A Detailed Guide to Gerbera Daisy Planting Methods and Precautions
The gerbera daisy (Gerbera jamesonii) is a hairy herbaceous plant in the Asteraceae family. Its flowers come in a rich variety of colors, and the blooms are large and showy, giving them extremely high ornamental value. They are now widely used for cut flowers, potted plants and decoration, and are very popular with many people. So if you want to grow gerbera daisies, how should you go about it? And what precautions should you take? Today we bring you the planting methods and precautions for gerbera daisies, so let's take a look below!
1. Propagation methods
There are quite a few propagation methods available for gerbera daisies, such as division, cuttings and sowing. If propagating by sowing, spring sowing should be done around Qingming Festival, while autumn sowing should be done in September to October. Before sowing, the seeds can be soaked in warm water to speed up germination; after sowing, keep the temperature at around 20°C, and they will sprout in about a week. After the seeds germinate, provide plenty of light, and once the seedlings have fully spread their cotyledons, thin them out. When the seedlings have grown about two true leaves, they can be planted out, preferably in May to June. About two months after planting out, the plants will bloom.
2. Fertilizer and water management
If gerbera daisies are grown under protected cultivation, they can bloom all year round. As a result, nutrient consumption is also very high, so we need to pay attention to proper topdressing throughout the entire growing period of the gerbera daisy. The fertilizer should mainly be nitrogen-based, with a suitably increased proportion of phosphorus and potassium, plus an appropriate amount of secondary and trace elements. Before flowering, be sure to supplement potassium to strengthen the growth capacity of the stems and flowers and increase flower yield. Humidity should be kept at around 70%; after watering at planting out, wait until the soil is slightly dry before watering again, to ensure normal root growth. Water according to the principle of watering thoroughly once the soil has dried out; when watering during the flowering period, be careful not to spray water into the center of the leaf rosette, to avoid rotting the flower buds.
3. Thinning leaves and buds
The gerbera daisy is a flower produced year-round, so we also need to pay attention to thinning leaves and buds properly. Too many leaves will reduce the number of gerbera flowers, but there should not be too few either, so pay attention to the timing of leaf removal. At the same time, promptly remove the yellow leaves beneath the basal leaf rosette, stripping each stem evenly and keeping about three functional leaves. Then, during the seedling growth period, be sure to remove the flower buds that form early, to promote vegetative growth of the plant. During the flowering period, if there are too many flower buds, thin them out promptly as well to ensure quality. We should also take factors such as the market and season into account and control the number of flower stems well.
4. Precautions
The first thing to note is to control the temperature well; the suitable temperature for gerbera daisy growth is around 22°C. It must not go outside the range of 5-30°C, otherwise the growth of the gerbera daisy will be noticeably inhibited. At the same time, pay attention to temperature differences; the day-night temperature difference should be kept at around 3°C and must not be too large, or deformed flowers are likely to appear. Then also be sure to maintain sufficient light, with daily light exposure kept at around 12 hours. If natural light is insufficient, then supplemental artificial lighting should be provided. Light intensity and duration directly affect the flower yield of gerbera daisies, so everyone should pay close attention.
The above is a brief introduction to the planting methods and precautions for gerbera daisies. That's all for today's introduction; this article is for reference only, and we hope it can help you!