Useful tips for planting and caring for gladiolus bulbs

Gladiolus bulbs: why should they be updated?

Gladiolus is one of the flower cultures, without which many no longer imagine their garden plots. This plant has not lost its popularity over the years, its bulbs are constantly in demand on the garden market. Every year, we purchase dozens of gladiolus bulbs, some to replenish our collection of gladioli, others to renew their planting material, since gladiolus bulbs “age” rather quickly and after the fourth year the flowers become noticeably smaller. In addition, these bulbs become less resistant to infections and often cannot withstand winter storage.

Few gardeners take up the cultivation of gladiolus babies to the point where the root tuber is able to bloom. But this is not such a difficult process, having mastered which we will ensure the constant renewal of our planting material.

Gladiolus bulbs: cleaning and processing before planting

How to raise children of gladioli? First, you need to cleanse the baby from the scales. During the winter, these scales become quite hard and it is difficult for the sprout of the onion to overcome such a coating, especially if the baby is very small. It should be noted that the size of the baby does not always indicate the degree of its development and maturity, since some varieties of gladioli are characterized by the presence of very small children.

To facilitate this process, you can hold the bulbs in warm water a little, the scales will soften and it will be much easier and faster to remove them. The scales must be removed very carefully, otherwise, the growth point can be damaged.

Further, already peeled gladiolus bulbs need to be placed in a bio-fungicide solution for several hours in order to prevent infection with fungal and bacterial infections. The amount of solution should be such that it slightly covers the onions.

In the absence of a special preparation at hand, you can also use a solution of potassium permanganate (potassium permanganate). The solution prepared for disinfection purposes should have a bright pink color. The duration of the stay of the bulbs in the solution is 20-30 minutes, after which the bulbs must be washed.

When selecting gladiolus bulbs for planting, you should pay attention to the rudiments of the roots, the more there are, the better.

How to plant gladiolus bulbs?

One of the reasons why it is not always possible to raise children of gladioli is the wrong choice of their landing site.

So, many plant children in the aisles of gladioli, forgetting that in adult plants, in the future, a lot of green mass is formed, and the children simply will not receive the amount of light necessary for their growth and development. As a result, by the fall, the onion will only slightly increase in size. Seeing this result, some gardeners stop the "experiment" with growing children of gladioli.

Therefore, for planting gladioli bulbs, a very small corner, well-lit and not shaded by other plants, is required.

Planting and caring for bulbs

After you have decided on the site, you need to prepare the grooves for planting. The depth of the groove depends on the size of the bulb. Larger ones are planted to a depth of 5-6 cm, smaller ones - they are buried by 2-3 cm. Accordingly, the grooves will be of different depths. The distance between the grooves is at least 15 cm.

The soil on the site for planting must be loose. After all, the sprout and roots of gladioli children are very small and nothing should prevent their germination.

Well-crushed humus can be added to the bottom of the grooves. Also, before planting gladiolus bulbs, the grooves must be moistened and slightly spilled with a bio-fungicide solution.

It is better to distribute the gladiolus bulbs in the groove at a distance of at least 3-5 cm from each other, depending on the size of the baby. The root system of the bulbs, soon, will begin to develop and, with a thickened planting, the plant will not receive the required amount of nutrition, which, again, will affect its growth and development.

We cover the beards with loose soil, mulch with humus and water quite a bit. Why a little? Planting of both gladioli and children, as a rule, is done in May. During this period, the soil is still quite moist after the snow melts. Night temperatures, so far, differ markedly from daytime ones. Wet soil cools faster and bulb development in cold soil slows down. Therefore, abundant watering is not needed when planting gladioli.

Watering should be done regularly during the summer season. The planting depth of the bulbs is not great, in hot weather the topsoil dries out very quickly, and the plant may lack the moisture necessary for its development.

Top dressing of bulbs can be started after about a month from the emergence of shoots. It is recommended to apply fertilizers after watering or rain, so as not to burn the plant.

Under good conditions and correct agricultural technology, the largest children can form arrows with inflorescences already in the year of planting. However, it is better to remove the flower arrows, because our goal, at this stage, is to obtain a well-developed corm.

In addition, do not allow weeds to overgrow the area. The weeds just shade the newly hatched sprouts of the bulbs, and in the future, they take away the moisture and nutrients the plant needs.

We will dig out the grown gladiolus bulbs in late autumn.

By the way, the preservation of children of gladioli is also a guarantee of the safety of your favorite varieties.

So, for various reasons, an adult gladiolus bulb may not "survive" winter storage. Children, they are perfectly stored and even tolerate strong temperature changes. Gardeners note the germination of baby bulbs even after 2 years of storage.

Convinced you to experiment with growing gladioli bulbs? Then get down to business!