Four years
ago I began working at a greenhouse. When I first walked into the cooler I
was initially amazed at all of the flowers, then I
began looking around to see if there were any that I hadn’t seen before.
Soon enough a bucket filled with suspended daisies caught my eye, and I was
in love. The gerber daisies amazed me with their size and their multitude of
bright colors. It wasn’t long after working at the greenhouse that I
was unpacking a shipment of blooming plants, and came upon a 4” pot filled
with a mound of green leaves. Rather confused that it wasn’t ready to
bloom, I went and asked someone what kind of plant it was. To my amazement,
it was a gerber daisy. In order to encourage it to bloom I put the plant in
the greenhouse where it would get more light than in the shop, and the next
week 3 light pink flowers had appeared. Unfortunately I was not familiar with
how to care for gerbs, and my little pet project soon died. After four years
of working, though, my gerb care has improved. This site will offer help on
where to find cut gerber daisies, the care of the plant, and links to sites
that know more than I do.
As
I said earlier, I first became acquainted with gerber daisies as a cut flower.
Throughout my four years I would also have to say that I saw
more cut gerbs come
through the doors than potted gerbs, so my personal experience lends more help
throughout this portion. The keys to keeping gerbera daisies flourishing in
vase arrangements are pretty much the same as any other cut flower. If the
flowers
are going into a vase arrangement the vases must be clean and free of bacteria,
and water should be replaced every 3 or 4 days. This will help keep the water
free of bacteria that could grow and cause the stems to clog, which would result
in a drooped flower head. Gerbs are naturally top heavy, so the large flower
tends to bend down when left on a long stem. A way to avoid this is by using
a specially made clip or a tube around the neck of the stem to support the
large bloom. If you don't have any clips, an easy solution is
to take a piece of wire
(20 or
22
guage)
and wrap it around a permanent marker to make something that looks like a spring.
Slide the looped wire onto the stem and up towards the neck. This will
give the extra support that the flowers need. If taken care of properly gerbs
can last anywhere from 2-3 weeks in a vase arrangement. If I have you convinced
that gerber daisies are worth the $2, you can make a trip to your favorite
florist to pick out your favorite color.
From my own experience, and from reading other people’s experience, I have found that gerber daisies tend to be a bit tricky as potted plants. When kept indoors, gerber daisies like bright, filtered light. I found that putting them in the greenhouse worked the best, because they didn’t get quite enough light from the shop windows. If using them as an outdoor potted plant or a bedding plant, plant gerbs in a location with partial shade, preferably an area that is hidden from the hot afternoon sun. When the daisies are blooming keep soil moist, but not wet. During non-blooming periods you can allow the top of the soil to become dry between waterings. If you are using your gerbs as a bedding plant be sure to plant them so the base of the plant is just above the soil line, as they are prone to crown rot. The plants are also susceptible to powdery mildew when the humidity is high or temperatures are low. If you have a gerber daisy as an indoor blooming plant it is best just to let the plant go after it is done blooming. The plants generally don’t do well indoors after their last blooms have gone.
Gerber plant information sites:
http://www.aces.edu/department/extcomm/publications/anr/anr-1144/anr-1144.html
http://www.bachmans.com/retail/tipsheets/indoor_plants/GerberDaisies.cfm
http://www.czguest.com/docs/articles/summer_nyp/nyp080199.html
http://www.metrolinagreenhouses.com/plants/premiumflowering/Gerbera%20Daisies.htm