A little closer shot. Also, I should mention that the small pot that I split off two years ago still currently looks gorgeous and green.

Hi Corry,

Ah, I love these plants. Yours looks so pretty on that chair. It does look like it would benefit from a rest. That that's how I grow mine; I stop watering and let it go dormant for a month or up to three when it starts declining. If it were my plant, I'd split a small piece of it off, now, and repot that small piece in good, gritty, fast-draining soil, to see what that did for it. I'd let the larger piece go dormant, then repot it when there's stronger sun, in spring. In my experience, these are resilient plants, but they need a "time out" occasionally.

What exposure are you growing yours in?

Amanda

I'm not entirely certain what you mean by exposure (I'm a bit of a newb, sortof). If you mean sun, which I'm guessing you are, it's in a bright room near a south window, but no direct light. If you're talking temperature/humidity, I keep my apartment around 66, and mist daily.

Just an update: I decided to go ahead and give it a rest. After doing a bunch of reading on it, I cut all of the leaves off and put it in the corner in my bedroom (darker and a few degrees cooler than the rest of my apartment). Now I'll do my best to ignore it for a while, and pray it comes back to me. It's always been one of my very favorite plants. It's so beautiful when it's full and blooming!

These are among my favourite house plants. You inspired me to take my purple and my white one from the tunnel where they have been 'resting' and they are now repotted and ready to go in an east-facing window where they usually live when in the house.

Hehe, I'm glad I was able to inspire you! :P This plant is one of my absolute favorites, too. It just looks so happy when it's open and warming itself on some light morning sun. :)

I have a large pot of the purple-leaved variety. I put the pot in the garden for the summer and it LOVES it. It gives a nice splash of color amongst the perennials.

Hi Corry, yes, by "exposure" I meant which direction the window faces, but it's good to know temps, too. When mine starts to decline, I stop watering and then, when the foliage has died back, I prop a plate or a saucer (not a terribly heavy one!) over the top of the pot so I don't forget and water it.

I agree they're lovely plants, generally, and also in the way that they open and close.

LauraR, I bet yours looks beautiful outside in the summer. That's what I do with mine now, too: outside in the summer, then in for dormancy in late fall. This post makes me want to start them growing early, though!

Amanda

Help! I have never grown a shamrock plant before. I bought one from the store and it was already bushy and green, however the pot it was in was too small. So I transfer it to a slightly bigger pot, where it grew some and was still bushy and green. One day my two year old knocked the plant off a bench. I added more soil and fixed it and since then it has been on a steady decline. Now there are only 4 leaves left on my plant and there are still several bulbs in the dirt. I keep it in indirect sunlight but a very bright room and at about 70%. I don't know what to do!!!

Mine used to look like this so I put it outside for the summer that gets morning direct sun and afternoon light shade and it exploded with new growth. I lost count of the dozens of flowers...so beautiful! Don't fret as I did, as I didn't know they have a dormant period when indoors or out. Happy gardening!