What is this weed?
Rosie Cupcakes
Posts: 98
in Plants
This weed gets everywhere in my garden. In my patio plant pots, between the paving slabs and in the gravel between the house and side path.
Its a tiny plant with purple leaves and yelloe flowers but develops long roots if left. I drives me nuts as I am constantly having to dig it out.
How does it spread? Does it self seed or I am leaving behind tiny bits of roots?
Any suggestions for getting rid of it?
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I dont know the name but its been discussed on here before. Its a nightmare, I have it too and find it very difficult to keep on top of it. Ill be interested in finding out what people advise.
It's oxalis. I don't know how to treat it tho
Oxalis, I can't remember the other part of its name.
In the sticks near Peterborough
I have that too, not the worst weed in my garden and it pulls up easy. I didn't know what it was called though
Wood sorrel or yellow sorrel or oxalis corniculata. The main way it spreads is through exploding seed pods - remove floers and seed pods as soon as you see them forming. However it also produces bulbils below the soil and although you think you have pulled it up usually bulbils are left behind. Use glyphosate which will travel down through the plant to get to all those bulbils under the soil and kill them.
If only it were difficult to grow, we'd all love it, with its ornamental leaves and bright yellow flowers. In soft damp soil it's easy to pull out, but it's very hard to get at in the cracks and crevices. Glyphosate as Daintiness says does kill it - but it goes very quickly from first appearing to setting seed, so by the time you've spotted it, it's probably too late. The ripe seed pods burst at the least disturbance, and the seeds zing everywhere. Roundup or similar will kill the adult plants, but the next generation is already lying in wait...
There are some lovely forms of oxalis - I saw it used as under planting in the large brugmansia containers at East Ruston - but that little weedy one? It thinks it belongs in my veg patch
Thanks for all the advice.
I get annoyed with this weed as no matter how much I pull it out from my patio pots its back within a week and right in among the roots of the plant. Which then makes it even harder to pull out.
If you have got it in among other plants you can buy a glysophate based gel which you can paint on - as if you spray you will kill the plants you want to keep as well as the weed!
One example i could find below...