Tips for beginners: planting and caring for a garden gerbera

Gerbera is a magnificent garden plant, which is in great demand among flower lovers. But the beauty of a flower is not its only plus.

Among other advantages are simple care, the ability to grow quickly, a long flowering period and the fact that the gerbera can look good when cut for a long time. In this article you will learn about all the features of growing garden gerbera and caring for it. It will also be useful to watch a video on the topic.

Daisies from South Africa

The numerous colors of this giant chamomile, discovered over 100 years ago in the hot South Africa by the Dutchman Reman, will decorate your site with colorful strokes. It has long been adapted for breeding both in the garden, in open areas, and at home. Gerbera has over 100 different species.

The most famous are red in color:

• Rudy Amsterdam.
• Robin
• Saskia.

Other popular shades include pink, purple, yellow, cream, and, of course, white. Such a palette will be even more charming for many. Garden gerbera is a perennial plantcharacterized by leaves growing immediately from the root and huge chamomile flowers.

It reaches an average height of about 30 centimeters; some of its specimens can grow up to 60 cm. Flowers, which can be simple, double and semi-double, have a diameter of about 12-16 cm.

Photo on the flowerbed

Below is a photo of a gerbera in the garden.

Flower crops similar to this plant

1. First of all it chamomile. Chamomiles and most of the flora representatives similar to them belong to the astro family. The first sign by which we can easily distinguish them is white petals.
2. Anemone Blend has a variety of shades of flowers.
3. Calendula - similar to a gerbera 0.5-0.6 meters high. Possessing orange or saturated yellow petals.
4. Daisy - has a color of white, pink, lilac flowers, and the middle is pale yellow. A neat bush reaches no more than 20 cm.
5. Arctotis - on a bare stalk, it has 5-10 cm daisy-like inflorescences. The petals are white as well as pale yellow.
6. Gatzania - can grow up to 30 cm, and have an inflorescence in the region of 5-9 centimeters. The color scheme is diverse, however pink and scarlet varieties of gacinia are popular.
7. Osteospermum - perennial, but cultivated varieties are grown annually. It takes the form of an average bush about a meter high and the size of the inflorescence is about 4-10 centimeters. It is characterized by white, red, purple petals.
8. Sunflowers decorative ones are miniature, with terry and dense inflorescences, multi-colored depending on the variety.
9. Chrysanthemum - very similar to gerbera, different in size of flowers, they are much smaller. Chrysanthemum petals can have a wide variety of shades: from white to purple.

Other gerbera-like garden flowers include:

1. Ursinia
2. Echinacea.
3. Erigeron.

Can all its species be grown in the country?

Only tall species grow in open ground. For cultivation in the garden, such varieties are suitable as:

• Jameson.
• Wright.
• Abyssinian.
• Alcor.
• Aldebaran.
• Mars.
• Delios.
• Peter.
• Romeo.
• Daisy
• Rich

Features of outdoor growth

The most comfortable for gerbera will be the growth where a warm climate prevails and there is always a sunny summer. Choose a place to plant well-lit by the sun's rays (read about the rules for planting and caring for the gerbera in the garden and at home here). This will prevent the flower stalks from reaching the height and allow the flower to have the appearance provided for this variety.

Caring for her in the garden

Gerbera care includes winter and summer. Each of them has its own actions for the maintenance of the flower. Remove faded parts of the plant in a timely manner, this will help stimulate the growth of new peduncles.

ATTENTION: For a bouquet, the peduncles should not be cut, but broken out of the nest - the smallest part of the peduncle remaining on the bush can lead to complete decay of the flower.

Here are the rules for caring for cut gerbera flowers and how to keep them in a vase longer.

Growing seedlings

Sow in the light soil mixture from January to March, to a depth of 2-3 mm. For the most effective germination, the temperature should not fall below +18 degrees. If you were able to meet all the necessary conditions, then the first sprouts will appear in one or two weeks.

After the formation of 4-5 leaves, plant gerbera seedlings in pots. Wait until the night frost period passes and Gerbera seedlings can be transplanted into the open ground.

To make flowers feel comfortable, it is necessary to plant their sunny place and provide good and regular watering. The fruits that appear after artificial pollination are a box of seeds.

If you collect them, then next year you can grow new daisies. Now for sure there will be no disappointment in the descendants who grew up in the future.

Plants cultivated by seedlings will not have maternal varietal properties.

About how to grow a gerbera at home, read in our material.

Humidity and watering

During the growth period - abundant watering, during dormancy - moderately cautious. Water should have a temperature above + 18 ° C. Try not to water the leaf plates and the leaf outlet, because this can lead to decay of the plant.

Temperature and lighting

The landing site is chosen sunny, but without direct rays. At air temperatures above 30 ° C, development slows down, and the likelihood of a spider mite increases. The optimum air temperature is 22-25 ° C in good light, in cloudy weather - 18-20 ° C.

IMPORTANT: Gerbera is a tropical guest, and therefore does not tolerate low temperatures.

Soil and fertilizers

Organic rich soil not suitable for gerbera cultivationbecause it is prone to fungal diseases developing in organic fertilizers. Every 14 days we feed the plant with mineral fertilizers. This will provide good growth.

Diseases and Pests

A small drawback of gerbera is its high susceptibility to various diseases. Therefore, planting the soil must be treated with special preparations.

The most common gerbera diseases:

• Decay of the root neck.

Reasons: fungus caused by contamination of the soil, or stagnation of water in it. To correct the problem, observe the watering regime, and also improve soil drainage.

• Gray rot. Reasons: excess moisture in the ground. This problem is eliminated by special preparations.
• Powdery mildew. Reasons: very high temperature. Use sulfur-containing preparations or suitable fungicides. Aphids, spider mites and thrips will be pests for the flower. They can cause the death of the plant. Signs of their appearance will be yellowing of gerbera leaves and its wilting. The use of insecticidal special preparations will help here.

Details about the most common diseases and pests of indoor gerbera, as well as how to treat a plant, read here, and from this article you will learn about why leaves grow yellow at indoor gerbera and what to do for prevention.

Features of care in summer and winter

In summer, care includes: planting and dividing bushes, arranging a flower on a plot in a sunny place, and providing irrigation without stagnation of water in the soil. If you want to leave the gerbera for the winter in the open ground, then you need to cover it with something like straw or dry leaves.

In areas with a cold climate, it is most often grown as an annual plant, or it will have to be dug up in late autumn and transplanted into a large pot until spring (about when and how to transplant a gerbera, read here).

Soil composition: peat and sheet land (2 parts each) and sand (1 part). For a gerbera pot, choose a well-lit, well-ventilated and cool (7-8 degrees Celsius) room. Provide good drainage, such as expanded clay. The root neck should rise one and a half cm above the surface of the earth.

In the spring, when planting back into the open ground, make it more loose and lighter - add pine bark, sand, peat, coconut fiber to the planting pit. The optimum acidity of the soil is 5.5-6.2. When planting a gerbera, make sure that the rosette of leaves rises 0.5-1 cm above ground level to prevent decay and the development of diseases. It is in such conditions that she can easily survive the cold time.

Breeding

Gerbera needs periodic separation of the rhizome for planting. This method can be propagated. Let's consider what rules exist when transplanting and propagating our beauty.

You can find out more about how the process of gerbera propagation occurs here.

Seed planting technology

The first planting option is seeds. Get the variety you like at flower shows or in stores. Pay attention to the release date when buying seeds, remember that they can store germination properties for 7-8 months.

TIP: When planting seeds, you need to first grow seedlings, since the plant does not like frost, and you need to grow it from April-May, for full flowering in the summer.

And how to grow indoor gerbera from seeds, you will learn in a separate article.

Bush separation

In April-May, bushes that already have 2-3 years should be divided into several parts, leaving 2-3 young leaves on each. The roots are trimmed to 10 cm. When planting, make sure that the gerbera rosette is one and a half cm above the ground. At the end of how you plant a gerbera, maternal symptoms will not be lost.

Flowering and hibernation period

It blooms - 3-4 months, that is, all summer. After the gerbera withers, it is in a dormant state (accumulating strength at a new stage of flowering). When and how many gerberas bloom and why they do not, you can find out here.

Gerbera breeding is a laborious and troublesome affair. Subject to all the rules of its maintenance and the provision of suitable care, such a gorgeous flower, reminiscent of a multi-petal huge daisy, will delight with its excellent flowering over a long period of time, filling your garden with bright colors.

Watch the video: Home & Garden - Gerbera Daisies 101 with Shirley Bovshow - Hallmark Channel (May 2024).