Gerbera

-GODI SUSMITHA

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Gerbera�

SN: Gerbera jamesonii

FM: Asteraceae

Origin:South Africa

Introduction

• Gerbera named after a german naturalist Traugott Gerber, Jamesonii was named after Dr. L.S. Jameson
• Is a herbaceous flower crop with leafless stalk and daisy like flowers
• Commonly known as Barberton daisy, Transvaal daisy, African Daisy or Hilton Daisy
• Popular cut flower, also suitable for flower beds, borders, pots and gardens
• Has wide range of color forms (pink, yellow, red, scarlet, orange, white etc

• Suitable for flower arrangements and bouquets, has longer shelf life
• Grows well in open in tropical and sub-tropical regions, in temperate regions under protected cultivation
• Quality cut flowers can be obtained from protected cultivation
• In India popularly grown in Maharashtra, Karnataka, NE states, UP etc

Botany

• Among many sp, G. jamesonii is the only species under cultivation
• Basic chromosome number is n=25
• Plants are stemless, tender perennial herbs
• Leaves are radical, petioled, lanceolate, deep loabed, leathery, narrow at the base and wide at top, arranged in rosette
• Flowers are solitary daisy like, head inflorescence
• Grows to a height of about 45 cm to 60 cm

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Varieties

• Alegro
• Blue ray
• Calcutta pink
• Calcutta red
• Calcutta white
• Calcutta yellow
• Pride of Sikkim
• Priyadarshini

Climate

• Prefers sunny situations in mild weather, but in summer requires shade
• Low light intensity adversely affects flower yield
• For quality cut flowers they are grown in polyhouses with adequate ventilation (yield increases by 50-80%)
• Photoperiod and temperature influence growth and flower production
• Day temp of 22-25 C, and night 20-22 C
• Produces more flowers if soil and air temp difference are less
• Higher temperatures reduces plant growth and flower yield

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Soil

• Well drained, rich, light, neutral or slightly alkaline soil is most suitable
• Soil pH of 6-7
• Soil structure, soil water level, Airyness, permeability
• Too high soil moisture leads to wilting and death
• Drainage circuit should be maintained to drain excess water
• Soil sterilization is must before starting

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• Soil tillage: after sterilization soil has to be tilled, ploughing of 30 cm depth
• Nutritional condition: soil test is must before planting,
• Soil heating: In moderately cold climates can be grown with or without much soil heating. In temperate areas it is must

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Propagation

• Propagated by seed and vegetative means
• Seed:
• Economic and ease of collection, seeds are free from pest and diseases
• Artificial pollination is must for 90% germination
• Good aeration and 22-25 C for germination
• Transplanted at 2-4 leaf stage, ready for planting in 5-6 weeks

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• Vegetative propagation
• Division: clumps are divided during june, before planting leaves and roots are trimmed with central shoot intact. Most commonly used method
• Cutting: Arrest water for 3 weeks, roots pruned and planted in peat at 25 C and 80 % RH.
• Buds in axils are detached and rooted in rooting medium. Ready for planting in 2-3 months.
• 40-50 plants from single mother plant

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• Micropropagation:
• Mass multiplication of desired plants is possible
• Shoot tips, inflorescence buds, flower buds, midribs etc are used
• Modified MS medium is most succesfull
• Addition of Kinetin and benzylaminopurine favoured bud formation

Growing of gerbera under cover

• Naturally ventilated low cost polyhouses.
• Height of the polyhouse or shade house should be a minimum of 3.4 to 4 m.
• Shade net of 50 to 75 per cent
• Approximately 400 w/m² light intensity is required
• Flowering will commence from nine to 14 weeks of the first planting

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Soil sterilization

• Soil – borne pathogens like
• Phytophthora,
• Fusarium and
• Phythium do considerable damage to plants, hence before planting soil disinfection is necessary.
• Soil disinfection can be done by the use of
• Formalin at the rate of 7.5 to 10 liters /100 sq.m.
• Methyl Bromide : (25 – 30g/sqm)
• Basamid (Dazomet) : (30 – 40g/sqm)

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Preparation of Bed

• The bedding material should be highly porous and well drained
• Well decomposed organic manure, sand and coconut coir pith or paddy husk in 2:1:1 proportion should be added
• SSP at the rate of 2.5 kg/100 sq. ft is added for better root establishment
• MgSO₄ at the rate of 0.5 kg/100 sq. ft is applied to take care of magnesium deficiency.
• Gerbera is planted in raised beds and bed height is kept 45 cm above the soil level.
• The bed width is 60cm with the paths between the beds is 30cm.

Bed Preparation

• Bed height : 1.5 ft (45cm)
• Width of bed : 2 ft (60 cm)
• Pathways between beds: 1 ft (30 cm)
• The beds for planting should be –
• Highly porous
• Well drained
• Airy

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Basal fertilizer application

Beds ready for planting

Planting

• Early rainy season planting is suitable for 1, 1.5 and 2 year culture;
• Spring season planting is best for 1.5 year culture.
• Crowns of the plant should be one to two cm above soil level.
• 37.5-45.0 cm distance between the rows and 30cm between the plants in each row.
• 6 to 7 plants can be accommodated per sq m.
• RH is to be maintained at 80 % for at least a month.

Manures and Fertilizers

• Basal Nutrition: 15 g N, 20 g P and 20 g K per m²
• Fertigation: Gerbera can take wide range of elemental ratios, NPK in 1:1:1 to 3:1:5 are tried
• Young plants require 20:20:20 or 18:18:18 for strong root system and foliage
• At flowering ratio of K should be increased 15:8:25
• For polyhouse, 150 ppm N, 60 ppm P and 150 ppm K per plant on alternate day produce max flowers

• Basic nutrition schedule:
• 2-3 weeks after planting no fertilizers
• 3-12 weeks, N:P:K 20:20:20 applied at 0.75 g/l/day
• 12 weeks onwards, 15:8:35 at 1-1.5 g/l/day
• Soil testing should be done from time to time
• EC should be < 2mhos x 10^-3 at 25 C

• Micronutrients:
• availability depends on soil pH and other nutrients
• Cu, Zn, Bo, Mn and Fe are available at low pH
• Mo is available at higher pH
• Hence pH < 4.0 and >7.5, may results in Micronutrient defeciency

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• Planting
• Transplanting should be done at 5-6 week after emergence (seeds)
• Vegetatively propagated plants can be planted at any time ( Jan-Feb and June-july)
• Planting density is 8-10 plants/m² (for light and aeration)
• Closer planting results in smaller flowers and shorter flower stalks
• Plant neck should be in level with the soil, sprouts are produced from soil line

• Irrigataion
• Gerbera is a deep rooted crop, requires thorough irrigation
• Water logging should be avoided
• Flower yield depends on partly by light intensity and partly by irrigation
• More flowers are produced in Summer than winter
• Stem length is positively correlated with water supply at flower initiation
• Watering should be done via underneath the flowers

• Cultural operations
• Weed control:
• Integrated approach is best, 2-3 hand weeding at 15 days interval and chemicals like trifularin, nitrofen and diphenamid one day after transplanting
• Mulching
• Organic or polythene sheets etc can be used
• Controls weed growth and conserves moisture
• However harbours insects and pests

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• Plant growth Regulators
• Foliar spray of 10-100 ppm of GA3 induced early flowering by 10 days
• 50 ppm CCC delays flowering
• Application of GA3 and IAA after flower harvest enhanced plant growth by promoting cell elongation
• 100 ppm GA3 during first season and 150-200 ppm GA3 during second season produced more flowers/plant
• Application of B-9 controls length of flower stalk
• CCC at 500 ppm increased number of shoots/plant