Gerbera or Transvaal chamomile - a perennial shrub of the Aster family came to us from Africa, but took root perfectly in temperate latitudes, becoming one of everyone's favorite flowers.
Growing it yourself is quite troublesome, especially at home, but it is quite possible. To do this, you must follow the basic agrotechnical rules of planting and care.
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Landing features
When growing a plant in room conditions, increased attention is paid to the choice of soil and pot. So the container for planting the seedling should let air through (clay or ceramic pots work well), and be large enough for the flower to bloom (at least 15 cm in diameter and 1 liter of volume).
red gerbera
The soil for gerberas should be loose, nutritious, well-drained, with mild acidity from 4.8 to 5.5 pH. The composition of the soil, in addition to other useful minerals, must necessarily include iron, which will protect the flower from chlorosis.
When purchasing a perennial in a pot, you need to carefully evaluate the quality of the planting material. Buying a plant with damaged shoots, signs of decay, sluggish or dried leaves should be discarded.
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Gerbera in room conditions is demanding on light: it must be scattered. The best place to place a flower pot is considered to be a window sill on the southwest or southeast side.
flower on the windowsill
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Temperature
A heat-loving flower native to hot Africa loves warmth. Regardless of the season, the optimum temperature for a room gerbera is +21-+25 degrees. Cooler temperatures in summer will cause the plant to go dormant.
Gerberas in pots
If the room is colder in winter, then you need to provide an additional source of heating near the pot. The minimum temperature threshold in this case is + 15- + 18 degrees. With the marks on the thermometer below, there is a risk of the plant dying from hypothermia.
Before flowering, the plant can be taken out onto a glazed loggia, veranda or open windows next to it. It is important to avoid drafts, but a warm, gentle wind and fresh air will only benefit the perennial.
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Regular abundant watering is the key to long-term flowering of gerbera. Water should be used settled for at least 1 day, not hard, with a temperature of 18-20 degrees.Usually gerberas are watered 2 times a week, but when the soil dries out, moisture can be made more frequent.
healthy flower
Spraying the leaves and the space around the flower will benefit the gerbera, but in no case the flower. Once a week, you can put a pot of gerbera on a pallet filled with moss, expanded clay or pebbles. To humidify the air in the room, it is also recommended to place wide bowls of water near the pot.
After watering, the soil surface under the leaf socket must be loosened, preventing the formation of a crust - it prevents the aeration of the roots and leads to the drying of the perennial.
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Fertilizer
Top dressing is especially important for gerberas during flowering.. Twice a month, liquid fertilizers are applied to the soil, giving preference to mineral complex mixtures with a predominance of potassium and calcium. If the bush has been transplanted recently, then fertilizing with water can be done no earlier than a month after the “moving” of the plant.
Various colors of gerberas
| flower growth period | Optimal nutrition |
|---|---|
| Vegetation period (from May to the end of October) | Complex mineral mixtures |
| Blooming buds | Nitrogen fertilizers |
| Before flowering | Top dressing high in magnesium and phosphorus |
| flowering time | potash fertilizers |
You can use ready-made liquid mixtures for ornamental flowering plants such as Bona Forte or Agricola. It is important to dilute houseplant fertilizers with water stronger than indicated on the packaging. Excess doses and the use of pure mixtures lead to pathologies in the development of the flower or its death.
The condition of the leaves may indicate a lack of certain minerals.. If white spots or stripes appear on them, and gerbera diseases are excluded, then this indicates a lack of magnesium in the soil. In this case, a solution of magnesium sulfate is added to the soil (20 g per 10 liters of warm water).
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home gerberas
Indoor gerberas reproduce in the same way as garden gerberas: you can use seeds, leaves or cuttings. The vegetative method is more reliable, suitable for valuable varieties, and the seed method allows you to grow a plant of any variety.
The division of the bush
If a gardener needs to obtain several viable seedlings at the same time while maintaining varietal characteristics, then The best way to propagate is vegetatively.. Carry out the procedure after the end of the flowering period.
bush of gerberas
To do this, the bush is dug up, the rhizome is cleaned and washed from the ground. The rosette of leaves is removed, and the fibrous long roots are cut and divided into several parts with a disinfected blade.
The places of cuts should be treated with fine wood ash, and then the resulting delenki should be planted in different pots. The rosette should rise 2 cm above the ground. The seedlings will take root within six months, but in the next flowering period they will be pleased with bright flowers.
The division of the bush can be carried out directly in the pot with the mother plantby simply removing the surface layer of soil and cutting the perennial rhizome in half. The slices are sprinkled with crushed coal and new soil. When both delenki give new roots, they are seated in different pots.
leaf
One of the most time-consuming and affordable ways to get a new plant. It is necessary to cut off a part of the stem with a node and 1-2 leaves from an adult bush. The cutting is planted in warm soil (the temperature should be maintained at +25 degrees) to a depth of 5 cm.
The result of leaf propagation
After about 7–10 days, roots and young shoots from axillary buds will begin to form at the stem. The roots divide and grow the seedlings in another container with loose, well-drained soil.
Seedlings grown in this way will take root only after six months. Spring seedlings will bloom in mid-autumn, and those planted in summer - only the next year. However, such seedlings retain the varietal characteristics of the mother plant in full.
from seeds
For propagation of gerberas by seeds, only fresh seed material should be used. - best of all independently collected from the fruits of a plant of a variety you like. If the seeds are purchased, then they need to be planted within a germination period of 6-7 months from the date of production on the package.
gerbera sprout
To germinate seeds, you need to prepare:
- capacity for planting planting material (pot, tub or container)
- priming (special soil for gerberas or roses or homemade steamed substrate from peat, turf and sand)
- fine river sand
- water for irrigation at room temperature
- film or glass right size
Seeds are not buried in the ground, but simply sown on the surface, then sprinkled with sand and watered. The soil is covered with a film or glass and placed in a warm, well-lit place.
Every day, the shelter is removed to ventilate the crops, sprinkled with water as it dries. After the first shoots with several leaves have appeared, the protective film is removed, and seedlings dive and begin to water daily. Seedlings with 6-7 leaves are again picked, but already in separate pots for growing.
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A flower purchased at a nursery or a store needs to be transplanted at home. However, this should be done no earlier than 15–20 days after purchase, when the plant has passed the acclimatization period. After such a quarantine, it is imperative to replant the gerbera, because the soil in the purchased pot is unsuitable for the further growth of the flower.
Purchased plants
If we are talking about a simple change of pot for an adult bush due to the growth of the rhizome, then it is better to plan a transplant in early spring. In this case, the new container for the flower should be 3–5 cm larger than the old one in diameter.
You also need to prepare the soil substrate, optimally suited for gerberas - most often it is a mixture of turf, leafy soil and fine drainage (sand, perlite, sphagnum moss). When transplanting, the plant is transferred along with an earthen clod from one pot to another, covered with new soil from above.
When transplanting, the neck of the leaf rosette should be 2–2.5 cm higher than the soil level.. Otherwise, the plant will get sick and die.
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Indoor gerberas bloom twice a year, but just as plentifully and for a long time as garden. The first flowering period occurs at the end of summer - the beginning of autumn, the second is repeated from April to the end of May.
perennial in bloom
The perennial does not need pruning, however, after flowering, the flower stalks must be removed.. It is strictly forbidden to cut the stems. Damaged shoots can rot and kill the entire plant. It is best to carefully break or unscrew the stems. In the same period, dry leaves should also be removed.
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In winter, it is better to rearrange the plant to the northeast or northwest window sill or remove it from the window altogether.. Leaves can be thinned before wintering. It is recommended to reduce watering during the dormant period, and stop fertilizing altogether. The previous regime is restored in the spring, when the flower grows a mass of leaves.
pink gerbera in a pot
During the period of cold weather, it is not necessary to spray the leaves of the plant. The exception is when the pot is located next to the heaters, and the air in the room is too dry.
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Pests are dangerous for ornamental indoor plants in the same way as for perennials in the open field. With a lack of moisture and dry air, larvae of aphids, spider mites (especially red mites) and whitefly butterflies can parasitize on gerbera leaves.
powdery mildew
They need to be collected by hand, wipe the leaves with a soft cloth dipped in soapy water.. The treatment is completed by spraying with insecticides - Biotlin, Commander, Tanrek preparations.
If a gray wet coating appears on the foliage of the plant, then powdery mildew is evident.. The disease can occur due to watering too cold or hot water or fertilizing with nitrogenous fertilizers.
They fight the fungus with the help of the fungicide Fitosporin-M, spraying with a weak solution of potassium permanganate (1.5 g of potassium permanganate per 10 liters of water). It is recommended to remove the top layer of soil, where fungus spores may be. Phytosporin can be sprayed on the plant for preventive purposes.
Over-watering can cause gray or white mold.. Affected leaves will have to be removed, and the remaining ones should be treated with copper-containing chemicals (copper sulfate). For the same reason, late blight appears on the gerbera. The fight against it consists in the treatment with Glyokladin, Gamair, Oksikhom, Hom.
What varieties are suitable for growing at home
In open ground conditions, the gerbera reaches 15 to 35 cm in height, some hybrid varieties up to 55–60 cm.. If the size of the living space does not allow placing a pot with such a tall gerbera, you should take a closer look at decorative dwarf hybrids.
Mini variety
Hybrid varieties are characterized by short peduncles and flowers of small diameter. However, such plants impose more requirements on the care of the gardener.
Excellent for breeding at home, a miniature view is suitable - the Jameson gerbera. An adult plant rarely forms flower stalks above 30 cm, and the average flower diameter does not exceed 10 cm. It is this species that is used to make bouquets: flowers have excellent decorative qualities and stand in water for a long time.
Another dwarf variety is the mini gerbera. The perennial also rarely grows above 25 cm, the flowers have beautiful narrow-leaved petals of a red or yellow hue. In favor of choosing this species for indoor cultivation, the beneficial property of the flower also speaks - the ability to purify the air in the room.
Among the usual and hybrid varieties for growing at home, it is recommended to choose small-flowered narrow-leaved varieties: crimson Alcor, red Aldebaran or multi-colored Rays.
Why does the gerbera not bloom?
Even experienced gardeners have cases when, at first glance, room gerbera care is carried out correctly, but the plant does not produce flowers.
There may be several reasons for this state of perennial:
- Too much daylight hours (more than 12 hours). The plant will also stop growing.
- Being in a dormant period. In indoor gerberas, it lasts for 3 months, during which the exotic accumulates strength and lays new buds for flowering shoots.
- The perennial does not have enough green mass to form flower stalks.
- The plant is infected with pests or a fungal disease.
Weakly flowering gerbera
If the gerbera still blooms, but very weakly, then this may be due to:
How to dry flowers
Often gardeners want to extend the life of a plant grown from a seed with their own hands. In this case, the gerbera flowers can be dried.
flower before drying
Gerbera is a voluminous but fragile flower, so it is preferable to dry it in a voluminous way.. It is best to save a freshly plucked, not fully blossomed bud, separated from the stem.
The flower must be well dried and lowered with the base up into a container filled with a substance that absorbs moisture. It should completely cover the gerbera.
- rice flour
- fine salt Extra
- semolina
- bura
- silica gel
- corn flour
- river sand
The container should be placed in a cool, dry place - the result can be seen in 10-12 days. The disadvantage of this method is the separation of the petals from the core.
The beauty and integrity of the flower will be preserved by using a protective layer of crumpled toilet paper or absorbent cotton when placing the gerbera under the press. The petals will not fall off, but paper marks may be imprinted on their surface.
You can also use the microwave drying method. In this case, only the petals are dried by placing them between two ceramic flat tiles with a protective layer of watercolor paper. 1 minute of exposure to electromagnetic waves is enough to preserve the beauty of the petals for a long time.
The nuances of growing a flower at home
Despite the beauty of the gerbera, not all gardeners are advised to grow it at home. Perennial should be abandoned to people prone to allergic reactions. The reason for this is the pollen released by the plant.
South African exotic
To avoid allergies, you should choose terry varieties for planting: they have many petals, but few stamens, and hence less pollen. Otherwise, the indoor gerbera is absolutely safe for people and pets, even benefits by purifying the air in the room.
Recommendations for choosing planting material, advice on planting, watering and feeding, as well as transplanting and propagating gerberas are collected in a convenient format of video tutorials.
VIDEO: Gerbera care at home
Gerbera care at home
Gerberas: how to grow a tropical flower at home.Description, varieties, care, reproduction, possible diseases (50+ Photos & Videos) + Reviews
Indoor gerbera is a bright and beautiful ornamental plant that is a pleasure to keep in your home. Despite all the exactingness of a perennial for care, even novice gardeners can grow it on their own.
