How to grow gerbera: climate, soil, propagation and BARI's two varieties

Gerbera, prized because it stays fresh in a vase for a long time, is one of the most popular cut flowers in the world. In Bangladesh it is grown in open fields in winter and under poly-shade in summer, and the Bangladesh Agricultural Research Institute (BARI) released two varieties suited to local conditions in 2009.

Gerbera is a genus of the sunflower family, Asteraceae, with 22 accepted species. It is named after Traugott Gerber (1710-1743), a German botanist and physician and a friend of Carl Linnaeus.

The species behind the commercial crop is Gerbera jamesonii from South Africa, also known as the Transvaal daisy or Barberton daisy, which J. D. Hooker described scientifically in 1889. Most cultivated varieties today come from a cross between G. jamesonii and another South African species, G. viridifolia, and are known as Gerbera × hybrida. Gerbera is the fifth most used cut flower in the world, after the rose, carnation, chrysanthemum and tulip.

BARI's Horticulture Research Centre at Joydebpur released BARI Gerbera-1 and BARI Gerbera-2 in 2009. According to the Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman Agricultural University digital herbarium, both are planted from October, take 180 to 240 days and yield 9 to 10 lakh (900,000 to one million) flower stems per hectare.

Commercial flower farming in Bangladesh began in 1983 with Sher Ali Sardar's 30 acres of tuberose at Godkhali, Jashore. A Daily Star report of September 2018 put commercial flower growing at about 12,000 acres in 24 districts. The same report described New Asia Group's net-house farm at Nishinda village in Bhaluka upazila, Mymensingh, where construction began in August 2017: it grew 10 gerbera varieties and sent 11,000 to 12,000 gerberas a day to the Agargaon and Shahbagh flower markets in Dhaka, with seedlings and technical help from India.

Gerbera is a hardy plant that grows in most climates. In the tropics it is grown in the open or under poly-shade; in temperate regions it is grown in greenhouses. A controlled environment costs more but raises quality and yield and keeps pests and diseases out.

Bright sun helps growth and flower quality, but summer needs about 30 percent shade. Our correspondent's report gave the ideal temperature as 16 to 20 degrees Celsius by day and 10 to 12 degrees at night. Tamil Nadu Agricultural University (TNAU) in India puts the ideal at 22 to 25 degrees by day and 12 to 16 degrees at night, and recommends a 50 percent shade house or a naturally ventilated polyhouse. In greater heat the plants still flower, but the blooms are poorer.

Well-drained, fertile loam or sandy loam with a pH between 5.5 and 7.0 suits gerbera best. Cow dung, leaf compost and coco dust supply the organic matter it needs. Tamil Nadu Agricultural University's guidance calls for raised beds 1 to 2 metres wide and 30 cm high, a growing mix of farmyard manure, sand and cocopeat or paddy husk in a 2:1:1 ratio, and a spacing of 40 x 30 cm or 30 x 30 cm. North Carolina State University Extension advises keeping the crown level with the soil, since soggy soil causes root rot.

• Seed: the method is easy and carries little risk of passing on diseases and pests, but seedlings do not keep all the qualities of the mother plant.
• Division of clumps: well-established, fully grown plants in the field are cut into small parts with a sharp knife; the suckers are lightly pruned at leaf and root and planted in new beds.
• Tissue culture: according to Tamil Nadu Agricultural University, commercial growers propagate gerbera by dividing suckers and from tissue-culture plants.

Flowers are cut when fully open; a polyhouse crop gives about two stems per plant a month, or 175 to 200 flowers per square metre a year, according to TNAU. The main pests are aphids, whiteflies, thrips and red spider mites; the main diseases are flower bud rot and powdery mildew.

Photo: Johann.rademeyer / Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 3.0)

Sources: The Agro News (Staff Correspondent), Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman Agricultural University Digital Herbarium (varieties released by BARI), Tamil Nadu Agricultural University (TNAU Agritech Portal), North Carolina State University Extension, The Daily Star, Wikipedia