Gerbera

Hello everyone! I have a Gerbera daisy plant that is slowly growing into a monster. I bought it two months ago, I think. I wish I took a picture of it. It fit amidst my feet in the car when I took it home. I don't remember it being this large. It has 9 blooms with 3 incoming. It stands in a saucer of water and drinks what it wants. I used to keep it in a very sunny spot in my house. When the summer started to grow really hot, it would wilt because I couldn't keep up with its water demands. So I moved it to another spot a week ago. The sun doesn't reach it until late afternoon. It has plenty of water now, but it wilts if it gets sunlight for an hour, maybe even half an hour. I'm not sure what's happening. I have to close the blinds and slowly it straightens itself up again. Why can't it take the sun anymore? Is it because it's outgrown its pot? Does it need that full day of light to be happy?

The plant with its pot...

It does look like it's outgrown its pot, when that happens it becomes next to impossible to get it enough water. I would repot it into something bigger. And once you do that, I would take away the saucer of water, the vast majority of plants don't like sitting in a puddle of water, it can make their roots rot.

That's a beautiful gerbera! I love them but have never had luck with them. You've done a great job. Ecrane always has such good advice; I agree with her that you need to repot it and don't let it sit in water.
Sharon

ecrane3: It makes sense. I didn't know its small house would cause it problems drinking water. Interesting! I'll be sure to put it in a larger pot. Thank you!

Sharon: Thank you! I appreciate hearing that. I am very paranoid about plants since this is the first time I'm actually making an effort keeping them alive. Before, I didn't understand drainage, etc. I've managed to kill everything I've gotten before this year.
:>

I'm glad you both mentioned the water. The saucer method works well for me. But now that I think on it, the plants always drank the water within five minutes. They didn't stand in water through the day. Now that the Gerbera was put in a shady spot, the water is lingering. I'll take care not to allow that to happen anymore. I got careless.

I have two Gerberas. The second is the one pictured above. The first looked as healthy until I took away its dish. I began to water it overhead. The leaves turned yellow. The base of the leaves started to rot. Luckily, it was in the midst of sprouting new leaves. I put a dish below it and the new leaves continue to look healthy. It seems I'm no good at watering overhead. I worry over some hanging planters where I have no choice but to water overhead. How can I ensure those plants are doing well? Or do I have to wait until their leaves turn yellow to know? It's a fern and three fuchsias (one hardy, two annuals).

Also, when I repot the Gerbera, should I add fertilizer? Or is nice potting soil sufficient?

My ferns do really well with very early sun, then shade the rest of the day.
One is in shade, but bright light, all day. In very warm/hot weather,
I water them thoroughly every couple days. Every other week, instead of
using water, give them tepid (not warm, not cool) unsweet tea. They love the
tanic acid in tea.

My guess is when you were doing the overhead watering, the water was all going on the leaves, and then puddling up at the crown of the plant rather than going down into the soil. If you can get a watering can with a narrow spout, try lifting the leaves up and sneaking the watering can underneath them, that should avoid the problem.

My fern gets exactly that, twohawk, early morning sun and is then in shade the rest of the day. Excellent. What a fun idea about the tea. I'll be sure to try that.

ecrane3: Ah, I see. I bet that is what happened. Aside from the leaf shoots, the plant has a recess in the middle. Water could easily pool there.

Thank you for your replies! I learn so much here.