Treasure flower (Gazania) care

Light

Aim for at least 4-6 hours of direct sun on the leaves. Demands full sun to perform well and for flowers to open fully. Blooms close in shade or overcast conditions. A minimum of 6 hours of direct sun is required; more sun equals more and brighter flowers. If your only bright window faces south, that's perfect for treasure flower — same window any aroid would fry on.

Watering

Watering treasure flower: every 10–14 days once established; weekly when young. The number that matters isn't the day of the week — it's how dry the top 2-3 cm of the pot feels. A finger in the soil tells you more than a watering app. After every watering, tip the saucer. Highly drought-tolerant once established. Gazania rigens evolved in dry, sandy South African coastal habitats. Overwatering or waterlogged soil rapidly causes crown rot. Allow soil to dry fully between waterings.

Soil and pot

Treasure flower grows best in well-drained, sandy to gravelly loam, low to moderate fertility, ph 6.0–7.5. Thrives in poor, dry, sandy or coastal soils. Rich, moisture-retentive soils encourage excessive leaf growth and root rot. Excellent drainage is the single most important soil criterion. A pot with a working drainage hole is non-negotiable for this species — even free-draining mix will turn soggy in a closed planter. If you love the look of a decorative pot without a hole, use it as a cachepot around an inner nursery pot you can lift out to water.

Humidity and temperature

Treasure flower sits happiest at around 25–55% humidity and 7–35°C (45–95°F). Prefers dry, low-humidity conditions. Prolonged high humidity, particularly around the crown, promotes Botrytis and crown rot. Ensure excellent airflow and avoid overhead watering. If you keep the room above 7–35°C year-round and avoid placing the plant near a cold draught, a hot radiator, or an air-conditioning vent, you have already handled the two biggest indoor stressors.

Fertilising

Feed treasure flower sparingly. Apply a granular low-nitrogen fertiliser (e.g. 5-10-10) at planting. Avoid high-nitrogen feeds which promote foliage at the expense of flowers. A single liquid high-potassium feed in midsummer is sufficient. Over-fertilising reduces flowering. Skip fertiliser entirely on a stressed, recently-repotted, or actively wilting plant — fertiliser salts make damage worse, not better. Wait for a round of healthy new growth before resuming a feeding rhythm.

Common problems

Below are the issues we see most often on treasure flower in the Growli community. Each is annotated with the most common cause so you know where to start.

• Crown rot in wet conditions — The most common cause of failure. Ensure the planting site has excellent drainage; raised beds or gravel mulch around the crown help enormously. Avoid any form of standing water at the root zone.
• Flowers failing to open — Gazania flowers are photonastic — they close in shade, cloudy weather, and at night. If blooms rarely open, the plant is not receiving enough direct sun. Relocate to a sunnier spot.
• Aphids and spider mites — Dry stressed plants attract spider mites; aphids colonise young growth. Treat spider mites with repeated strong water jets or miticide; use insecticidal soap for aphids. Adequate watering reduces mite vulnerability.

Propagation

Sow seed indoors 8–10 weeks before last frost at 18–21°C in well-drained seed compost; germination in 7–14 days. Transplant after the last frost. Named cultivars are propagated by basal stem cuttings taken in late summer and overwintered frost-free. Division of clumps is possible in early spring. Propagation is the cheapest, most satisfying way to expand a collection — and it doubles as insurance against losing a mature plant to an accident. Take a backup cutting once the parent is established and healthy.

Toxicity to pets

Treasure flower is mildly toxic to pets. Gazania species are not specifically listed as toxic by the ASPCA; however, Asteraceae (daisy family) members can cause mild gastrointestinal upset and contact dermatitis in sensitive individuals and pets. Out of caution, Gazania rigens is classified as mildly toxic, as the genus is not individually cleared by ASPCA as non-toxic. If you keep cats, dogs, or curious children in the house, weigh placement carefully — a high shelf or a hanging planter is enough for casual safety. For severe ingestion incidents, call your local vet and the ASPCA Animal Poison Control Center (in the US, 888-426-4435).

Pet-safety status is sourced from the ASPCA Toxic and Non-Toxic Plant List, which catalogues the most-asked-about plants for cats, dogs, and horses.

Treasure flower deep-dive guides

Every aspect of treasure flower care, each with its own calibrated guide:

• Treasure flower watering schedule
• Treasure flower light requirements
• Best soil mix for treasure flower
• Treasure flower fertilizing guide
• When to repot treasure flower
• How to propagate treasure flower
• Treasure flower growth rate & size
• Treasure flower cold hardiness
• Treasure flower temperature & humidity
• Is treasure flower toxic to cats & dogs?
• Is treasure flower toxic to cats?
• Is treasure flower toxic to dogs?
• Getting treasure flower to bloom

Featured in these plant shortlists

Treasure flower qualifies for 5 curated Growli shortlists — each one filtered objectively from our structured plant-care library, so the selection is consistent and checkable:

• Best drought-tolerant houseplants — Houseplants that prefer to dry out — forgiving of forgotten watering and ideal for travel or busy weeks.
• Best flowering houseplants — Indoor plants grown for their blooms — selected from the flowering species in Growli’s plant-care library.
• Best small & tabletop houseplants — Compact houseplants that stay under about 40 cm — desk, shelf and windowsill plants that never outgrow a small space.
• Best houseplants for full sun — Houseplants that want direct sun — the species for a hot south or west-facing windowsill where shade-lovers scorch.
• Best houseplants for a cool room — Houseplants that tolerate cool conditions down to about 10°C — for an unheated spare room, hallway, porch or a home kept cool.
• Browse all 29 plant shortlists — pet-safe, low-light, drought-tolerant and more

Related guides

Treasure flower is also known as Treasure flower, Gazania, and African daisy.

• African feather grass care — light, water and common problems
• feathertop grass care — light, water and common problems
• meadow fountain grass care — light, water and common problems
• All 6887 plant care guides in the Growli library