Gerbera is a practical cut-flower crop in India only under a polyhouse or shade-net house, where day temperature can be held near 22 to 25 °C and night temperature near 12 to 16 °C. It needs a protected structure, drip fertigation, sterilised beds and a florist or market buyer lined up before planting, and it pays back over 2 to 3 years, not in one season.

Open-field gerbera is possible in mild hill climates, but commercial quality and stem length come from protected cultivation. The figures below come from ICAR and TNAU material and one published farm-economics study from Madhya Pradesh; your own returns depend mostly on the price you get per stem.

Where it grows in India

  • Climate limits: flowering starts best near 23 °C and is hurt below 12 °C or above 35 °C. Relative humidity of 60 to 70% inside the house is ideal, because higher humidity raises disease and deforms flowers (ICAR-NEH Region, Umiam).
  • Studied regions: ICAR-NEH Region (Meghalaya) recommends it for the north east in low-cost bamboo polyhouses; TNAU describes it for Tamil Nadu under 50% shade net or a naturally ventilated polyhouse; a farm-level economics study covered polyhouse growers in Jabalpur district, Madhya Pradesh.
  • Soil and medium: well-drained, porous loam rich in organic matter, pH 5.5 to 6.5 (ICAR-NEH) or 5.5 to 7.0 (TNAU), with EC of soil and water between 0.5 and 2.0 dS/m. Heavy clay or waterlogged beds invite crown and root rots.
  • Light: a 50% shade net cuts light and heat in summer.

Varieties and planting material

VarietySourceNotesSuited to
YCD-1, YCD-2TNAU, CoimbatoreListed by TNAU as its own typesSouth India polyhouses
RCGH-12, RCGH-28, RCGH-114, RCGH-117ICAR-NEH Region, UmiamHybrids suited to open and protected conditionsMeghalaya and similar hills
Pink Elegance, Sangria, Red Monarch, Piton, Goliath, Rosalin, Tiramisu, Salvador, Tropic Blend, SavannahCommercial hybrids identified as suitable for polyhouses in the north east (ICAR-NEH)Colour range from red to yellow, pink and bicolourProtected cultivation; choose by market colour demand
  • Seed gives variable plants and flowers late, so growers use tissue-culture plug plants (4 to 6 leaves) or sucker divisions. Buy from a nursery that supplies a named variety with a clean-plant guarantee.
  • Planting material cost in the ICAR-NEH budget is ₹10 per plant.

Bed preparation and spacing

  • Beds: 1 m wide, 30 cm high, with 40 cm paths. Medium is soil and well-rotted FYM at 2:1, or FYM, sand and cocopeat or paddy husk at 2:1:1.
  • Sterilise the bed before planting with formalin (100 ml in 5 litres of water per m²) under plastic for 2 to 3 days, then flush with water well before planting (ICAR-NEH). TNAU also lists dazomet at 30 g/m². Follow label and KVK advice, because fumigants are hazardous.
  • Spacing: 30 x 30 cm, three rows per bed, which is 9 plants per m² of bed, so about 9,000 plants per 1,000 m² of bed area (roughly 36,000 per acre of beds). TNAU also gives 40 x 30 cm.
  • Planting depth: keep the crown about 1 cm above the soil. Buried crowns rot.

Nutrition and irrigation

  • Organic matter: about 7.5 kg per m² (ICAR-NEH); TNAU gives neem cake at 2.5 t/ha as basal.
  • NPK (ICAR-NEH): 10:15:20 g per m² per month for the first three months, then 15:10:30 g per m² per month from the fourth month when flowering starts. For 1,000 m² of beds that is 10:15:20 kg in the first phase and 15:10:30 kg per month after.
  • Micronutrients: a monthly foliar spray of boron, calcium, magnesium and copper mix at 1.5 ml per litre (ICAR-NEH).
  • Water: sprinkler for the first month, then drip with one dripper per plant. Requirement is 500 to 700 ml per plant per day (4.5 to 6 litres per m²), more in summer. TNAU suggests drip every 2 to 3 days. See drip irrigation.
  • Let the crown dry between waterings to reduce Phytophthora.

Pests and diseases

  • Pests: whitefly, thrips, aphids, red spider mite, leaf miner and nematodes. Imidacloprid and abamectin are named by both TNAU and ICAR-NEH for sucking pests and mites; neem or pongamia oil at 3 ml per litre is a gentler option.
  • Diseases: crown and root rot (Pythium, Rhizoctonia), foot rot (Phytophthora, Fusarium), flower bud rot and powdery mildew. TNAU lists copper oxychloride at 2 g per litre for bud rot and wettable sulphur at 2 g per litre or azoxystrobin at 1 g per litre for powdery mildew; ICAR-NEH suggests monthly metalaxyl and captan drenches for foot rot.
  • Sterile beds, good ventilation at night and avoiding overwatering do more than sprays. Some older insecticides in published papers have been restricted in India, so check the current label and ask your KVK before buying any chemical. See pests.

Harvest and yield

  • Flowering starts about 3 months after planting.
  • Pick when the outer one or two rows of disc florets are perpendicular to the stalk. Pull the stem rather than cutting, so no stub is left to rot; trim the base 5 to 6 cm with a sharp knife and stand it in clean chlorinated water.
  • Yield: ICAR-NEH gives 250 to 300 flowers per m² per year in a low-cost naturally ventilated house; TNAU gives 175 to 200 flowers per m² per year, or about 2 stems per plant per month. The Madhya Pradesh study of about 1,200 m² houses recorded 409,288 flowers a year, about 340 per m².
  • Healthy plants keep producing for 2 to 3 years. Cold storage at low temperature keeps stems 3 to 4 weeks (ICAR-NEH).
💡 Tip: Visit two working gerbera polyhouses near you and ask what price per stem they got in the last three months. The whole profit swings on that one number.

Cost and returns

  • ICAR-NEH model, 100 m² low-cost bamboo house (2025): fixed cost ₹54,500 (house at ₹450 per m² = ₹45,000, soil sterilisation ₹3,500, 600 plants ₹6,000). Recurring cost ₹78,950 a year (one skilled worker for 120 days ₹36,000, inputs ₹42,950).
  • Income assumed: 250 to 300 flowers per m² on 100 m² is 25,000 to 30,000 flowers; at ₹5 each that is ₹1.25 to ₹1.5 lakh, plus ₹30,000 from selling suckers (₹10 each). The paper's gross of ₹1.8 lakh a year uses the top end.
  • Result: year 1 net ₹46,550 after the fixed cost; ₹1,01,050 a year in years 2 and 3. At the lower yield and ₹5 a flower, gross would be about ₹1.55 lakh and net about ₹76,000 a year.
  • Jabalpur study (about 1,200 m²): total cost ₹9.09 lakh, net profit ₹5.30 lakh. That implies roughly ₹14.4 lakh revenue, or ₹3.5 per flower on 409,288 flowers.
  • The bamboo house is a low-cost type; steel-frame naturally ventilated or fan-and-pad houses cost far more per m². Check current costs and aid under polyhouse subsidy and subsidy finder; no subsidy rate is quoted here because it differs by state and year.

Market and risks

  • Buyers are city florists, event decorators, flower wholesalers and bouquet makers. Gerbera stems sell by the piece, and prices fall in the off-season and when many houses flower together.
  • Stems bruise and wilt in heat; pack individually in sleeves and move to market quickly or cold-chain them.
  • Price per stem, polyhouse running cost, labour and disease loss decide profit. A yield claim above 300 flowers per m² or a price above ₹5 per flower should be checked against a working farm.
  • Crop loans can be arranged through a KCC or bank; an FPO helps with joint marketing.

Sources