Quality production of four cut gerberas in a hydroponic system of four substrates

To evaluate the performance (production and quality) of gerbera plants, cvs 'Fame', 'Party', 'Regina' and 'Ximena' were planted, in a heated plastic greenhouse; perlite, zeolite, sand or rockwool were used as substrates. Yield and cut flower quality (stem length and width) of the gerbera plants were measured for a 17 month period. Plants grown on the perlite medium had the highest total yield for all varieties, with a peak of 75-80 flowers. The lowest yield performance was fbund in zeolite, whereas rockwool and sand were intermediate. In all cases 'Party' showed the highest yield, with small differences compared to the other varieties. Quality was a function of the substrate, the variety and the production year. For most varieties, perlite produced better quality flowers during the first period (7-8 months) of production; no quality differences were observed, among the four substrates, during the second period of production.