Wednesday, July 21, 2010

Gerberas

Gerberas share the same family as sunflowers, daisies and asters. They are native to South Africa and can be found mostly in Africa, Asia and South America. They are also known as African Daisies. There are various forms of gerbera flowers that can be put into four groups ; single flowers, double, crested doubles or full crested doubles. It is the fifth most cut flowers in the world, after rose, carnation, chrysanthemum and lily.



Maroon


The first pot of gerberas was given to me by my sister when I moved in to my house about fifteen years ago. My sis, upon seeing my craze for gardening, bought a pot of dark orange gerbera as an addition to my garden of sunflowers and marigolds. I love it instantly and my garden has never been short of a gerbera plant ever since!



Bright Red


These are the gerberas that I have in my front porch. They are really easy to grow, in the sense that, they just seems happy to be in full sun. I just leave them where they can enjoy the sun, as long as they are slightly moist, but not too wet. The only thing that needs to be done, is to pick the leaves as they turn brown and yellow, and cut off the wilted flowers. By doing this, the new leaves and new flower buds will grow and with occasional fertilizer, full sun and enough of water, you can be certain that it will reward you with beautiful blooms all year round. Of course, it won't be as big as the ones in Cameron Highlands, but still as striking and beautiful!



Pinkish Peach



Pinkish Peach


I bought these plants from one particular nursery where nice gerberas plants can be found. The average lifespan of these plants are about 3 or 4 years. But the longest that I have grown is a little over 2 years. Mealy bugs and snails are the main pests. When I buy this plant, I always look for the biggest bunch of leaves and make sure that they are healthy and stay close together.



Sweet Orange



Maroon (close up)



This is the double crested (I think), the petals are in layers, the colour is pinkish peach. New buds are growing.



Most of the leaves have wilted and there is only one bud, usually there will be at least two or three buds growing at the same time.



The colours of gerberas are simply gorgeous. Of all the colours, my favourite is the bright deep yellow. But my yellow gerbera plant is not very healthy with just a few leaves, trying to "revive" it back. I have therefore just recently purchased another pot of bright yellow gerbera! Without a healthy pot of yellow gerbera in my "garden" is just not complete! All of the plants above have been in my "garden porch" for over a year except for the maroon, about 6 months or so. My white gerbera plant wilted and died a few months back and am tying to find another one, but white gerbera is harder to find. The ones that I found, are scare and not in a healthy state. White gerbera is really beautiful, when put together with the colour ones, the contrasts is really something.



My new plant which I just purchased about a week ago! My favourite colour!



Aren't they gorgeous?


I have never been successful in growing them from seeds from the dried flowers. Any pointers on this, anyone??

Happy Gardening!



15 comments:

  1. I am so happy to know that we could grow gerberas in Selangor...they are so gorgeous and my favourite flower. Mine is not flowering now as the weather is too cold for them right now...I love your gerberas...Could not help you with growing from seeds though. I failed several time too...I read somewhere you could make division from the plant in cooler weather.

    ReplyDelete
  2. beautiful! after i left the comments about the coriander flower, I found some on mine too!!!

    ReplyDelete
  3. Your gerberas were really gorgeous and healthy. They look better than those from the home centres. Now, it has inspired me to try growing gerberas at home.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Hi Malay-Kadazan girl,
    Welcome to my blog! We have something in common, gerberas! It is indeed almost impossible to grow them from seeds. Are the gerberas over there have bigger blooms, in the cooling climate and enough sun, I think they must be big and gorgeous! Hope to see you again. Have a nice day!

    ReplyDelete
  5. Hi, mr.pineapple man,
    That's great news! Did you grow them in pots or containers? Are you able to take them with you when you move? I really hope you can bring them with you!

    Hi Autumn Belle,
    Please do try to grow them. They have beautiful blooms and colours. The wet weather now is not good for them, too much water may rot the roots and leaves. I have to bring them under the roof to avoid them from getting too much rain! Have fun growing them and enjoy the beautiful blooms!

    ReplyDelete
  6. Gerbera is really beautiful! You have so many varities to add colours to your garden! I bought 2 plants from nursery last time but the orange colour Gerbera decided to die! I'm left with bright red varity now!

    ReplyDelete
  7. Hi Malar,
    I have 6 colours. Each time when I am at the nurseries, I have to refrain myself from buying more, due to the reason that I do not have enough of space!

    ReplyDelete
  8. I love your Gerberas! My sis gave me a pot recently but they died after a week. I think I have over-watered them.

    Would you mind sharing how you care for them?

    ReplyDelete
  9. Hi J.C
    Sorry for late reply. Have some problem on the comment side (unable to comment on all of your blogs!).
    I am not an expert at growing gerberas,(I wish I am), only noticed the pros and cons as I was growing it over the years. I hope that these will be of help.
    1.Gerberas needs full morning sun.
    2.Never overwater them, the leaves and roots will rot. During the rainy season, if there is too much water, I would normally carry the pots under the roof and put them back again for the sun when the rain stops! I would place the pot tray upside down so that water doesn't accumulate to avoid the roots from being too wet.
    3. On the other hand, when the weather is hot, really hot, you have to water them twice a day, once in the morning and again in the late evening, otherwise the leaves will wilt due to the loss in moisture, but if this happens, no worry, just water them again, and when the leaves are upright again (usually within half an hour), water them one more time.
    4. Cut off all yellow and dry leaves, to encourage new growth. When the flowers are starting to wilt and dry, cut off from the bottom end of the flower stamp.
    5. I fertilize my gerberas every three to four weeks. Usually there will be at least two or three buds growing at the same time, sometimes when we are lucky, there will be four! I have not seen five yet!

    Well, that's about all I did for my gerberas. Hope you have fun growing them and have great pleasures at watching them bloom!

    ReplyDelete
  10. Thanks for the tips on growing Gerberas.

    I placed my Gerberas under the shade of my driveway. My garden gets afternoon sun that can be overly hot and scorch plants. Probably I should ask my sis to give me another plant and let me try to grow it again. Thanks!

    ReplyDelete
  11. why is my gebrera flowers facing the floor in just an hour!

    ReplyDelete
  12. This comment has been removed by the author.

    ReplyDelete
  13. Hey guys , just want to know where can i get gerbera plant in kl ? I want to get it for my mom since mothers day is just around the corner

    ReplyDelete
  14. Hey guys , just want to know where can i get gerbera plant in kl ? I want to get it for my mom since mothers day is just around the corner

    ReplyDelete
  15. Hi guys, I have 2 pots of gerbera plants at home. But after the flowers wilted, there is no new bud coming up but leaves. What should I do now?

    ReplyDelete