Barberton daisy
Sources last read 14 September 2026.
Difficult One of the harder ones, and one of the reasons the diagnosis tool exists.
Also called African Daisy, Gerber Daisy, Gerbera Daisy, Transvaal Daisy and Veldt Daisy.
Toxicity is partly unassessed
What the sources say about its care
- Light
- Full sunRHS · read 13 September 2026
- Water
- Well-drainedRHS · read 13 September 2026
- Humidity
No source read publishes a humidity figure for any plant on this site. What follows is general guidance for foliage plants.
ASHRAE recommends indoor relative humidity between 30% and 60% 30–60%Penn State Extension · read 13 September 2026- Temperature
How cold this tolerates, not what it prefers. No source read for this site publishes a preferred range for a plant indoors.
H1C — 5–10°C 5–10 °CRHS · read 13 September 2026- Soil
- Chalk, Loam, Sand; pH Acid or Alkaline or NeutralRHS · read 13 September 2026
- Toxic to cats
- Listed as non-toxicASPCA · read 13 September 2026
- Toxic to dogs
- Listed as non-toxicASPCA · read 13 September 2026
- Harmful to people
- No statement of harm to people is published for this plant; that absence is not evidence it is safe.RHS · read 13 September 2026
How it usually goes wrong
- Edges of the leaves brown while the middle stays sound
The Barberton daisy browns at the very tips first, and the brown line creeps back along the edges over weeks. The tissue is dry and brittle, not soft.
Penn State Extension cites ASHRAE's recommended indoor range of 30% to 60% relative humidity; a heated room in winter drops below it. Air that dry pulls water from the leaf faster than the roots replace it, and the margins are furthest from the supply.
Telling it apart: Look at the pot rim and the soil surface. A white crust points at a build-up from tap water or feed rather than at the air. Penn State also reports misting and pebble trays do little to the humidity around a plant.
Penn State ExtensionDiagnose brown tips and edges on this Barberton daisy- Flowering stops while the foliage carries on
The Barberton daisy looks well in every other respect: green, firm and growing. What is missing is the flowering.
Buds are formed only when the plant has energy to spare. Its source places it in full sun, and in less light than that the surplus that pays for flowers is missing.
Telling it apart: The spacing of the newest leaves. Stretched growth means the light is short; normal spacing points at timing or feeding.
RHSDiagnose no flowers or dropped buds on this Barberton daisy- Whitened areas where the sun falls longest
Scorched leaves on the Barberton daisy turn from pale to brown and brittle, and the damage stops where the shade of another leaf fell across it.
Its source names full sun, so the light itself is not the fault. Foliage that formed in a dimmer room is thinner than foliage grown in sun, and the side turned suddenly to strong light bleaches before it can adjust.
Telling it apart: Whether the undersides are affected. Light damages what it reaches and nothing else.
RHSDiagnose leaf drop on this Barberton daisy- Wrinkling rather than yellowing
Posture goes before colour. A thirsty Barberton daisy looks deflated rather than diseased, and the compost has shrunk away from the side of the pot.
Water held in the cells keeps a leaf rigid. With the compost dry beyond what its source describes as well-drained, that water is used and not replaced.
Telling it apart: The weight of the pot. Light and sagging is thirst; heavy and sagging is not.
RHSDiagnose yellowing leaves on this Barberton daisy
Not sure which it is? Ask the diagnosis questions for Barberton daisy.
Routine care
- Feeding
- Keep it moist and feed lightly.NC State Extension · read 13 September 2026
- Propagation
- By division or seed.NC State Extension · read 13 September 2026For home use, divide in early spring. In summer, take basal cuttings, or heel cuttings taken from side shoots.RHS · read 13 September 2026
- Pruning
- Pruning is not needed, but deadheading promotes more flowers.RHS · read 13 September 2026
- Pests and diseases
- Can be troubled by tarsonemid mites, aphids, chrysanthemum leaf miner and glasshouse whitefly. Diseases: root rot, leaf spot and grey moulds.RHS · read 13 September 2026
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Photographs
About the plant
Gerbera jamesonii is a species of flowering plant in the genus Gerbera belonging to the basal Mutisieae tribe within the large Asteraceae family. It is indigenous to South Eastern Africa and commonly known as the Barberton daisy, the Transvaal daisy, and as Barbertonse madeliefie or Rooigousblom in Afrikaans. It was the first species of Gerbera to be the subject of a scientific description, studied by J. D. Hooker in Curtis's Botanical Magazine in 1889.
From Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0 · read 13 September 2026
- Native range
- Northern Prov. to EswatiniWorld Checklist of Vascular Plants, June 2026 release, CC BY.Kew WCVP · read 13 September 2026Northern Prov. to EswatiniNC State Extension · read 13 September 2026
- Climate
- subtropicalWorld Checklist of Vascular Plants, June 2026 release, CC BY.Kew WCVP · read 13 September 2026
- Growth form
- perennialWorld Checklist of Vascular Plants, June 2026 release, CC BY.Kew WCVP · read 13 September 2026Annual, Herbaceous Perennial; habit clumping, erectNC State Extension · read 13 September 2026Clump forming (evergreen)RHS · read 13 September 2026
- Size
- Height 12–18 in; width 12–15 inNC State Extension · read 13 September 2026Height 0.5-1 metres; spread 0.1-0.5 metres after 2–5 yearsRHS · read 13 September 2026
- Flowering
- Flowers gold/yellow, orange, red/burgundy; blooms in fall, summerNC State Extension · read 13 September 2026Flowers orange in spring and summer; red in spring and summer; pink in spring and summer; yellow in spring and summerRHS · read 13 September 2026
More of the Asteraceae family
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String of pearlsDry scorched spots after a move into a sunnier spot
Banana VineSourced care, difficulty not yet judged
Blue ChalksticksSourced care, difficulty not yet judged
Candle PlantSourced care, difficulty not yet judged
Candy LeafSourced care, difficulty not yet judged
Plants with similar care
Dendrobium orchidA thin dry rim that crumbles between the fingers
Florist's cyclamenBuds that yellow and drop on a leafy plant
GardeniaBuds form and fall before they open
Indian azaleaDry, bruised edges after a cold, windy spell
- No photograph yetZebra plantBrown, papery patches on the leaves nearest the glass
Sources
- ASPCA · read 13 September 2026
- Kew WCVP · read 13 September 2026
- NC State Extension · read 13 September 2026
- Penn State Extension · read 13 September 2026
- RHS · read 13 September 2026
- Wikipedia · read 13 September 2026
What this does not cover
The figures above are what published sources say, not measurements of the plant in your room. They say nothing about your pot size, your water, the season, or how far from the glass the plant stands, and those decide more than any figure here does.
Humidity has no species figure because no source read for this site publishes one, and the only temperature published for this plant is a cold floor. The simulator fills those gaps with general figures for its kind of plant, marked as general and listed on how we read sources. Where a toxicity row says the plant was not assessed, that is the absence of a finding and not a finding of safety.
If something is already wrong, the diagnosis tool asks about the soil, the window and the watering, which is where the answer usually is.