PlantSowGrow
How to plant and care for Osteospermum (African Daisy)
Osteospermum
Glossy daisies in purple, pink, white and yellow that open wide in the sun, from May to the frosts. Drought-tolerant and great in pots.
When to plant and care for it
Timed for a typical UK garden (last frost mid-April). The app uses your own town's frost dates.
Growing Osteospermum (African Daisy): what it needs
- Light
- Full sun · 6+ hours a day
- Watering
- Let the compost dry a little between waterings
- Soil
- Multipurpose compost or fertile soil
- Spacing
- 30 cm
- Height
- 30–45 cm
- In pots
- Grows well in containers
- Feeding
- High-potash liquid feed weekly
- Hardiness
- USDA zones 9–11
Step by step
- Mid March – early April · 5 weeks before the last spring frost
Pot Up Plug Plants
Pot plugs into 9 cm pots of multipurpose compost as soon as they arrive and grow them on somewhere bright and frost-free.
- Mid April · 4 days after the last spring frost
Harden Off
Stand plants outside by day for 7–10 days before planting out.
- Late April – mid May · 2 weeks after the last spring frost
Plant Out
Plant into pots, baskets or borders 30 cm apart once frosts are over. Water in well.
- 21–42 days after “Plant Out” · Mid May – early June
First Flowers — Keep Feeding
Feed weekly with a high-potash feed and snip off faded flowers to keep them coming. Take a photo for your journal!
- Mid October – early November · around the first autumn frost
Bring In or Clear
Before the first frost, move pots into a frost-free greenhouse or porch to keep them for next year — or pull them up for the compost heap.
