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Hello friends,
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For the past 18 years, I've had an Oxalis plant.* It was kept in a ceramic pot about the width of your open hand and sat on a end table next to a window through every season.* Its stems each had three triangular leaves which would open and turn to soak in the sun each day, and close up inwardly at night to rest.* It would be watered gently about once a week, and grew to fill the pot, with stems a good four inches high, and little white flowers popping up every now and again.
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Almost two months ago now, I noticed that more stems than was usual were dying.* Someone suggested he needed to be transplanted, so I lifted him out of his pot, and removed three quarters of the soil and roots, to give him room to grow again.* I filled the same pot with about an inch of new rocks at the bottom, covered that in fresh soil, and then placed the remaining part of the plant back on top.* He was then watered.
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He didn't quite bounce back.* It was suggested that I overwatered him, so I left him be, and slowly three new stems popped up.* I hoped this was a rebirth, but after they died, no new ones came back.* It has been several weeks since then, and the soil is dry.* When someone suggested I transplant him into a pot with holes at the bottom to allow air circulation, I bought just such a pot, only to be told it wasn't worth it.
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I've been told "He's dead - don't waste your time", but this plant means more to me than I can say, and while I'm capable of understanding that he may very well be dead, that's not where I'm at right now.* I need to know what I can do to encourage whatever is left in that pot to grow again.
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In the past we've used fish emulsion on him which caused his first big growing spurt about six years ago.* I don't know if that would help, and I don't know who to ask for assistance.* The flower shop people in my area frankly don't*care.* Maybe putting him in a greenhouse or using some kind of chemicals might do the trick?
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At this point, I'm not looking for guess-work.* I need someone who knows what to try to offer me some assistance.* I would really appreciate that.
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So please...help.* And thank you.
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It might be helpful if you could id which oxalis you have as there are many varieties.*
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oxalis
I grow a purple leafed variety and find that when I overwater it, it declines.* Mine has bublets that can be planted just below the surface of the soil.* Have you tried looking near the top of the soil or around the roots for these bulblets?* If you find any you could plant them in fresh soil.
Newt
