Ruby,

I'm just wondering why you re-potted it if it was healthy and blooming? You don't want to use fertilizer on an ailing plant, only healthy thriving ones. Those fertilizer sticks can burn roots.

It's not a real good idea to re-pot unless you absolutely need to like if it's severely root-bound and can't hold water. And anything in bloom should not be re-potted until after it's done flowering.
Re-potting can be a big stress on plants, especially if the new pot is too big, has no draianage holes and/or the soil too heavy.The plant should be a little snug in it's pot. I add Perlite to the potting soil for my shamrock and almost all of the other plants which helps with drainage.

What size pot was your shamrock in before? What size pot is it in now?

Billy Rae

It should recover, just showing signs of stress which is not uncommon. You'd have a hard time overwatering it, so don't drown it, but don't fuss over a little extra with Shamrocks.

Why will it not receive sunlight for 4 days because you're leaving town?
If you're worried about it drying, don't..they prefer dryer soil..
I also agree w/everything Billy Rae and Lucy advised. Toni

Thanks for responding, everyone! The reason I transplanted it was that since March it had grown to almost 3 times the size of the little pot it came in from the grocery store, and I was having to water it twice a day, because it wouldn't hold water. The pot was 3" diameter, I transplanted it to a 6" pot. I knew it would totally dry out in that little pot when I was away for 4 days.

I didn't know about the not transplanting while blooming thing, though. I have a hard time keeping flowering plants alive, because I'm not very good at it. I tried to dig up the plant food spike, but it has already dissolved. Boy, if this thing stays alive, it will be in spite of me, not because of me!

The new pot is draining very well, in fact the water pours out the bottom as quickly as I pour it in! The Miracle Grow Potting Mix does have that perlite in it, at least I think that's what those little white balls are.

The reason it won't receive sunlight while I'm gone is that I close all my blinds for privacy and to keep the heat out. It's getting up to 100 here in the high desert. I guess I could keep one blind up a few inches, and place the pot nearby so it can get a little sun.

rubybear

Well a plant without sun uses far less water, so now that you have repotted and there'll be no light for 4 days, don't drown it before you leave, however I do disagree that shamrocks prefer it drier. They don't, and use more water than almost any plant I know.

Ruby, you're never supposed to repot when a plant is in flower/fruit.
What color is your Shamrock? Green, purple?
Even if leaves die back, don't toss it..new growth 'should' spurt in time..remember, these are bulbs, and unless they're rotted (mushy) they will send out leaves.
Lucy, I have better luck when it comes to dry vs wet..In fact, because I overwatered, all my lovely purple leaves and white flowers died back..well, all but 3 leaves.
Maybe it depends on the type you buy. The clover that grows on the side of my house, actually weeds, live in cracked soil. LOL..Toni

Anytime I have ever transplanted my Oxalis regnellii, they throw themselves into dormancy...nothing to worry about...they will come back and be better than ever.

Don't stress about it and don't worry if the foliage entirely disappears...and 4 days is not too long to leave them without being watered...they will be fine...in fact they probably won't be out of dormancy by the time you get back.

I bought a shamrock plant 2 years ago. It died that winter. This summer I had some seeds I needed to plant quickly, so I tried to dig up all the bulbs and I planted the seeds in the same dirt. I put the pot in my East window and guess what I got! The bulbs I failed to find and dig up sprouted again along with the Columbine seeds! Now I have 11 shamrock shoots and many seedlings.

My advise is twice a week watering and warm filtered sun at least 8 hours a day................AND NEVER GIVE UP ON SHAMROCKS. :)

Best of luck..hope this helps and inspires
Cynthia

Cynthia, I'd bet your Shamrock didn't die, but instead went into dormancy. If you had waited a while, new leaves would have emerged..sometimes it takes a few months..
Be patients w/Shams..Toni

Just wait until the stems dry up and then they will easily pull away...

I wouldn't worry about the flowering aspect...mine are always in flower, too...

Ruby, congrats on the constant flowering..Do they also bloom in early, early spring, say end of Feb?
Like Webkat says, when leaves fade, just pull or cut them off..don't dig and remove bulb..LOL..Toni

Finding these comments many years later because I Googled "droopping Shamrock plant" looking for help with my little one! Have to know... Did it survive, Rubie? :)

I discovered by my purple Oxalis shamrock started to wilt and wither suddenly. It was so healthy and blooming (!) I unsuspectingly decided to turn it from the window (light source) to facing me so I could see all the lovely leaves and flowers better, and then it couldn't get enough light that way so it started to wilt the next day, and 3/4 of the leaves and all of the flowers eventually died. It really *does not* like it when you turn it from it's light source! A very light-sensitive plant. I turned it back but I think it will need to send out new baby leaves to make up for the leaves it lost.... Hope that helps!

Would this plant really wilt completely after one single day of reduced light? What happens to it on a cloudy day? Talk about a fragile plant!!

There's more to the story that we don't know.

Al

Shamrocks are particularly sensitive to transplant shock. They are, what I would describe as, a "moody" plant. They like a set routine and any change in their environment will promptly cause them to pout.

Shamrocks also like to be crowded. As one poster commented 'They like things snug'. This is very true. If your shamrocks seem to be outgrowing the pot they're in, simply graduate them up to the next sized pot as a colony. If you want to divide them, split them evenly into two clumps and leave each half clumped together. Think of your shamrocks as a litter of kittens that like to stay balled up together.

One misconception I have seen in this thread, is that Shamrocks are a summer plant... they're NOT. Shamrocks go dormant in the summer. Shamrocks are mainly a mild-winter/ autumn / spring plant, when the light is less direct and the temperatures are cooler. If your plant get's too hot, or get's too much direct sunlight, they'll fold up their leaves and droop.

Short of an unhealthy dose of rat poison, Shamrocks generally cannot be killed. You can piss them off and force them into dormancy pretty easily, but once it's happy again, it'll spring up again and again.

I've had a shamrock for 6 1/2 years and I agree they are sensitive and moody and do not like change. I drove cross country with him and within the 1st couple hours I thought I had lost him. But once he had a routine again he was back to his blooming self. In fact there have been several times I thought I've lost him and he's come back so mostly I don't worry anymore.

Having said that I just repotted him this morning. He was looking a little down in the dumps and I thought some new soil might help. I hard a very hard time getting him out of the old pot in tact. I did not know they liked to be crowded and just graduated him to a larger pot. The last pot and the current pot do not have a drain hole so he's been in a pot without a drainhole for a year or so and doing fine.

He is not looking good at all after repotting. Far worse than before repotting.

I'm trying to determine if it's worth further trauma to repot again to a smaller pot/pot with drain or just let him be and hopefully he'll come around when he's ready!