more difficult for plants to absorb water and the nutrients dissolved in the water), raises pH, and often interferes with uptake of other nutrients, especially Fe and Mn.

3:1:2 ratios like 24-8-16, 12-4-8, and 9-3-6 supply nutrients in almost exactly the same ratio as (an average of) plants use. This means you can keep salt levels at their lowest and still not have a deficiency of singular nutrients.

Foliage-Pro isn't always easy to find. You might find it at hydroponics shops if you have any near, or on the net. MG, Peter's, or others in 24-8-16 are nearly as good. The FP also has the added benefit of deriving about 60% of its N from nitrate sources, rather than urea.

Al