The Gerbera Leaves Have Wilted and Drooped - Can It Still Survive? Rescue and Care Methods

Today let's talk about the ornamental flower native to South Africa, the "Gerbera", also known as the Barberton daisy or the Transvaal daisy. It comes in many colors, including pink, red, yellow, vintage tones and so on. In the language of flowers, the Gerbera is often given the meanings of "eternal love", "loyalty" and "encouragement", so it is often used to express deep well-wishes to family and friends and a steadfast promise of love.

Generally speaking, Gerberas are very easy to keep alive. The vase life of cut flowers is about 10 days, and as a potted plant the flowering period can last as long as 6 months. So, if the leaves keep wilting during everyday care, what should you do? If the wilting happens on cut flowers, the cause is most likely a bit of dehydration or rot, because the native root of the Gerbera is different from other flowers - it has no leaves and no thorns, so it easily becomes dehydrated, yet the stem has a lot of fine hairs and is extremely prone to rotting. If wilting occurs, don't panic: take a drinking straw, cut it open, split it lengthwise and slip the whole straw over the bent neck position, which will hold it in place. In addition, during care you should change the water and clean the vase every day, and the flower head must not get wet.

If what you are growing is a potted Gerbera and its leaves wilt, there are generally only two causes: either lack of water or root rot. You can tell by observing the soil. If it is lack of water, just water it; if the soil is wet, then it is root rot and you should stop watering.

Besides this, there is another wilting situation with Gerberas: it is neither lack of water nor root rot, but because it has just been bought from the flower market. When the flower grower was caring for it, it was always kept in a greenhouse and had never been exposed to the sunlight on a balcony. Then you take it home and immediately give it such high temperatures - of course it cannot withstand the scorching sun, and so it wilts. If this is the case, you only need to put it in a bright, indirect-light environment to recover for a while, letting it gradually adapt to the light, and afterwards you can move it outside to bask in the sun. In short, after solving these problems, the Gerbera's leaves will gradually recover their vitality. But remember, proper pruning also helps the plant renew itself and grow healthily.