Hello Sir,
Gerbera is one of the most important cut-flowers, successfully grown under different
conditions in several areas of the world and meeting the requirements of various
markets. This success is primarily due to the wide range in colour and shape of the
flower. In the past, all Gerbera's where grown from seed. This changed in the
seventies, when techniques for multiplication with in-vitro became available.
Gerberas thrive on a well-drained, rich, light, neutral or slightly alkaline soil. They prefer slightly acidic soils.The production of gerberas increases significantly
in soils with an optimum pH of 6.5, and E.C. (Electrical Conductivity) of less than 0.1. In tropical and subtropical climate, gerberas are grown in the open, but in temperate climate, they are protected from frost by cultivating in greenhouses or polyhouses. A night temperature of 12 deg C was found to be optimum.
Gerberas can be propagated by both sexual (seed) and asexual (vegetative) methods. Seed propagation is however, usually unsatisfactory since impurity of strain produces a great deal of variation. It also requires longer time to produce flowering plants. Vegetative propagation, on the other hand, overcomes these problems, and the plants obtained by this method perform better than those from seeds. Commercial cultivation of gerbera however, entails tissue culture (or micro propagation), which involves rapid multiplication of explants by repeated sub culturing and preparation of divisions for transfer to soil.
ost gerbera varieties should be harvested when the 2 outer rows of disk florets have begun to open, but some cultivars can be harvested later, particularly those types that close at night. Flowers are harvested by twisting the stems off near the point of attachment to the rhizome; this is thought to encourage subsequent flower production. If flower stems are pulled from the ground, immediately cut 10 cm from the bottom to remove the ‘woody’ base of the stem, which does not draw water readily. Place soon after harvest in a solution containing 40 ppm hypochlorite. Make sure that at least one or two row of disk flowers (tubular flowers in the center of the head) is showing pollen. If stems were pulled from the ground, cut 10 cm off the bottom to remove the woody portion and improve water uptake. With well over 300 cultivars in commerce that vary greatly in vase life, it is important that florists order gerberas by cultivar name. Unfortunately, the large number of cultivars makes it difficult to learn the names of better cultivars.
Gerberas should be stored at 0-1°C; the widely-held opinion that gerberas are sensitive to chilling injury has not been scientifically substantiated. Generally, gerberas should not be stored longer than 1 week; even this short storage period can reduce subsequent vase life.
Most commonly, producers pack individual flowers horizontally in shallow cardboard containers especially designed to support gerberas. Flower stems are passed through slits in the bottom of a cardboard tray so that the flower heads face up showing their colors while the stems pass under the box. Several rows of flowers can be arranged in each box. The boxes are then hung so that the stems dangle downward and can be placed in a rehydration solution (hypochlorite is most commonly used). Afterward, 2 trays of flowers are packed horizontally into a fiberboard box in such a way that the flowers are facing upward and easily seen, while the stems are underneath the flower cards.
Regards
Ashwini
