GAILLARDIA GROWING FACTS:

If you are looking for flowers with long season of bloom, Gaillardia flowers, also known as blanket flowers, are a great choice. These daisy-like flowers have shades of orange, yellow and red, adding a dazzle to your balcony or garden. They look great as cut flowers and attract birds, bees and butterflies to your garden. They are easy to grow, tolerant to high temperatures and grow well in small spaces – making them perfect for a home/balcony garden!

GIY KIT CONTENTS:

HOW TO PLANT:

Unpack the kit. Use the coco peat coin to make growing medium (soil). Follow the steps:

• Place the coco peat coin in a container and add 200 mls of water
• Let the coin soak up all the water and watch it expand into growing medium
• Put the growing medium in the GIY pot and level surface

Sow the seeds in the center of the pot, placing them on top of the medium. Do not cover the seeds. Use a spray bottle to mist over the top of the seeds.

GERMINATION:

The sprouts should emerge within 10-15 days. Make sure that the growing medium stays moist. When seedlings have 3-5 leaves and reach 3-4 inches tall, transplant the seedlings into desirable pot or space.

WATER REQUIREMENT:          

Water regularly, but make sure you don’t over water. Check the growing medium once or twice a day for moisture loss. When the surface of growing medium becomes dry, water the pot to keep it moist.

Water slowly to avoid washing the seeds from the pot's center or burying them under the growing medium.

Gaillaridia GIY Kit Day 10

TRANSPLANTING: 

Take a scissor and cut off weaker seedlings at the soil level, keep only one or two healthy seedlings.

To transplant, take a pot with the depth of about 9 inches. Mix half the pot volume with good quality organic manure/ organic compost and half the volume with garden soil. Make sure prepared soil is loose, well-drained and rich in organic matter. Now dig in, place and bury the entire biodegradable pot with the healthy saplings.

FERTILIZER:

Potting soil mix made as per above recipe will provide good nutrition for the whole season of the Gaillardia plants. You can also use the organic micronutrients, available with your GIY kit, as per instructions.

FLOWERING AND GROWTH:

Gaillardia flowers should bloom in 45 – 60 days of planting. Gaillardia plant will grow 12-15 inches tall and its life cycle is 2-3 years. They can handle some partial shade but may not flower as profusely as in full sunlight.

They have a long season of bloom, about six weeks or more. Remove dead/faded flowers from the plant regularly to promote regular bloom and maintain plant’s look

INSECTS AND DISEASES:

Gaillardias are hardy plants and no serious pests or diseases afflict them. However, they might be used by some caterpillars as food plants.

For pest management, use Neem based bio fertilizers and pesticides, if needed.

FUN FACTS:

Butterflies and bees love Gaillardias and many gardeners add Gaillardias specifically to attract them.