Butterfly Plant

Butterfly Plant

The striking purple leaves of this plant are going to stand out amongst your green indoor plants. Moreover, the Butterfly plant is photophilic, which means that its leaves open and close in response to the light. This process is called nyctinasty. At night the purple butterfly plant folds down its leaves and opens up during the day.

Also, do not worry about how you can maintain the beauty of this plant, as it is a fairly low-maintenance plant.

Its pretty foliage and dainty flowers make it a good choice for pots, borders, or indoors. Additionally, this is one of the easiest flowering indoor plants to grow as long as you can keep it moist and shaded.

Butterfly Plant Care Guide

Light: Butterfly plant enjoys filtered bright to medium light. However, keep them away from direct light. This plant will thrive if you provide them with morning light (place them on an east window). 

Moreover, it is hard to burn this plant, since the butterfly plant grows outdoors. The glass in your windows filters out a lot of intensity of the light, however, oxalis butterfly will thrive when it is away from direct sunlight. 

Water: Allow the soil to dry between watering. Also, ensure the top 2cm of soil is dry before watering. The worst thing you can do with a butterfly plant is overwatering it, this will rot the purple butterfly plant.  Consider watering this plant once every 2 weeks.

Soil: A well-drained potting mix works best for butterfly plants. Use a standard premium indoor potting mix for best results. 

Pot: These plant pots need to be deep, shallow pots will not work well. Also, avoid growing them in a pot with other plants as they can go dormant and they are having different growth requirements. As the purple butterfly plant tends to grow and bend towards the light, you should also rotate your pot every 2 weeks to ensure the foliage grows evenly.

Temperature: The ideal temperature for the oxalis butterfly plant is around 15-21°C. Temperatures above 24°C become problematic. At high temperatures, the Oxalis butterfly plant will start to look ‘tired’ and it may go into dormancy and drop all its leaves.
Fertilizer: Feed every 2 months if the soil is older than a year. Premium potting mixes contain slow-release fertilizer for at least 4 months’ worth.

Growing tips for Butterfly Plant

• After receiving the plant, do not re-pot it immediately.
• Do not overwater the butterfly plant.
• The oxalis butterfly plant has minimal needs; however, it cannot tolerate one thing which is overly wet soil.
• It is important that the plant is in a pot with a drainage hole.
• If you are growing this plant outside, put it into areas that are somewhat shaded.