Gardening is a favourite hobby of many. It is an art of growing plants and maintaining them with love and care. Many do gardening for mental delight and others to fullfil their needs by growing essential plants that are needed for a house. There are different types of gardens like flowers garden, plants garden , vegetables garden etc.
Recently indoor gardening have acquired much popularity than outdoor gardening.Oxalis triangularius also known as false shamrock is one such plant used for gardening. It is purple in color and so add much beauty to the garden.
It is simply called as butterfly plant too.
This plant is very easy to grow and maintain if we take care well.An important thing to know before growing the so called butterfly plant is that it does not need much water. It may get destroyed easily when water too much. So remember to water the needed quantity.
We should avoid watering it daily. Water should not stay stagnant in the pot. It is sufficient to water it once in two or three days according to the soil get dried or water can be sprayed unlike watering other plants.
The butterfly plant is suitable for indoor planting. It is not suitable for outdoor gardening. This is because this plant only requires a few quantity of sunlight and the tip of the leaves may start to dry when it receives more sunlight. It only needs some amount of sunlight in the morning and evening.
The pot mix should be made by equally mixing soil, coconut peat and cow dung. It is also good to add vermiculite and perlite for quick and bushy growth. We might have seen this plant getting decayed easier within a week after planting. This is because of the presence of excess water in the pot.
Fermented groundnut cake is a good fertilizer for its better growth. It should be diluted in water in loose consistency and sprayed upon. Take a cup of groundnut cake and dilute it in one litre of water and leave it to ferment for a week. Apply it once a month by diluting it in 5 times more quantity of water.
An important problem that occurs during growing this plant is rust. A rusty like fungal infection occurs at the tip of the leaves at first that may destroy the whole plant gradually. To avoid this apply fungicide once in two weeks. It is necessary to care the plant without getting fungus because if it got affected then it is not possible to bring the leaves to the former healthier look.
It is better to grow the Oxalis triangularis separate than growing it by combining with other plants. Because it may get stagnant in growth and the leaves may not grow in size. If it is keeping as an indoor plant it should be kept in a place where it get sunlight in the morning.
