Garden gerbera is a perennial herbaceous plant from the Asteraceae family, which is considered quite finicky in terms of care. To grow a flower on a personal plot, the gardener needs to know and apply tips and recommendations on agricultural technology, in particular, on planting and care.
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flower description
There are several dozen species of garden gerbera, most of which grow in their natural environment on the African mainland and in the tropical regions of Asia.
Gerbera due to the characteristic shape of the flower is also called the Transvaal camomile or daisy (Transvaal is the area in South Africa where flowers were first discovered).
South African exotic flower
The plant has the form of a shrub 25–35 cm high., although some species reach half a meter. The leaves are basal, fleshy, elongated in shape with sharp tips, collected in a rosette. Roots short, fibrous.
The flower was discovered in South Africa, first described in the 18th century and got its name in honor of the German botanist Traugott Gerber.
The peduncle is smooth and pubescent, rises above the foliage. Ends with a chamomile-like flower that blooms for 30-35 days. The inflorescence is round, collected in a basket. Petals reed-shaped, tapering towards the base. They can be simple, semi-double and terry.
peduncle gerbera
Large flower diameter - 10 ... 12 cm, color is allowed in all shades of white, red, pink and yellow. The flower of a hybrid variety can reach 25 ... 30 cm in diameter. The middle of the inflorescence is round and brown.
Gerbera fruits - small seed pods. The plant blooms for 3 months, and in total up to 20 flowers can form on a shrub per season.
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The optimal time for planting gerberas in the soil is mid-Maywhen the risk of returning night frosts is completely eliminated. It is not worth delaying the planting date, because this way you can shorten the flowering period.
When choosing a landing site, you should pay attention to open, well-lit places.. The preferred soil for gerberas is nutritious, well-drained, and slightly acidic.
In gardening stores you can buy specialized soil for gerberas or roses, but you can make the soil mixture for the flower garden yourself. To do this, mix equal proportions of leafy turf, peat and drainage (sand or perlite).
When planting seedlings and cuttings, the soil is treated with phytosporin against fungi. Small holes are made in the ground (3-5 cm deep), at the bottom of which expanded clay or crushed brick is placed. Seedlings are covered with earth and watered.
The best precursor plants for perennials will be calendula and marigoldthat saturate the soil with phytoncides. Difficulties with flower growth will arise when planting on the site after tulips, gladioli, potatoes, tomatoes and other solanaceous (from them pathogenic fungi can remain in the soil).
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Temperature and lighting
Warmth and diffused sunlight are key requirements for growing beautiful large flowers.. If there is not enough sun for the plant, its stem will stretch, and the diameter of the flower will be small.
Perennial in the flowerbed
The location of the flower garden in dark places, lowlands and in dense shade can provoke root rot - a disease to which the plant is already very susceptible.
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Gerbera leaves are wide and actively evaporate water from the surface, so the plant needs regular watering.. 1 m2 flower garden consumes 25 liters of water. The table shows an approximate irrigation scheme depending on the stage of plant development.
| Gerbera growth stage | The nature of watering |
|---|---|
| Before the buds | Abundant |
| flowering period | Moderate, do not dry out |
| In winter (if the flower was transplanted into a pot) | Not abundant but regular |
burgundy gerbera
It is recommended to pour water directly under the root of the plant, so as not to erode the soil and not expose the defenseless fibrous rhizome. It is necessary to ensure that when watering moisture does not fall on the rosette of leaves, this can lead to decay.
Whether the roots of a perennial are sufficiently moistened can be understood precisely by the state of the leaves.: if they turn yellow and dry, then watering is insufficient, excess moisture leads to decay.
After each watering, the soil is loosened to a depth of 6–7 cm and freed from weeds.. It is impossible to allow a crust to appear on the surface of the soil - it makes it difficult for oxygen to reach the roots of the plant.
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top dressing
The plant needs liquid top dressing twice a month.. The perennial tolerates mineral fertilizers well, and from an excess of organic fertilizers it can lose its decorative properties (the flowers will be small, and the shrub will often get sick). However, to stimulate growth 1 time per season, cow dung can be used as a top dressing.
The best option for gerbera - a complex mixture of fertilizers for flowering plants. The perennial responds well to magnesium sulphate, and the lack of illumination can be made up for with phosphorus-containing fertilizer.
yellow gerbera
- phosphorus
- manganese
- magnesium
- potassium
In autumn, maintenance mixtures can be applied less frequently - once a month. When the plant has faded, top dressing can be stopped.
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Gerbera, like other representatives of Aster perennials, can be propagated by cuttings, dividing the bush or seeds.
Garden design from gerberas
Vegetative way
The main method of shrub reproduction is the division of an overgrown bush. It is used to propagate valuable plants, because it allows you to save varietal characteristics.
Gerbera seedlings
Dividing a bush is a reliable way to preserve the varietal characteristics of a flower. Rejuvenating division is shown to an adult plant at 3–4 years of age. This procedure is usually carried out in early spring, separating a young shoot with 1-2 leaves from the mother bush. In this case, it is recommended to shorten the roots to 10 cm.
Rooting delenki takes an average of 35 days. In this case, the rosette of the gerbera should not protrude above the ground by more than 1 cm.
cuttings
Cutting an already adult bush allows you to get viable, high-quality planting material of the variety you need for the gardener. After cuttings, the shoots will give flowers the next year.
yellow gerberas
In order to get cuttings, you should:
How to grow seedlings from seeds
When buying plant seeds for germination, it is important to monitor their germination period - it is only 7 months. They are sown in early autumn or from January to March. African exotic seeds remain viable for 7-8 months.
African exotic seeds
Seeds are planted not in open ground, but in boxes or tubs with loose soil., consisting of sod land, leaf humus, sand, perlite and peat. The soil substrate must be sterilized before planting: calcined on fire or steamed in a water bath. As a drainage, expanded clay is usually placed at the bottom of the box.
A week before the proposed planting, the seeds are wrapped in gauze or cloth.dipped in a weak solution of potassium permanganate. Then the gauze is gently squeezed out and stored for 1-2 days in polyethylene. This method allows you to achieve faster shoots.
The landing order is:
It is important to maintain good lighting seedlings - about 12 hours of daylight. With a short duration of daylight hours in winter, artificial supplementary lighting with the help of fluorescent lamps is allowed.
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When transplanting a plant, you need to ensure that the root neck of the flower is not covered with soil.. In this state, the shrub will not take root in a new place and, most likely, will die due to rot.
pink gerbera
Transplanting is a great way to "rejuvenate" an adult plant. At the time of transplantation, an adult bush can be divided into several small ones. To do this, the rhizome of the excavated plant is cleaned of soil, carefully divided into 2 parts with a disinfected blade or a sharp knife.
The cut is treated with powdered charcoal or ash, and until it begins to dry out, the seedlings are planted in a new place and watered abundantly.
If for some reason transplanting a plant is undesirable, then it is initially planted in a convenient container, tub or container that can be moved around the site and brought into the room for wintering.
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The flower stem is not cut, like other decorative flowers, but twisted or broken out. Since the flowering period of the shrub is quite long - 2-3 months, care during this period needs to be strengthened.
In addition to abundant watering and frequent feeding, it is recommended to remove dried flower stalks by cutting them as close as possible to the base of the outlet.
Variety of flowers
This method will allow you to achieve the appearance of new large buds and activate flowering.. If pruning is not carried out, the rest of the stem will rot, and rot can spread to the roots.
It is also necessary to remove dry foliage in a timely manner. - it signals the presence of a disease in a gerbera and can contribute to the infection of other plants. Another important nuance in care during flowering is the need to irrigate the leaves to remove dust and dirt.
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In the southern regions, where winters are warm and humid, the plant waits out a dormant state with a protective shelter in the form of spruce branches, straw or sawdust.
blooming gerberas
In the central regions of Russia, gerbera should be dug up in the fall as an annual and stored in a cool, dry place without clearing the roots from the ground.. Right along with the earthy clod, the plant is placed in a wooden box filled with sawdust and stored in a dry basement.
Breeders have already bred hybrid varieties that can withstand temperatures down to -10 degrees, but in Siberia and central Russia they still have to be dug up for the winter.
In central Russia, digging is also mandatory: the temperatures in these areas are too cold in winter for the plant to survive. The flower is transplanted into pots and brought in for the winter in a room where the temperature does not fall below +7 - +8 degrees.
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Gray rot on the plant
However, excessive watering or moisture entering the outlet can also provoke plant pathology.. Problems can be avoided by regularly draining the soil. If it is not possible to save the affected plant, then it must be dug up and burned so that the disease does not spread to neighboring shrubs.
Gray rot is also dangerous for gerberas., which can be recognized by the characteristic brown spots on the leaves, a gray fluffy coating. First, it leads to decay of the foliage, and if left untreated, the roots of the flower. They fight the disease with the help of fungicides Teldor, Gamair, Skor and Diskor emulsions.
The defeat of Fusarium is determined by the characteristic features: weakening of the plant, the appearance of brown spots and drying of the leaves on one side.
In summer, the perennial is prone to infection with powdery mildew., which also occurs due to a lack of calcium in the soil, an excess of mineral fertilizers. On flowers and ornamental plants, dew is destroyed with Topaz, Chistotsvet, Skor.
Insect pests are destroyed by the use of insecticide chemicals.
- spider mites (Aktellik, Neoron, Fitoverm)
- thrips (Regent, Pegasus)
- whitefly (Fufanon, Agrovertin)
- slobbering pennitsa (Pyrethrum, Karbofos)
- aphid (Aktara, Fas, Confidor)
- slugs (collected and destroyed by hand)
Potential Growing Problems
Growing a gerbera in a summer cottage, a gardener may face a number of problems. Knowing the cause of difficulties with the growth and flowering of perennials, it is easy to find solutions.
| Problem | Possible reasons |
|---|---|
| Gerbera not blooming | Excess nitrogen, too long daylight hours, violation of wintering conditions, few leaves in the outlet |
| The plant dries, turns yellow, fades | Excess or lack of moisture, lack of minerals in the soil, Fusarium damage, leaf pores clogged with dust and dirt |
| The buds wither | Little light, sudden change in temperature |
| Leaves turn black | Cold water for irrigation, excessive moisture or, conversely, drought, low air temperature |
Bouquet of gerberas
When planting gerbera seedlings in an open flower garden, you need to avoid common mistakes in agricultural technology:
- watering with cold, unsettled water
- fertilizers with organic or chloride fertilizers
- covering the root collar with soil during picking
- landing in a shady, swampy place
Perennial types
Scientists distinguish about 80 species of garden gerbera. The most popular of them are collected in the table.
| species name | Specifications |
|---|---|
| Green leaf (common) | A distinctive feature is narrow leaves and flower petals. Inflorescences are usually pale pink. |
| Gerber Wright | It has a prolonged flowering period: from spring to the first cold weather. The flowers are marginal, have a white-pink color. |
| Gerber Jameson | More classified as indoor varieties, very capricious in care when planting in open ground. It has short stems, large flower diameter. |
| Abyssinian | Homeland - Ethiopia, outwardly (the shape of the inflorescence and color) is very similar to chamomile. The stem can reach 50 cm in height. |
| Mini | A dwarf variety, a miniature plant no more than 25–30 cm high, helps purify the air. Inflorescences can be orange or yellow. |
Various types of flower
plant varieties
The varietal diversity of the plant is also extensive, most often varieties are obtained by crossing African species: Jameson gerbera and green leaf.
There are varieties with:
You can choose a perennial for a flower garden based on the color of a plant of a certain variety.. The brightest colors and their corresponding gerbera cultivars are collected in the table for the convenience of gardeners.
| Color | Gerbera variety |
|---|---|
| Red | Mars, Spark, Romeo, Alamak, Algol |
| Pink | Aldebaran, Miga, Viola, Vera |
| purple | Amber, Terra Paradise |
| Yellow | Vega, Jupiter, Kalinka |
| White | Lobilosa, Maria, Symphony |
| multi-colored color | Festival mini, Luchiki |
blue gerbera
Application in landscape design
Due to the long flowering period and attractive appearance, gerberas are often used for decoration. household plots. Shrubs look great as borders and borders for flower beds.
The plant is versatile and combines with almost any plant, becomes an excellent center of flower arrangements.
Gerberas in the flowerbed
Given the African origin of the perennial and the peculiarities of care, you should not try to plant a flower in city flower beds and parks - most likely, the plant will quickly die there.
Despite the fact that a native of Africa (gerbera) is a capricious plant, it is quite possible to grow beautiful flowers in a temperate climate. It is necessary to strictly observe the basic methods of agricultural technology and carefully monitor the condition of the perennial.
If you make an effort and be patient, then bright large Transvaal daisies will become a real decoration of the backyard and the pride of the gardener.
Information on how to properly grow seedlings from gerbera seeds for subsequent planting in the garden, as well as tips and nuances of caring for a flower, are collected in a short educational video:
VIDEO: Gerbera Jameson planting and care
Garden gerbera: description, types and varieties, planting and caring for an African flower in the open field, reproduction, possible diseases (40+ Photos & Videos)
Perennial flowers are a little capricious, some of them have to be dropped in before winter, opened in spring, but they take root and then grow in the order I want, there is just as much fuss with annuals - so I decided that it’s better to plant and care for once than annually go for seedlings to buy, choose, wait for them to take root.
I have been growing gerberas along the plot for more than 4 years, I really like how they have grown.