Gerbera - flower care

About 70 kinds of colorful, favorite colors - it's gerbera. Care for her is much easier than it may seem. It belongs to the genus of perennial grasses of the family of Compositae (or astroids). Its flower-leaf is leafless, it can reach up to 60 cm in height. Flower baskets have a variety of colors, they are single, large, semi-double or simple (depending on the variety), diameter - up to 15 cm. The fruit of the flower is the seed. Room view - Gemerson's gerbera.

Care for gerberas requires compliance with certain rules. The flower is very photophilic, it can even carry a small amount of direct sun rays. It grows well at the eastern and western windows. In summer, you can take the plant to fresh air. To this level of illumination it needs to be gradually accustomed, in order to avoid a sunburn. Additional illumination with fluorescent lights is needed in autumn and winter.

Since the gerbera is a heat-loving plant, the temperature of the air for it must be corresponding - not lower than 20 ° C. At the height of flowering, it is important not to allow a large temperature drop (day-night), because this affects negatively the inflorescence. In winter, when the gerbera fades, it is better to move it to a room where the air temperature is not below 12 ^o C.

In the growing season, gerbera care requires the most caring. You need to water with warm water, moderately. It must be ensured that the temperature of the water and substrate is not very different. Otherwise, the plant can get sick. Watering must be carried out only when the upper sphere of the substrate dries. Use water is permanent and soft. In no case, it is impossible that it fell into a rosette of leaves, otherwise the plant will die. High air humidity is what a gerbera needs. Spraying is not recommended, you can only spray a fine dispersion around the plant. To increase the humidity, you can put the pot on a pallet with a fine damp pebble or expanded clay.

An interesting feature of the plant is the dependence of flowering on the duration of daylight. Gerbera begins to produce a flower during the active reduction of the day (from August to September). At this time, hunters for the original and exclusive (as well as simply beautiful) shots use them - gerbera flowers. Photos on their background, as well as photos of the flowers themselves - a real treasure. This is used by many photographers.

Gerbera, care for which requires a certain amount of fertilizer - the flower is rather unpretentious. Complex mineral compositions are needed during the active vegetation period. It is also desirable to feed some magnesium sulphate. If the temperature is low, phosphorus is also added.

Propagate the gerbera by dividing the bush and seeds. The last way is better to apply in the spring. The substrate is nutritious and loose. The first picking takes place in the phase of two or three real leaves, and the second - in phase 5 leaves (in individual pots). A month after planting in different containers, the first top dressing with mineral complex fertilizers is carried out . Possible difficulties with this plant arise at such signs: loss of brightness of leaves, fungal diseases, pallor, waterlogging. But if the gerbera care gets caring and trembling, then nothing like it will happen!