Dia dhuit! Ok, I totally used Google translate to help me say “hello” in Gaelic, so you native Gaelic speakers don’t come after me if its wrong! I blame Google! Speaking of Irish, since St. Patrick’s day is literally right around the corner, I wanted to write up a post about a plant you may be seeing appear in plant stores across the nation: the Shamrock Plant (Oxalis regnelli). This cutie of a plant is actually a “False” Shamrock, but I think it’ll still bring you luck if you give it the TLC it craves. Hopefully, with the help of these Shamrock care tips, you won’t even need to find a pot of gold because your plant will be treasure enough!
History of the Shamrock
Before diving into this imposter of a shamrock, I wanted to share a little about the “True” Shamrock. The three-leaf clover is commonly associate with St. Patrick’s day because as the story goes St. Patrick used the clover to explain the complex idea of the Holy Trinity. Each leaf of the clover represented the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit respectively while still being equal parts of the same plant.
The “true” Shamrock is actually associated with a few trifoliated plants that naturally occur in Ireland: The Wood Sorrel (Oxalis acetosella), the White Clover( Trifolium repens), and the Suckling Clover (Trifolium dubium). Now the “False” Shamrock house plant is closely related to the Wood Sorrel, but rather than being from the Emerald Isle, it is from the tropical rainforests of Brazil!
Sunlight
The Shamrock loves bright, indirect light. (Check out my lighting guide if you need help finding a good place for your plant) Ideally, you’ll want to place it on a windowsill that gets approx. 4-6 hours of light a day. Additionally, you want to keep the temperature of the room that you have your plant in between 60°F and 70°F. If the little guy is placed too far away from sunlight, he will become leggy and begin to die off. If given enough light, the Shamrock will continue to produce flowers all winter long! The flowers smell pretty good too, even though they are very tiny.
A fun little feature to this guy is that he is photophilic, meaning he closes he leaves at night when the sun goes down. Good rule of thumb: if your plants are going to bed, you probably should too. Do I live by this rule? No. Should I? Yes.
Water
Watering is probably the most tricky part about Shamrock care. The trick is to let the soil get barely moist, and then wait for the top 2″ of the soil to dry out before watering again. Since the plant has really “stringy” stems, it can easily become waterlogged. I’ve, unfortunately, over-loved (aka overwatered…) a Shamrock before and he didn’t ever recover. Which is a good reminder, that even if you’re an awesome plant parent, you still may lose a plant!
While I haven’t yet tried this technique on my Shamrock, I have also heard you can water from the bottom up. This means placing your pot into a cup or plate of standing water so that the soil absorbs the water upwards.
Fertilzing & Soil
Just a fun, nerdy horticulture fact I learned in school, but the Oxalis family of shamrocks are nitrogen fixers, aka you don’t have to really add much additional fertilizer. A lot of other plant sites may tell you to fertilizer every month, but personally, because it is a Nitrogen fixer, I’d say every 2 to 3 months.
As far as soil goes, you’ll want a more sandy mixture that helps with soil compaction and improves drainage. Miracle Gro’s cactus potting mix is what I would recommend unless you want to create the soil mixture yourself.
Prunning & Dormancy
New shamrock parents do not be alarmed if you have done EVERYTHING right and your poor plant friend looks sad! False shamrocks go through a period of dormancy a few times a year. This may last anywhere from a few weeks to a couple of months.
When you see the leaves begin to turn yellow and droop (and you know your plant should otherwise be healthy), carefully prune off the foliage. Then move your plant to a cool, low-light area. Once you start to see new growth, move your plant into direct sunlight and resume normal watering. Dormancy will normally occur anywhere from Summer to Fall.
Variations
While I may have explained the different types of True shamrocks, False Shamrocks also come in a range colors:
- Purple Shamrock
- Classic Green Shamrock
- Lucky Leaf, which is green with a maroon center (a secret Texas A&M Aggie plant, I see)
- Plum Crazy
Well, that about wraps up my Shamrock care tips! I hope these different tips help keep your new “Brazilian friend who thinks he’s Irish” happy and healthy! As always if you have any questions on these shamrock care tips feel free to send me an email or comment! I’ll for sure get back to you!