The botanical name of Gerbera is (Gerbera jamesonii), it belongs to the Compositae family
Varieties: Sun Set, Nevada, Sangna, Lynx, Macho, YCD-1. YCD-2, Vino, Venturi. etc.
Soil and Climate: Sandy loam with well drainage with the pH of 5.5 - 6 is well suitable. Temperature should be within the range of 250C - 270C to avoid bud abortion/scorching. So crop is raised
under polygreen house.
Season: Throughout the year.
Propagation and Planting: Suckers tissue culture plantlets. Raised beds with 4 ft. width and 40 cm height are formed at an interval of 60 cm and planting is done at a spacing of 30 x 30 cm.
Irrigation: Provided with drippers once in 2 – 3 days of 15 – 20 minutes. Average water requirement is 500 – 700ml/day/plant.
Manuring
Basal
Neem cake 2.5 ton/ha
P - 400 g/100 sq.ft.
MgSo4 - 0.5 kg/100 sq.ft.
Top dressing: Calcium Ammonium Nitrate and Muriate of Potash at the ratio of 5:3 is mixed and applied at 2.5 g/plant/month.
After cultivation: Hand weeding is done whenever necessary.
Plant Protection
1. To control Nematode - Carbofuran 7-8 kg/ha is applied at the time of planting.
2. Leaf spot - Carbendazim 2 g/lit or Mancozeb 2 g/lit is sprayed alternatively.
3. Leaf miner - Chlorpyriphos 20 EC 2 ml/lit.
4. Glasshouse whitefly - Monocrotophos 36 WSC 2 ml/lit or Neem oil 3 ml/lit.
Season of flowering and Harvesting: When flowers completely open harvesting is done, flower stalk is soaked in Sodium hypochloride solution (5-7 ml/lit of water) for 4-5 hours to improve vase life.
Grading: Based on stem length and diameter, flowers are graded in A, B, C and D.
Yield: 2 stems/plant/month. Harvest starts from 3rd month of planting and continued upto two years.
