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How to care for Shamrocks

If you ever wondered how to care for shamrocks, this is the post for you. I’ll even show you how to propagate them so that you can have an abundance of lucky shamrocks year after year.

Around St. Patrick’s day you’ll see the most delicate little shamrock’s pop up in floral shops in grocery stores.

Once you get them home, how do you take care of them?

Well today, I am sharing a few tips on how to care for shamrocks, aks oxalis.

My shamrocks are lucky and I love propagating them to share with friends.

Let’s start with the basics.

Do shamrocks like sun or shade?

Indoors, shamrocks like bright indirect light.
If you choose to plant them outside, they prefer shade.

Are shamrocks indoor or outdoor plants?

Shamrocks are typically sold as indoor plants, but you can plant them outside.
You can read more about planting them outside here.

How often do you water a shamrock plant?

Let the soil dry out a bit before watering. The soil should be dry to the touch before watering.
Be careful not to over water your shamrocks, because they do not like to be soggy.

Are shamrock plants easy to care for?

I love my lucky shamrocks and find them super easy to care for.

In fact, the reason I call them my lucky shamrocks is because they were a reminder of starting over after we lost our house in a fire back in 2014.

I was in the house a few days after the fire, sorting thru the aftermath.
All of my plants were destroyed, or so I thought.
After about a week, I noticed new growth from my little lucky shamrocks.
It was such a great reminder resilience and new beginnings.

I have actually had the same group of lucky shamrocks for over 20 years.

Did you know easy Shamrocks are to propagate?

If you find that your shamrocks are over grown or think they died [over watering and under watering at the top culprits], gently dig them out of the soil.

Shamrocks grow from corms, or rhizomes that look like clusters of little bulbs.


You can gently break apart the corms or rhizomes into smaller pieces to grow additional plants.

Once you have your corms all dug up and gently divided, you are ready to start re planting them.

Start with adding soil to the new pot.

Use potting soil with a bit of organic matter mixed in.
Shamrocks like acidic soil.
If you have coffee grounds, you can mix in a couple tablespoons in.
Once you have your pot filled about 3 inches from the top, arrange your shamrock corms.
Place them and inch or so apart.

Then cover the shamrock rhizomes with a about an inch to an inch and a half of soil.

So pictures of dirt may not be the most glamourous, but it is the most important part of growing healthy and lush plants.

Once you have your shamrocks replanted, lightly water them and place them in a sunny window.

In a couple weeks you should see new growth.

A few weeks later the shamrocks will REALLY start poping.

And once they start growing, be sure to spread a but of your luck around and share your shamrocks.

One last little tid bit of info to share.
Did you know that the purple shamrocks are also called love plants and they have the sweetest pale pink blooms.

Shamrocks make loverly plants to add to your home and are so easy to care for.
Even after St. Patrick’s day long gone.
My lucky shamrocks remind me of resilience and to not take the little things for granted.

If you happen to have some shamrocks as house plants, I hope they bring luck to you, too!

PIN these simple tips for later or to share with friends

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3 Comments

  1. Our youngest daughter (now 23) was born on March 17th so we have a slight infatuation with Shamrock plants. Gotta forward this to her! Thanks for sharing your knowledge with us!

  2. I have two pots full of Shamrock plants. The second one is from the first one. So cool. I do enjoy them. We moved and our new home is smaller. The best place I found is on the kitchen table with the ceiling light on all day. They light the overhead lights. They stand up proud. We have been here going on three years. They haven’t bloomed.
    How can I get them to bloom?

    Thank you for all the information.
    Phyllis
    phyllisnewsom49@gmail.com

    1. You are too kind! I love that you have had them for years. I wonder if they need to be repotted so that they will bloom again? Mine love bright indirect light and they bloom several times a year. Let me know if you dig up them up and split them. They are so resilient!

      Please let me know if you replant them and if they bloom again for you.
      Juliet

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