THE IMPROVEMENT OF WINTER GROWING OF GERBERA IN GREENHOUSES IN THE MEDITERRANEAN REGIONS

The recent expansion of Gerbera growing in the south of France has posed problems of adaptation of the varieties and growing techniques. In particular the improvement of the winter production, essential for the Mediterranean grower, can be obtained in the following ways:

1. Growing techniques: Annual cultivation presents many advantages; it can be profitable as long as one defines precisely the requirements of each hybrid.(Date of planting, fertilizers, temperature, etc.)
2. Selection : The potentialities of the floral production depend on two principal factors:

• early flowering
• the number of vegetative points visible at the rosette and the showing of the first flower

These two factors are independent and hereditary. The morphology of the root system would be a third factor conditioning the winter behaviour of Gerbera.

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