Oxalis

Largest genus in the wood-sorrel family Oxildaceae.

There are several types of oxalis that grow as hard-to-kill weeds in New Zealand. Most are fairly low growing and have small bulbs in the ground. The bulbs are hard to get rid of, and can easily be spread when the soil is disturbed or by the plant as it spreads.

Note: Not all Oxalis are a problem. The New Zealand Yam is actually a member of this family.

The oxalis plants most commonly found as weeds in New Zealand generally produce small pink, white, or yellow flowers.

Physical Control

Pull or dig up the entire plant and remove bulbs where possible. When this isn’t possible regularly remove the foliage and eventually the bulbs will weaken.

Don’t add bulbs to your compost to avoid spreading the problem. Dispose of bulbs in a plastic bag.

Other Treatment

Repeated applications of Death To Oxalis will cause the leaves to die off, which starves the bulbs over time causing them to die. Add a spreader/sticker such as as Sprayfix to the water when applying Death To Oxalis as this helps the spray to adhere to the leaves. The following season the young bulbs which will have fallen off the dying parent bulb will send up new leaves. These will now need to be sprayed.

Spraying on hot sunny day will give a better result.

Death To Oxalis will only work on species that have pink, purple, or white flowers, not the low spreading yellow type. For control of creeping Oxalis or yellow flowered Oxalis spray with Hydrocotyle Killer. Take care when spraying to avoid spray drift onto desirable plants.

The advantage of Death To Oxalis is this product wont affect other plants that are sprayed, if applied accordingly to the instructions.

Be careful when applying near or around garden beds to avoid harming desired plants and always apply as per the instructions.