If you have always wanted to know the secrets behind How to Keep Gerbera Daisies Blooming for a long time, then this article is for you!
Read How to Grow Gerbera Daisy Indoors & Outdoors here
How to Keep Gerbera Daisies Blooming
1. Make a Routine of Fertilizing
Feed gerbera daisies on a regular basis, every two weeks or so, using a balanced liquid fertilizer, diluted to 1/2 of its strength. Start feeding the plant during spring and continue until early to mid-fall.
Alternatively, you can also go for a 15-3-20 or a 17-5-17 blend.
2. Discard Spent Flowers
To keep your gerbera daisies blooming, remove the spent flowers once they start to fade. Deadheading is the best trick to boost new flowers as the plant diverts its energy into producing more blossoms than saving the old and spent ones.
3. Keep the Leaves and Flowers Dry
While watering the plant, make sure you don’t end up wetting the leaves and flowers. This will make them droopy. Always water at the base.
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4. Provide Sufficient Light
Light is the most important factor for the gerbera to flower, so placing the plant in a location that gets as much sunlight as possible will be a brilliant idea.
While growing indoors choosing a sunny south or west-facing window is a perfect option.
If summers are hot and the temperature reaches 100 F (38 C) in your area, protect the plant from the afternoon sun.
Pro Tip: Follow the simple rule of giving the plant as much sunlight as possible.
5. Use a Well Draining Soil
If you are using garden soil, amend it with plenty of organic matter like compost and manure. Also, adding a handful of sand or more to the pot will ensure good drainage.
6. Water Only When the Soil Is Dry
Like many flowering plants, gerberas favor watering only when the soil is entirely dried out. Too much of it can make the flowers droopy. As a thumb rule, water the plant only when the top 2 inches of the soil feels dry.
Here are Signs of Overwatering & How to Save an Overwatered Plant
7. Avoid Excessive Heat
Gerbera daisies appreciate light all day long but not the harsh afternoon sun for long periods of time. The best is to save them from exposed harsh light to ensure the flowers and leaves are not scorched.
8. Keep Trimming
Like all flowers, Gerbera daisies love sunlight to bloom to their full potential and it is important that every part gets even sunlight exposure.
To ensure it happens, thinning out the foliage, mainly toward the center and the top of the plant will promote this. It will help the crown to get more light which results in better flowers.
9. Be Careful of Pests
Aphids, Leafminers, Spider mites, Whiteflies, and Thrips are some of the pests that you need to be careful of. Thankfully, they are easy to spot, and you can get rid of them using insecticidal soap.
It would be a good idea to give a thorough inspection of the stems and leaves of the plant every week to spot them on time.
Here are DIY Insecticidal Soap Recipes for the Garden to Kill Pests
10. Take Care of Diseases
Verticillium wilt, stem rot, Bacterial leaf spot and blight, Powdery mildew, Botrytis blight Leaf spots, Alternaria gerberae, and Ascochyta gerberae are some of the diseases that you need to be aware of.
Avoid overwatering, keep the foliage dry and ensure the plant gets sufficient sunlight to keep these diseases at bay.
11. Re-pot Timely
Re-pot your container-grown gerbera daisy plants on a regular basis. It prevents the plant from turning root bound. When you spot roots on the topsoil, take out the plant and re-pot it into one size bigger container. Also, use a fresh potting medium.
12. Take Off Old and Dying Foliage
Snipping off old, dying leaves is one of the best ways to keep gerbera daisies flowering. When you discard dead and dying foliage, it helps the plant to direct the energy into producing more blooms, rather than wasting it to save the dying leaves and flowers.
Here are Reasons for Houseplants Leaves Getting Yellow and How to Save Them
#1 Tip to Keep Gerbera Daisies Blooming
What we are about to tell you may not sound right in the first place, but trust us, it will trick the plant into growing more flowers!
So, what it is you may ask – well the 13th tip is to remove fresh flowers when you spot them on the plant. Yes! You read that right. When the plant just starts to flower for the first time, cutting new and fresh blooms will actually trick it into producing more.
Don’t worry, you can always use the flowers in the vase and keep them in the living room for display!
Check out Gorgeous DIY Flower Vase Ideas You Can Make Easily here
The Bottom Line
The 14th tip is to Expect Breaks from the plant when it comes to flowering.
Keep in mind that Gerbera Daisy flowers for weeks at a time, generally during spring, summer, and fall. Hope breaks from flowering when the temperatures are less than 40 F or more than 70 F.
Similarly, expect a break in blooming from gerbera daisies if you are not feeding, watering, and pruning the plant enough. If the plant is not receiving enough light, the soil is not draining well or is influenced by other environmental factors.
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