Gerbera is an extremely popular flower in floristry. It can be grown outdoors in your garden, create lush and juicy flower beds with it. Or on the windowsill in a pot. Gerberas are perennial flowers. However, in cold conditions they can easily die, so they are often grown as annuals. But if you want to grow plants as perennials in cold regions, you need to dig out the rhizome for the winter and store it in the basement until spring.

 Growing Gerbera through seedlings is a very popular method of reproduction.

 To grow high-quality and strong seedlings, you need to prepare:

 1. The most optimal capacity for sowing is a wide and not very deep common box (or a wide low pot). The width depends on the number of seeds (if you want to sow a lot, then the capacity should be large), but the depth is acceptable — 7-8 centimeters. At the bottom of the tank, there must necessarily be drainage holes through which excess moisture will drain after watering.

 2. It is extremely important to choose the right soil for gerbera seedlings. The earth should be nutritious, well-drained, loose, neutral in acidity. You can buy a ready-made universal mixture for seedlings by adding a little sand there. And you can prepare a soil mixture with your own hands! Optimal composition: turf earth (2 parts), leaf earth (1 part), humus (1 part), sand (1 part). But you can make a mixture according to a simpler recipe: peat (3 parts), humus (1 part), sand (1 part).

 3. You can plant gerbera seeds without preparation. However, pre-sowing treatment will improve the germination of seeds (seedlings will be faster, more friendly). For example, you can perform one of the suggested procedures:

   -Soaking in water. The simplest and most ineffective way is to wrap the seeds in a cloth, put them in a saucer, lightly pour warm water, leave for 2-3 hours.

   -Soaking in growth stimulants. A more effective method in which you need to make a solution of the drug and soak the seeds in them according to the instructions.

   - Germination. Also an effective way that will accelerate the emergence of seedlings. Put the seeds between two cotton pads or pieces of cloth, moisten with water, put them in a bag and transfer to a warm place for a few days. Do not let the fabric dry out. Check the seeds daily, as soon as they hatch (3-4 days), immediately sow them in the ground!

Step-by-step instructions will help you to plant gerbera seeds correctly on seedlings:

 1. It all starts with laying the drainage layer on the bottom of the box. This layer is necessary for the normal removal of excess moisture, preventing acidification of the soil, rotting of the roots of seedlings. The thickness of the layer is 1.5 cm. Perfect for perlite, fine expanded clay, broken brick.

 2. Fill the container (box, pot) with soil, just not to the very edges! Leave a small gap between the surface of the ground and the edges of the container in 1.5-2 cm.

 3. Moisten the surface of the earth with clean, warm water. Be sure to use a spray gun!

 4. Now you need to sow seeds. The distance between the seeds is 2 cm .

 5. Now you need to sprinkle the seeds with peat (or just the soil mixture in which you sowed). Be sure to sift the earth through a sieve before doing this. The optimal planting depth is 2-3 millimeters.

 6. Press the surface of the ground very lightly with your palm (or a large spoon) to improve the contact of the seeds with the ground.

 7. Make abundant watering with the same clean water at room temperature, watering is carried out by spraying through a spray gun.

8. Cover the container with a covering material (lid, food wrap, bag) and put it in a warm place.

 The seeds will germinate approximately in 7-10 days.

 So, immediately after planting gerbera seeds on seedlings and before the emergence of seedlings, the following conditions must be provided:

-Immediately after sowing the seeds, you need to put the container in a warm place where the temperature is maintained at about 25 degrees celsius.

 -After planting, it is important to immediately cover the container with a lid, a film to create a mini-greenhouse. The greenhouse effect will help the seeds to ascend. At the same time, it is important to ventilate the greenhouse every day for 25 minutes to avoid waterlogging.

 -Monitor the moisture content of the soil, if you notice that the soil is dry, immediately moisten the ground with a spray gun. In no case should the earth be allowed to dry out, if the seeds dry up at this stage, they will never germinate.

 -When the seedlings germinate, you will need to permanently remove the lid or film.

 After germination of seeds, the care of gerbera seedlings at home is as follows:

-Lighting plays a major role in the growth and development of seedlings. The optimal daylight duration is 12 hours. After the emergence of seedlings, you need to rearrange the seedlings of gerbera in a bright place.

 -After the emergence of seedlings, the temperature conditions change: now the optimal temperature is around 18-20 degrees Celsius.

 -Watering should be regular. However, it is impossible to water gerber seedlings excessively, too often and abundantly. Mold may appear from excess moisture, fungal diseases may develop or the roots may rot. Watering is carried out with easy drying of the soil surface. The water must be settled, clean, and have room temperature! You need to pour water carefully so as not to blur the soil over the roots.

 -It is necessary to protect the plants in the room from drafts. 

 -A useful procedure for the care of gerbera seedlings is fertilizing. Fertilizers for plants can be applied 1-2 weeks after picking. If the condition of the plants is unsatisfactory, then it is possible to feed the 2nd time 1-2 weeks before planting in the open ground. They are fed with a complex fertilizer for seedlings. Before the procedure, it is necessary to water the seedlings with ordinary water!

The timing of picking gerber seedlings is determined by plants: they should grow 2 real leaves (as a rule, this happens 20-30 days after sowing). 

Picking gerber seedlings is desirable to be carried out in 2 stages:

 1. when 2-3 real leaves appear: in a common box (according to the scheme 10 by 10 centimeters);

 2. when 4-5 real leaves appear: already in individual pots, cups (volume 200-250 ml).

 It is very important to adjust the care of gerber seedlings a little after picking. It is necessary to put them in a dark place for several days. In addition, it is advisable to immediately pour a root formation stimulant.

 Optimal capacity for picking:

-individual cups, pots, or cassettes, height and diameter of the container — about 8-10 cm, volume — 150-200 ml;

-the box is about 10 cm high, the width depends on the number of plants.

With the choice of a soil mixture, everything is very simple: the earth will fit according to the same recipe as for the initial sowing of seeds.

 And in conclusion. Gerbera is able to decorate the garden and delight with bright elegant flowers for a very long time, you just need to pay due attention to this flower. Buy this flower for the garden and it will become your favorite.