The intricacies of growing gerbera flowers

Colourful flowers lining the path to your front door can brighten even the dullest day, and gerberas are among the cheeriest blooms on the market. These days there's a variety of gerberas available in a range of vibrant hues and broad petals, in double and semi-double forms.

Victorian gerbera grower Bert Rijk has been exclusively growing a variety of gerberas for nearly a decade at his wholesale gerbera farm, The Big Bouquet, in Healesville. He says gerbera flowers are fairly simple to grow, as long as you follow a few simple rules. 

"It's pretty easy once you get the hang of it," he says. "Gerberas need to be planted in a well-drained and sunny position, but they don't like full sun all day. Having well-drained soil is far more important than sun, though."

While gerbera flowers die off in winter in the southern states of Australia, they provide brilliant blooms from the middle of spring right through to Mother's Day in May. According to Bert, it's best to fertilise your gerberas in spring and again at Christmas, and to keep them moist, but not wet.

"I've heard that Queensland is the best state to grow gerbera flowers in, as they grow all year round," says Bert. "They do die back during winter in states that get colder than 10 degrees at night."

When properly cared for, gerbera plants have a lifespan of around two decades. They are, however, susceptible to fungal disease, but planting in well-drained soils will help prevent disease in your plants.

If the soil at your place drains poorly, don't give up on the idea of gerbera flowers for your garden; instead consider building a raised bed to plant them in. It's also best to water them only early in the morning so they can dry out during the day.

And best of all, as cut flowers gerberas last 10 to 14 days. Pick them carefully by wriggling the stem at the base of the plant until it pulls away cleanly. When arranging the flowers in a vase, cut off the hairy white part on the bottom of the stem so they can better absorb the water.