Gerbera Daisy plant problems!

Howdy everyone. I'm totally new to keeping plants, so please bear with my almost non-existant knowledge. I was hoping some of the experts around here might be able to point me in the right direction.

My hubby bought me a Gerbera Daisy potted plant for my birthday in May. It had 2 pink blooms when he purchased it. Within 2 weeks, the blooms died. It seemed like the stem right at the top got really weak, which caused the flower to wilt over and die within a day or two. I tried propping the blooms up, but it didn't help. This happened to both the blooms within a couple of days of each other. I cut them off, and now I'm left with a lot of really healthy, vibrant foliage, but obviously you don't buy flowering plants for the foliage! The plant itself is doing very well, there's a lot of new growth inside, but it's all leaves. Is there something I can do to encourage flowers to grow instead of new leaves?

It's in a window that gets a lot of light and is being watered when the soil is dry with the recommended dose of Miracle-Gro. I sit the pot in a bowl of water and let it soak up the water as opposed to watering it directly from the top.

As I said before, I'm totally new to keeping plants, so this probably seems like a silly question, but I don't know what else to do. Gotta learn from the experts if I want to acquire the knowledge myself, right? Any help that can be offered is most appreciated, thanks in advance!

Consistent watering by the method you're using w/o flushing the soil periodically will lead to salt build-up and the plants inability to take up water. I would suggest you at least water every third or fourth time from the top & flush the soil at those waterings. Many, if not most plants respond to applications of a high N fertilizer by "focusing" their energy on building vegetative parts (leaves) instead of reproductive parts (blooms). As long as leaf color remains good, perhaps a bloom inducing formula like 10-50-10 would be more appropriate.

You are doing most all the right things (listen to Al, he's a good guy!) and I think you need to hear the truth about blooming plants...

Its not your fault or the care you gave it. Chances are this plant was grown up to bloom in a greenhouse or plant warehouse with perfect conditions for THAT plant. Once you remove a plant from perfect humidity, its going to fail. Not necessarily the plant itself, but the blooms were more fragile anyway. This is a gorgeous plant, but truely tricky. I applaud your care of watering from the bottom, but I also might cut back the fert to once a month, maybe twice. A good reason for bottom watering this plant is that it is prone to powdery mildew types of fungus attack, and the foliage is tender in that requards... I've watered plants one day, in a hurry, got the foliage over wet, and next day (its seems like Next Day) they are a pile of mush.

Do some research. These are from Africa, and may be on reversed schedules from us.

I applaud you for growing these, I've always avoided them after I saw what sissy's they were in the Garden Shop. But I LOVE their gorgeous blooms! If you get a chance, these re-seed easily, big poof things that drop off the spent bloom in a few days. Try spreading the wealth.

Thanks for the quick responses. The last couple times I've watered, it's been pure water without the Miracle-Gro, as I suspected that might have been the problem from the get-go. I have experience with plants that have powdery mildew problems, and I haven't seen any signs of this so far, but I'll definitely keep that in mind when I water from the top to flush the soil.

I suspect you're exactly right about them being made perfect for sale and then dying off quickly when taken out of those ideal conditions. I don't feel so bad after reading that though! I'll keep up the good fight, but if nothing materializes, I'll understand. Thanks again!

PE, I also forgot to say, these could be seasonal or 1 season bloomers. You may be keeping foliage in hopes of next year...

Hi PE,
Lucky you to have one of the loveliest flowering plants around!
I had many gerberas several years ago and now I think I will get some again! I found that the varieties with the more spidery blooms were easier to grow over long periods and the thicker, lush ones like yours were more challenging. (and died on me more than once!!!)
Have never had one as an indoor plant but here is an idea.
taking your climate into consideration, come spring you can either divide it and plant half in the garden as an 'annual' and half in a pot indoors. In the fall you can dig it up to overwinter inside by a sunny window. Be brave! Experiment! You still have half the plant safe inside!
If you divide it into 2 or more plants, plant about 30-40 cm apart. They like sandy, well draining soil, full sun but can manage (outside) with partial shade too. As with the pot, be careful not to over water.
Last thing- never did give them any special fertilizer aside from the compost mixed in my garden soil. A common phenomenon I remember was that occasionally the leaves went very light green but this was easily and quickly remedied by the correct dosage of iron.

Good luck
Dory

Hi
I bought a gerbera that had 3 dead blooms and 1 leaf at Home Depot last year, because I felt bad for it. It has had to "foliage" periods about 2 months without blooms, so far. I've found that pulling out the older , outer leaves results in flower buds forming for some reason. Also, when you see the first signs of dying blooms, cut them off at the base immediately. Oh, and you might want to keep the "neck" of the gerbera planted a little bit above the soil, mine seems to grow better that way. And never get any part of it wet when you water it, cause it will stain the leaves. You should be top watering , as it helps to spread the nutrients all the way to the roots.

Hope all is well!!

I love gerbra daisies and I have wanted one for so long. I finally purchased the plant and I am not sure how I am supposed to water it. How many times a week, maybe months? And how much? I have had it now for about a week and the flowers are wilting and losing their pink, vibrant color, and the leaves are turning yellow and brown. PLEASE HELP!

I think the point about the greenhouse growing is vital to make. In fact when we grow our commercial gerbera plants for homes accross canada during winter, we get the best resuls from varying the temps and not developing the 'ideal' growth environments. These plants come from South Africa originally, they are rather hardy plants, but greenhouse purchased ones tend to make them difficult to grow at home.

Look for ones that are homegrown or perhaps even those that have weathered the storm of a local corner store... they are often the hardiest ones.

Here is a link that might be useful: JustGerbera

I didn't realize how wimpy these plants are. I thought I was "rescuing" a sad looking plant from the unforgiving grips of a local Wal-mart. I got a little over zealous misting my other plants and included the gerber. Now, 4 hours later, it has wilted into something resembling a POW camp victim. Is there any hope for this plant? Can I reverse the effects? The plant does not have any of the powdery fungus I have read about. Any help would be appreciated.

I recently bought 3 awsome Gerberas, pink, orange and red. So far two don't seem to care what I do to them. The red plant's bloom and foliage has wilted and recovered four or five times in the three weeks since it has been in my posession. I figured out right away, no direct sun and DO NOT overwater. What I want to know is the kind of information found on a manufacturer's tag- if only it came with one. Are these perrenials? Seeing that I live in New England, I must bring it in for the winter, but then what do I do with it??? Does the red one's temperment have to do with it's color?

You might be better off getting a new one every year. You can bring it in and overwinter it, but it's tricky. I had an orange-yellow and a butter yellow, and while I kept them alive during the winter, they did not thrive, and I put them back outside when it warmed up, but they never once bloomed. I had a red one that I grew exclusively inside, and it was a repeat bloomer (and quite lovely) but it wasn't the easiest. It was very prone to spider mites, it required water almost daily, and it needed a lot of light (was in a west window). When I moved, I didn't have a good place for it right away, and while it was waiting, it died. If you want to try it, I might suggest under lights, with good air circulation.

As far as growing them outside, they like sun, they don't like to dry out but they don't like to be soggy either. Water with bloom boosting fertilizer to encourage them to keep on blooming. I found that if I didn't do that, I got to look at foliage for long stretches of time. Don't know why yours don't like direct sun, unless it's because it needed to be acclimated... mine were quite happy with direct sunlight. Though I think it was morning sun, and not afternoon sun. If you can, avoid getting water in the middle of it, but you can't control rain, so it's not dire. They are perennials in warmer zones, I believe, but not here in PA, and therefore, probably not for you either.

Hope this helps.

I have a beautiful red gerbera that I received as a gift. It seems to be alright in full sun, but I check everyday to insure that the soil doesn't dry out. I'm getting oodles of ladybugs, so they're taking care of the aphids!

My big problem is white powdery mildew on the leaves. I've researched & discovered the cause, but is there anything that I can do to treat the leaves/plant now that it has the mildew?

I planted a potted gerbera with three flowers into a balcony flower box for the summer several weeks ago. The original blooms are gone but three new ones came up fairly quickly. They were just as beautiful. The plant looks fine but the dark green foliage has lightened into a motley yellowish green. I do not overwater and keep the soil evenly moist. The plant is in a long container with dahlias beside it. They are doing great with lots of new flowers. Any suggestions ?? thanks !

I give up!!! No more beautiful gerber daisies...I consider myself a better than average gardner, but have yet to really successful keeping gerbers...I do believe that the greenhouse lush plants are very difficult when taken home...I have tried in the ground, in pots, in sun, less sun, water more/less, fertilize more/less...interestingly, I kept one alive during the winter and it isn't exactly thriving, but did bloom and is still with me. Oh well, on to other beautiful blooms:)

I am in Atlanta GA zone 8(very close to zone 7). I have tried several times with gerbera's and they have never survived for long. Doesn't seem to matter where I plant them (pot, ground, sun or shade or filetered sun. I had heard that these can winter over in the ground and return the next year given the correct conditions. Can anyone tell me what the correct conditions are?

i just bought a red gerbera today from the local grocery store (i know, i probably should have bought it from the local nursery...), and after potting it, i watered it (i'm afraid i might have overwatered it), and now, a few hours later, it's all wilted. two of the three blooms have started to wilt on their stems, and the foliage is wilting over the edge of the pot. what do i do? is it okay to put in direct afternoon/evening sunlight in a west-facing window? i bought it for my boyfriend and i don't want to kill it. please help!

Wow, this is a great site. I thought I might add some comments and ask a question.

We live in Burbank, and I believe our most successful plant since last August has been our Gerbera. Nearly all of our flowers were killed in a heat wave that hit LA while we were gone. It dried everything to death except for the Gerbera. I tried to save everything, but was only able to save this plant. Through the mild LA winter, the Gerbera stump regrew new leaves and I am seeing (finally) four flowering heads that appeared in late February. I can't wait to see them flower as it will validate my poor gardening start.

Q: Some of the lower larger leaves are starting to redden on the edges. The most recent changes this plant has been through is I have raised it from the partly shaded bamboo floor, to the full sun balcony edge. I'm watering it a bit more now as I've bought more flowers for the planter box.
I'm thinking that this might just be natural, as I'm experiencing newer growth... maybe they just should be reddening/dying... So, what is causing this reddening of the leaves?

I received my flower for Mother's day 2 years ago, it is very healthy except it started to have white fungus on the new leaves just a few weeks ago. I have 3 flowers presently in blooms over 2 weeks, how can I remove the fungus and prevent it from come back. Please advise thanks.

I have purchased my first 3 gerbera daisies. I have planted 2 of them in containers with some other flowers. It is in a sunny spot. The next morning I was in the garden and noticed that the flowers on both daisies have been eaten off. Is this squirels, rabbits, what would it be? I have still to plant the 3rd. daisy but don't want to run into the same problem. It is sitting on the picnic table. Any Suggestions.

The instructions that came with my Wal-Mart Gerbera Daisy say they like 4 to 8 hours of sun per day. Within two hours of setting them out in the sun, one beautiful plant's blooms keeled over like a Salvador Dali clock. I thought "That's odd, it says they like sun".
A few days later, I thought maybe it was because we had been barbequeing and some smoke might have gotten to them, so I set the plants out in the sun again for several hours while I ran some errands. When I came home all of the blooms were completely wilted! I can only assume, based on what I read here, that afternoon sun is lethal to Gerberas, so I'll try them in the area that only gets morning sun. (FYI: I'm in mid-Ohio; it was 70 degrees the first time I put them out, and 85 the second time).
I still think it's odd, no matter what time of day, that sun would (almost instantly) kill the blooms of a flower that calls for 4 to 8 hours of sunlight!

Always interesting to hear what folks have trouble with while others don't.

Avoided Gerberas for years due to their rep. Then last summer while my folks were visiting I took them to a local greenhouse. (Quite a feat considering I'm the only plant nut in the family.) My mom was smitten by the Gerberas we saw and bought a few despite knowing they could be difficult. I even picked one for myself. Theirs wound up in large pots in bright shade, mine on my balconey in full sun (from dawn to about 1-2pm). None of us bothered with the "don't water from above" philosophy. All bloomed though as I recall mine did much better. Mine came in with the onset of chilly fall weather and overwintered in my classroom window -- no other lighting to speak of. Thanks to the arachic heating system, my room was sometimes chilly and sometimes too warm for my tastes. Air was very dry. The plant did very little over the winter, which is as expected. Presently it is in bloom. True only one flower, but it is blooming. Soon it will return to its place on my balconey.

Well i must say that i'm a little disappointed with my recent purchase, as there seem to be more questions on this website than there are answers!
I got my gerbera about a week or so ago, and it had 6+ buds and 1 bloom. I re-potted it and put it on my front porch where it gets 4+ hours of sunlight. It was doing really well until I watered it (from the top, with your standard fertilizer) last night, when i checked on it today and it was completely wilted. Maybe it's too much sun or too much water, or maybe it's just getting too cold at night (around 40-50 degrees) but i need help, regardless! Brought it in for tonight as to avoid any further damage and have it in an east-facing window.

Suggestions, please!

I gave up on these ages ago. I tried repeatedly and couldn't keep them alive for long, in pots outside or in the ground. I'm impressed with anyone who can keep these alive. And I can grow most plants.

Hi slemke426,
I've transplanted gerberas from pots to the ground and experienced the same wilting problem. Some recovered and a few didn't. It seems these plants don't like change, but once established, I've found them to be quite hardy in my zone. I've got three (which came back in the spring) growing under a crepe myrtle. In the spring I set out fertilzer spikes for the crepe. One must have been closer to one of the spikes, because it really took off in foliage and blooms. I'm not overly cautious in watering. I wet them down with the hose when I water (morning or evening).
I would leave them outside in a partly shady area, giving them a little more sunlight every day until they're acclimated.
Hoping they make it.... :)
Loria

Hi!
I realize many of these posts are old, but I'd like to thank you all for your gerbera experiences. I found this forum through Google, and your observations of and experiences with gerbera plants have been most helpful!
When I got mine for Mothers' Day, I was aware that it was a sensitive, hot weather loving plant because of you.
I live in eastern Canada, zone 3, and it was obvious to me this plant would likely not thrive outdoors in this climate. (It's May, and we are still having ground frost at night. Really warm weather lasts for only 2 months a year, and our winters are long.)
I therefore placed the plant in my best "flower" window.
I left it completely alone until it became acclimatized to its new home, and when it became dry a few days later I watered it from the bottom with water only. Since then, whenever the plant needs to be watered, I am using the same diluted food which I give my African violets with every watering.
I am VERY pleased to say that my plant is thriving. It isn't wilting and doesn't have any mould or other signs of distress. There is lush new growth.
I'm hopeful the current stunning scarlet flowers will live for quite a while, and that maybe new buds will appear in time.
Thank you all for your help :-)

I received 3 plants for Mother's Day and they were beautiful. I was going to try to save seeds a plant, but sounds like they are very hard to grow. Will they re-bloom and should I dead-head them? They are so beautiful.

I didn't realize they were so tempermental! I purchased several in a grouping and seperated and planted them in various locations; back garden in full sun, in large pots with part sun exposure and in pots in full sun exposure. They are all doing the same things but at different times! I believe I over-watered when they were in their original container. After I separated them they seemed to do better but as many have stated, one hour the flowers are bright and vibrant and two hours later they have keeled over and look terminal. They appear to "pull out of it" and none have died as of yet but the beauty is short-lived. Any help for what is the magic that will keep them blooming and as lovely as they were when I first purchased them?

I picked one up at Wal mart. I potted it in a larger pot using mostly my compost soil - sticks and all. That may be why it hasn't died because I've been watering too much. It is important to remove the bottom leaves as moisture accumulation in that area causes fungal growth deadening the plant. I read that somewhere and what someone stated above about removing those leaves does make a difference. The one I bought had one bloom and a second bloom down below. Both blooms are out now. The first is slowly fading. I have it sitting in the hottest part of the yard and think the extreme heat is getting to it.

ChickenCoupe..Thanks for the info. I bought a Gerbera Daisy yesterday..'outdoor garden shopping.'
Never had one before, so except for it being a short-lived plant, I had no idea of its care.

How much space between the soil line should be left without leaves?
Also, should faded flowers be dead headed? Thanks, Toni

Well, I've had gardenias before, and I find that the potted gerbera displays the exact same symptoms as the gardenia did a while ago. I realize they are not necessarily cousins, but they do seem to have similar needs and both are really fussy.

My gardenia had leaves that would turn a pale green then literally yellow. After that, the edges of the leaves would turn a pale brown, and that's when the leaf started to get brittle and dry. I have the exact same symptoms on my gerbera, plus the blooms that don't have the time to grow proper petals because they wilt away.

The tag on mine says to keep it moderately moist, so I water it only with the goal of not allowing the soil to get dry. I don't deep water it, but the soil is constantly moist. I don't have any apparent signs of mildew, but as with all plants, I water it from the top taking care not to wet the foliage. The tag also says to keep it in indirect light, so I think that full sun, even for just a couple of hours, is out of the question, but don't put it in shade either. I think this is the rare kind of plant that you don't need to put near the window. My tag also says to keep it in a temperature range between 21 and 24 degrees Celsius, which is really warm. If you were to heat your house to this temperature, you would have to walk around in a cami and shorts to feel good. So, mine is near the heater.

The reason why I mention gardenias is that gardenia experts say that tap water kills gardenias in the long run because of the salt accumulation that prevents the plant from drinking water. The answer to that would be chelated iron. I have some and I will definitely try it out on the gerbera and report back here in a few weeks. This may not be standard procedure, but I have learned with house plants not to be afraid of risking losing a plant: when a plant looks sad, you can either take a risk or watch it die a slow, horrible death.

A word of advice. This is a sensitive plant, we all agree, and some have pointed out that it doesn't like change. So, if you have a problem with your plant and realize after checking that you are doing something wrong, please don't change things from one day to the next. If your plant gets too much sun, don't put it in shade right away: move the plant gradually over a week. Same thing with watering, don't give in to cutting off half the water you give your plant. Taper off the water instead. Otherwise, you might be harming your plant more than helping it.

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