Gazanias: care | Gardening On

Gazanias are easy to grow plants

What is the care of the gazanias? These curious flowers, which only open during the days when the clouds let the sun peek out, and which do not exceed a foot in height, are perfect for decorating the exterior. And it is that, they are just as good on a balcony as in the garden.

In addition, the seeds sprout in spring, a few days after sowing them, so it is not difficult to have a few plants for a very low price. So if you want them to last you a few years, then we are going to see how they are taken care of.

How are gazanias cared for?

Gazans are easily cared for

If you love gazania and you want to learn how to take care of them correctly, pay attention to the advice that we are going to offer you. Thus, your plants are sure to bloom every year:

Put them in a sunny place

The Gazans They are some of the herbs that most need to be in places where the direct sun reaches them directly. Not only is it important for proper growth, but without the light of the star king, your flowers would not open. In fact, you yourself will be able to observe that on cloudy days it is difficult for them to open, or that when the sun hides behind the horizon its petals close.

For this reason, it is also vitally important to place them in front of plants larger than themso that they do not shade them. Therefore, it would not be a good idea to plant them underneath next to the trees, but it would be in a flowerbed that receives the direct impact of the sun’s rays throughout the day.

Don’t forget to water your gazanias

These plants need water to hydrate and stay alive. But yes: as with everything, it is better to avoid extremes, since they will be affected the same whether we water them little or if we water them too much. Thus, we must find the middle ground, that is, we have to find out how often to water our gazanias.

For that, you have to take into account several things:

  • The weather: in hot and dry ones they will need more frequent waterings than in those with frequent rains.
  • Indoor or outdoor: Although the gazanias must always be outside so that they can flourish, if we live in an area where winter is very cold, you will have to keep them at home since they only resist frosts down to -4ºC. For this reason, during those months we will water them less than if we had them outside, since the soil will remain wet for longer.
  • Pot or soil: Plants that are in pots are watered more, since the soil takes less time to dry.

Starting from this, during the summer you have to water an average of 3 times a week, while the rest of the year we will do it once or twice a week. But, I insist: every climate is different. If you have your plants in a place where it rains frequently, you will have to water them much less than I do, who live in an area where several months can go without rain.

And by the way, If you are going to have them in pots, put them in ones that have holes in their baseotherwise they will soon turn yellow due to excess water. Therefore, it is not a good idea to place a plate under them, unless you always remember to drain it after you have watered.

What land do they need?

Gazanias are plants that want sun

Regardless of whether we are going to grow them in pots or in the ground, it is important that the earth drains the water well. Their roots do not like to be waterlogged, so it is important to make sure that the environment in which they will grow is the right one. How do you do that? As follows:

  • Garden land: make a hole of about 40 x 40 centimeters in the ground and fill it with water. If you see that it is absorbed from the first moment it falls, and it does so at a good pace, then you can plant your gazanias in it without problem. In the event that it takes more than half an hour, mix universal culture substrate (for sale here!) with equal parts perlite, and use this mixture to fill in the hole and plant your flowers.
  • Potted Plant Substrate- Sometimes the best known brands are not the best. For this reason, we recommend that you buy earth bags that have perlite, since this is a material that favors the drainage of water. And if they don’t, you can mix peat with perlite yourself (on sale here!) in equal parts.

Fertilize them so that they grow up happy

The gazanias will grow better and it will cost them less to flower if they are fertilized regularly, especially if they are grown in pots since the land they have is very limited and therefore the nutrients they can have too. Therefore, if we do not want them to weaken, we will have to add some type of compost or fertilizer during the warm monthscoinciding with its growing and flowering season.

Which ones to use? Well, there are several, such as:

  • Travel Pass:compost, earthworm humus, seaweed compost (for sale here!), manure, guano.
  • Fertilizers: since they are plants with showy flowers, we recommend fertilizing them with a specific fertilizer for flowering plants (on sale here!), like this.

Pruning: yes or no?

These plants are small, measuring no more than 30 inches tall, so they should not be pruned. But what you have to do is remove the wilting flowers and dry leaves with your hands or with scissors that we will have disinfected before. In this way, we will always make them look pretty.

Most common problems of gazanias

Gazania flowers need sun

Although they are very resistant, the truth is that sometimes they can have some other problem:

  • Yellow sheets: if they are the new ones, it is due to lack of water; and if they are the lowest, it is due to excess. To solve it, in the first case what we would do is water conscientiously. In the second, we would suspend the watering for a few days, but also, if they are in pots, we would take them out, wrap the earth bread and keep them like that for one night and then plant them again in the container.
  • Do not bloom: Gazanias produce flowers in spring and summer. If they do not, it may be that they lack sun (remember that they must be in a place with direct sun), or fertilizer.
  • Its flowers do not open: it may be that the sky is cloudy, or that at that moment the sun does not shine directly on them.
  • Diseases: appear when overwatered. The fungi that affect them the most are Rhizoctonia and Pythium. Both rot the roots, and then invade the rest of the plant. Therefore, it is best to prevent, controlling the risks, and even carrying out preventive treatments with copper powder during the rainy season. To do this, you just have to pour a little around the plant, on the ground. In the event that you see mold, leaves with brown spots, or that your gazania begins to yellow quickly, treat it with a systemic fungicide such as this.
  • Pests: during spring and summer they can be attacked by mealybugs or aphids, which hide behind the leaves, on the underside, to feed on their sap. Since gazanias are small, the pest can be eliminated manually, or if preferred by treating them with diatomaceous earth (for sale No products found.), which is a highly effective ecological insecticide. Here is a video in which we talk about how to use it:

We hope that now you know well how to take care of your gazanias.

Gazanias: care | Gardening On

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