My Gerbera Daisy Plant

[blueeyes]

One of the garden centers was closing down the shop a few weeks ago and were selling off all their plants. They had a small potted plant of gerbera daisies. There were three tiny flowers which have since died but I have to say that I love the leaves and foliage. What I would like to know is if I bring the plant indoors will the foliage continue to grow. I did a bit of investigating and couldn't really find out about this.

It would make a lovely green plant in my home so any help anyone can give would be appreciated

 

[ChanellG]

I've just started with gerbera daisy. I also found my plant on clearance at a garden center. It produced one lovely large daisy and then something got to the second bud while it was still small before it could flower (grrrrrr!) I spray my plant with banana water to keep it healthy and I imagine that as long as you kept yours on or near a sunny windowsill and didn't over water it, you should have success.

You may find this article helpful:
http://landscaping.about.com/od/holidayplants1/p/gerbera_daisy.htm

 

[Gina145]

Chanell, I'd love to know more about banana water. How do you make it and is it suitable for all plants? I'm always interested in anything natural that is good for my plants and this is something I've never heard of before.

 

[ChanellG]

You steep banana peel in water - easy peazy

I keep banana peels in the freezer until I am ready for them and then put a bunch in a big plastic bottle and fill it with water. Sometimes I strain off a bit of liquid after a couple days if I need to spray, but usually I let it sit for about a week, maybe longer.

Check out this pin: http://pinterest.com/pin/321796335844200675/

 

[Gina145]

Thanks Chanell. I'll certainly give it a try on some of my plants. The rose bushes in our garden don't do as well as we would like, so that might be a good place to start.

 

[ChanellG]

Thanks Chanell. I'll certainly give it a try on some of my plants. The rose bushes in our garden don't do as well as we would like, so that might be a good place to start.

You can place banana peel around the base of the roses without burying it; placing garlic cloves next to the roses is supposed to help as well, but they always disappeared when I tried that. Do you give your roses coffee grinds? I no longer have roses, but I am working on it. If I come across info I think would be useful I'll let you know.

 

[TheCrazyPlantLady]

I didn't know coffee grinds were good for roses. I've been putting them around my tomatoes, but my roses are my babies, so I think the tomatoes are going to go without! Thanks for the tip about that and the banana water. I had a Gerbera daisy with 3 beautiful orange flowers, in a very tiny pot. The flowers lasted for about a month, but once they were gone the plant started to wilt. I transplanted it, but it died anyway. I'd definitely try again, though - it was a beautiful plant.

 

[ChanellG]

I didn't know coffee grinds were good for roses. I've been putting them around my tomatoes, but my roses are my babies, so I think the tomatoes are going to go without! Thanks for the tip about that and the banana water. I had a Gerbera daisy with 3 beautiful orange flowers, in a very tiny pot. The flowers lasted for about a month, but once they were gone the plant started to wilt. I transplanted it, but it died anyway. I'd definitely try again, though - it was a beautiful plant.

Don't overdo it with the coffee grinds. If you drink coffee everyday you can spread the grinds on newspaper and dry them for later use. If you combine them with eggshells it is supposed to protect your tomatoes and other fruit from blossom end rot. The other thing to watch out for with coffee grinds is that they supposedly can form a moisture barrier on top of the soil. Some people say it is better to compost them.

I believe the banana water is responsible for how well many of my plants are doing. The other thing I've used to encourage new growth is aspirin water. I put two plain, uncoated tablets in a 28 oz spray bottle.

I forgot to mention that after I make the banana water I put the peels in the compost.

 

[AndroidGirl89]

I never heard about the banana water before - although I had heard about coffee grinds being helpful and such.

Also- soap nuts are good for plants as well. I use them to make detergent- and then afterwards they can go around plants!

 

[ChanellG]

Also- soap nuts are good for plants as well. I use them to make detergent- and then afterwards they can go around plants!

What are soap nuts? I've never heard of those before. How are they good for plants?

 

[Gina145]

You can place banana peel around the base of the roses without burying it; placing garlic cloves next to the roses is supposed to help as well, but they always disappeared when I tried that. Do you give your roses coffee grinds? I no longer have roses, but I am working on it. If I come across info I think would be useful I'll let you know.

I read once that banana peels were suppose to be a deterrent against aphids, so I've put them on the soil in my pots before, but they never seemed to keep the aphids away so I stopped doing it. I think I'll give it another try. And the garlic too, thanks!

I'll have to give the coffee grinds a miss though as we don't have coffee at home.

Our rose bushes do flower reasonably well, but I'm constantly finding dead branches on them so something's obviously not right.

 

[TheCrazyPlantLady]

Tea is good for repelling aphids, but I don't think it kills them, so you have to spray daily until they give up and move to someone else's yard. The good news is that it's very good for the plant. I found that a strong cat-nip tea works best for me, but just regular black tea works as well

 

[Gina145]

Tea is good for repelling aphids, but I don't think it kills them, so you have to spray daily until they give up and move to someone else's yard. The good news is that it's very good for the plant. I found that a strong cat-nip tea works best for me, but just regular black tea works as well

Thanks, I'll have to give that a try. Do you know whether green tea works? Otherwise I'll have to buy a different variety for my plants.

 

[TheCrazyPlantLady]

I'm sure it would, since green tea is just black tea that has been processed differently.

 

[blueeyes]

I've just started with gerbera daisy. I also found my plant on clearance at a garden center. It produced one lovely large daisy and then something got to the second bud while it was still small before it could flower (grrrrrr!) I spray my plant with banana water to keep it healthy and I imagine that as long as you kept yours on or near a sunny windowsill and didn't over water it, you should have success.

You may find this article helpful:
http://landscaping.about.com/od/holidayplants1/p/gerbera_daisy.htm

I have just checked out the link you gave me and I did find it very helpful.I have a nice sunny window picked out and will let you know how it does Thanks, Chanell.