Gladioli. planting and care in the open field

What and when to feed gladioli

First of all, we will deal with the most important point in care - top dressing. Gladioli are fed several times during the season. Four times after planting before flowering and once after.

Top dressing before flowering

How to fertilize depends on the stage of plant development:

1. After planting in spring or early June, when shoots begin to grow actively and two real leaves appear, nitrogen-containing fertilizers are used to feed gladioli. You can apply feed from the store or breed mullein. However, it is easier to use ready-made mineral fertilizers, especially since the doses are prescribed in the instructions. For example, Urea is needed for 5 liters of water - 3 tsp. One square meter of a flower bed is watered with 10 liters of carbimide solution.
2. In summer, in June or July, when 3-4 leaves appear, gladioli need not only nitrogen, but also potassium. Therefore, you can feed them with a composition of potassium sulfate and urea. Fertilizers are taken in one and a half tablespoon or 3 teaspoon each and diluted in 10 liters of water. To better dissolve the granules, it is recommended to take warm water.
3. In the summer before budding, when 5-6 leaves grow on gladioli, nitrogen is not needed. At this time, the flowers in the garden are fertilized with phosphorus-potassium fertilizers. Dilute 1 tbsp. l. potassium sulfate and 2 tbsp. l. superphosphate in 10 liters of water. One watering can of such a solution is enough for a square meter of a flower garden.
4. The main main feeding of gladioli is carried out before flowering in July or August, after the arrows with peduncles appear. You can water with a solution of any complex fertilizer with potassium, phosphorus and trace elements. Make sure that it does not contain nitrogen or it is at a minimum. This is the last top dressing to be done no later than mid-August.

Note! The timing of fertilizing is written approximate, since the time of planting the bulb depends on the climate of the region. So, for example, in the south of the country they are planted in March or April, and in Siberia in mid-May.

Therefore, for watering skewers with fertilizer solutions, be guided by the phase of plant development (how many leaves and when the peduncle appeared).

How to feed skewers after flowering

During the season, the mother bulb gives all its strength to the formation of plants, buds, flowering and dies. A new onion is formed, which should have time to ripen by the time of digging, so that beautiful flowers will turn out from it in the next season at the dacha. To do this, after flowering in late August or early September, gladioli are fed with phosphorus and potassium. A solution is prepared from potassium sulfate and superphosphate, two tablespoons of which are dissolved in 10 liters of water.

Folk remedies

Opponents of ready-made mineral fertilizers are advised to use folk remedies for feeding gladioli:

1. A lot of nitrogen in green manure made from grass and mullein. They are used at the initial stage of development, in the phase of 2-4 sheets. Read how to prepare Green Fertilizer Here. And to prepare a mullein, a liter of manure is infused for 4 days in 10 liters of water. After that, 1 liter of mullein uterine infusion is diluted in 10 liters of water.
2. In the summer, while the arrows have not yet appeared on the skewers, and they need nitrogen along with potassium, add a glass of ash to the mullein or green fertilizer. After the solution has stood for two hours, you can feed the flowers with it.
3. For abundant flowering during budding, gladioli are fed with potassium and phosphorus. In this case, you will have to take 40 g (2 tablespoons) of Superphosphate in a bucket of water, and as a folk remedy - a glass of wood ash. The infusion will be ready in two hours. The same solution is suitable for watering skewers after flowering.

Useful Tips

Mineral fertilizers in granules are very poorly diluted. Do not pour them directly into a watering can or bucket of water. Pre-dilute in a small amount of well-lukewarm water.

Before feeding gladioli in spring or summer, they need to be examined. Nitrogen is added only if the plants do not get sick. The leaves should be free of any spots and rot.

Before applying top dressing, the soil in the flower bed is watered and loosened.

Storage in the apartment

But there is no home? How to store gladioli in an apartment? Many people advise putting the bulbs in the refrigerator, in the lower compartment with vegetables.

The secret of winter storage from seasoned summer residents: a refrigerator is not the best option for gladioli. The temperature there is suitable, but the high humidity (from vegetables, including) will force the roots to actively grow in a month. And the corms need to lie down until spring. So, in order to store gladioli in winter, a refrigerator is not an option. We are not worried!

1. We wrap it in newspaper, paper.
2. We put it in a cardboard box, a wooden box.
3. Now we are smart and put it in the coldest place in the apartment.

But the most difficult thing is to find such a place. Previously, there were no double-glazed windows in the houses, there was a strong blow from the cracks and it was easy to store gladioli after digging.

But modern double-glazed windows are not at all the same: there is no necessary cold, or rather not at all. Glazed balcony, balcony can solve the problem.

If the winters are not very harsh, try storing there. But remember - gladioli cannot stand freezing temperatures, so watch the weather.

• If there is a strong minus, close the boxes with newspapers, wrap them up with blankets.
• Bring it home for a while, finally, if Santa Claus is outright dispersed.
• But don't just place the box on the balcony on the floor. Take care of the pallet so that the bulbs do not freeze or get damp.

But what if you live on the first floor of a multi-storey building? Catastrophe! So don't even take up storage? Do not panic! There are cellars, public attics. And in the apartment there are sure to be cool places where there are no batteries nearby. You just have to look. Ask your friends for help and take your treasure "for overexposure". The world is not without good people.

How to store gladioli in winter

After you have removed the gladiolus bulbs from the ground, let them dry, peel them off the ground and examine them, then discard the damaged and spoiled ones. Cut the roots of adult corms so that during storage they do not evaporate moisture, shorten the stem, leaving only a centimeter from it so that the plant does not infect thrips - one of the most dangerous pests of gladiolus. By the way, it is from these considerations that you need to dig up gladiolus bulbs before the air temperature in the garden drops to 10 ºC, because after a cold snap, thrips descend along the stem and, preparing for wintering, climb under the scales of gladiolus corms.

Remove the old corms, and in children, cut the roots to 1 cm, rinse them under running water, removing the remaining soil, and place them in a disinfecting solution for 30 minutes. There are fungicides and insecticides that can be combined in order to destroy pathogens of fungal diseases on the bulb in one solution and at the same time kill the larvae of pests. You can find out which drugs are compatible from the seller in the flower shop or read the instructions for the drugs. In the end, as an insecticide and fungicide, you can use a solution of potassium permanganate at the rate of 5 g per 10 liters of water.

Before storing gladiolus bulbs, they are first dried for three weeks at a temperature of 25-35 ºC, and then for about one and a half months at a temperature of 20-25 ºC, after which the bulbs are sorted by size and type, put in wooden boxes, and covered dry peat and stored at a temperature of 3-7 ºC with an air humidity of about 70%. Such conditions can be created in a basement or cellar.

For those who do not have such auxiliary facilities or they serve other purposes, listen to how to store gladioli at home. If there is not much planting material, it is placed in a vegetable box of the refrigerator, where it can be stored for up to two years, but in this case, the bulbs should not be put in boxes, but in paper bags.

If there are a lot of bulbs, or you have already occupied the refrigerator with something else, place the gladiolus planting material in the coldest place of the apartment - this can be a cage on the staircase, a cardboard box located on the floor by the door to a glazed balcony or loggia - the main thing is to be close there were no heaters.

Gladioli in pots

There are many options for ideas on how to grow gladioli. One of the ways is to plant skewers in pots. Gladioli in pots are a great option for flower lovers, in the absence of a backyard, summer cottage or greenhouse. This is the optimal solution for growing flowers at home. For this method, you should choose varieties that do not grow taller than 60 cm.

Like pots, for gladioli, such a container as a flowerpot should have high-quality drainage holes so that excess moisture does not stagnate in closed ground. The optimal bulb size is considered to be 4 cm, with a bottom size not exceeding 8 mm. The bulbs should be smooth to the touch, uniform in structure, free from rot and no visible damage.

Before planting, it is recommended to treat the tubers with a weak solution of potassium permanganate or fungicides. Further, the bulbs can be left for a while in any growth stimulant. On the bottom of the planter, you need to lay out a good layer of drainage, which may consist of washed gravel. The drainage layer must be at least 3 cm. The soil is poured next, which must be loose and moisture-absorbing. The processed tubers of skewers are buried 12 cm in the soil layer.If more than one bulb sits in the pots, the distance between the holes should be at least 7 cm.

How to keep in the winter at home

Gladioli are planted in the ground in the spring, and dug up again in the fall, so that the planting material does not disappear in winter, it must be properly stored. Store the bulbs in a dark and cool place. This could be a basement or a refrigerator. The main thing is that there is no dampness in the room, otherwise the corms can become moldy.

Cleaning and storage

Harvesting and storing the bulbs is a crucial moment, on which the lifespan of the planting material depends. If the storage conditions are not correct, gladioli may disappear during this time or not emerge after planting.

Digging bulbs out of the ground

The planting material is dug up in late autumn, after the inflorescences have faded. The stems and leaves should be already dry. It is best to dig out the planting material in warm, dry weather.

Pruning stems

The stems are cut after digging out the bushes with a sharp pruner. But you can trim them before digging. The stems are cut as close to the corms as possible.

Drying and sorting tubers

After the tubers are dug up, they need to be sorted and dried. Large bulbs are separated from small ones. The old ones can be thrown away. You can also sort the planting material by varieties. The roots are trimmed. After the bulbs are sorted, they are laid out in a warm and well-ventilated room in one layer so that they dry out. Planting material is dried for 2-3 weeks.

Disinfection

It is not necessary to disinfect the bulbs before storing, usually done in the spring before planting. To prevent pathogenic microorganisms from penetrating into the corms, the top layer of scales can be removed. Disinfection is necessary if there were diseases among the corms. This should be done before drying the planting material. In this case, the seeds are soaked for 1 hour in a solution of potassium permanganate. Then they are dried.

Storing the bulbs

You need to store the planting material in cool rooms with a temperature of +7 - +9 degrees. Due to improper storage conditions, mold can appear on the bulbs.

In the basement

It is best to store your planting material in a basement. The main thing is that there is no high humidity there. Planting material is folded in one layer in wooden or plastic boxes.

In the ground

By the fall, large bulbs have a large number of small babies that often dry out if stored indoors. To prevent this from happening, very small baby onions can be left to winter in the ground. According to the reviews of many gardeners, bulbs sprout early in spring, and grow up by autumn. You can play it safe and cover the beds with bulbs for the winter.

In a city apartment

It is not recommended to store gladiolus bulbs in a city apartment. In the cold season, apartments are heated, and planting material should be stored in the cold. If the seed boxes are left warm, they will begin to sprout.

On the loggia

You can store boxes with seeds on the loggia, but provided that it is not insulated and there is a low above zero temperature. Planting material can be kept not only in boxes. You can spread the fabric on the floor and lay out the corms in one layer.

In fridge

If there is no cellar or loggia, a regular refrigerator will be an excellent storage place. It's good if you can adjust the temperature in it so that you can set the right one for the corms. The planting material is transferred to spacious boxes in 1-2 layers and placed on the bottom shelf. In some older refrigerators, water can collect on the bottom shelf, causing the bulbs to grow moldy. If this happens, it is best to move the boxes elsewhere.

Other premises

You can store the dug gladiolus bulbs until spring in any room. It is more important to create favorable conditions. The room should be cool, the temperature is from +7 to +9. There should be no dampness and high humidity. It is also desirable that the room is well ventilated. If all these conditions are met, in what place the seeds will be stored does not matter.

Features of such a landing

The first thing to consider before the "pot" planting of gladioli - not all varietal varieties can be grown in this way. Given the culture's ability to quickly grow root mass, many of its representatives can only be grown in an open area. For indoor floriculture, only those that usually do not grow taller than 60-80 cm (mainly varieties with small or medium-sized flowers) are suitable options.

The most suitable for container cultivation are the following varieties of gladioli:

1. White City. A flower from a primrose group, 3.5–7.5 cm in diameter. A flowering spike-shaped inflorescence can consist of 23 small snow-white flowers.
2. Columbine. Another primrose variety, with small flowers. The reddish-white flowers distinguish the variety favorably from the rest, making the plant a highly decorative element for any flower bed.
3. Tinkerbell. This variety is classified as a butterfly type. Basically, the flower grows up to 45-75 cm in height and looks great in a flowerpot. The inflorescences are of the spike-like type and are formed by bright orange flowers with a yellow throat. As in the previous case, this color makes them an excellent addition to any flower garden.
4. Melody. The inflorescences of this variety have a pinkish tint, with an accent in the form of a scarlet bright spot in the center. Mature plants can be 80 cm tall, so they can only be planted in oversized pots.
5. Georgette. Red and yellow representatives of the variety will look great in any flower arrangement, in particular when decorating the territory with potted flower crops.
6. Moscow White stone. Unusual gladioli, up to 60 cm high. In one spike-shaped inflorescence, there are up to 40 flowers with corrugated petals.

Did you know? Gladioli were known to people as early as 300 BC. e., however, in those days no one purposefully cultivated them, on the contrary, plants were considered weeds, and the ancient Greeks tried in every way to get rid of them.

How to plant gladiolus bulbs outdoors?

The specific dates for planting gladioli are due to the weather conditions of the growing region. For lush flowering and getting good planting material, planting is carried out in the ground, warmed up to +8 degrees. For example, in central Russia, you can start planting in the last days of April. To accelerate the warming of the soil, as well as the melting of the snow cover, the area under the gladioli is covered with a black film.

In the video, planting and caring for gladioli, cleaning and storing gladioli bulbs:

As soon as stable warm weather is established, they proceed directly to planting on the selected bed in the garden. Basic requirements for the site:

• The site must be sunny, protected from northerly winds;
• Corms have poor tolerance to the close location of groundwater, so such a neighborhood should be avoided. Otherwise, it will provoke the occurrence of fungal diseases and even the death of the plant;
• Give preference to breathable, loose and fertile soil;
• It is allowed to grow plants on one site for 3-4 years. Further, to restore the balance of the soil composition, green manures are sown: mustard, peas or oats.

Criteria for selection and preparation of planting material:

The optimal tuber size is medium. Large tubers should be avoided as they are old;

Accordingly, in the future, healthy children and replacement corms cannot be obtained from such planting material.

• Before planting, lagging scales are removed from the corms. Then the planting material is placed in a manganese solution for one hour;
• In order for gladioli to bloom early, pre-planting rearing is carried out before planting on open beds. For this purpose, they are planted in early April in containers with nutrient soil.

Planting instructions:

• Each planting hole requires the addition of a complex mineral fertilizer, ash, humus and rotted manure;
• A handful of coarse sand or fine expanded clay, poured under the bottom, will help prevent stagnation of moisture;
• Planting of adult plants is carried out to a depth of 8-10 cm, children - 2-3 cm;
• During the first 14 days after planting, the soil should be moderately moist and not dry out.

How to properly plant and care for gladioli:

2> How to store calla lilies in winter

Calla tubers are dug out at the end of September without first cutting the ground part of the plant, placed in cardboard boxes and left to dry for a couple of weeks. The readiness of the bulbs for storage is determined experimentally: the leaves should easily move away from the bulb. The calla bulbs freed from the leaves are left to dry for another week. Bulbs are considered dry enough, from which the roots are easily separated. After clearing the roots of the bulbs, inspect them for rot.

If black areas appear on the bulb, scrape off the blackness with a teaspoon, let the bulb dry for a couple of hours, and then treat the wounds with brilliant green or crushed coal. After separation of the children, the breaks on the bulbs are also treated with brilliant green, after which the baby is wrapped in a paper napkin. Do not break off unripe babies from an adult bulb - the time will come, they will ripen and leave on their own. Processed bulbs and babies are placed in a cardboard box, covered with a lid and stored until spring in a dry cellar with a temperature of 3 to 7 ºC. If the bulbs are small, you can store them in the refrigerator.

How to store begonia in winter

Young begonias, dug out of the ground together with tubers, are stored until spring in boxes with peat or sand in a bright cool room at a temperature of 10-15 ºC.Water them sparingly until they start growing again. But if you decide to store only begonia tubers, then before storing them for storage, they must be dried for a week, treated against pests and diseases with a solution of potassium permanganate or Karbofos, then place them in one layer in a box with a mixture of sand and vermiculite, fill them with completely the same mixture , then put the next layer of tubers on top, cover it with vermiculite and sand, etc. The box is closed with a lid and placed on a glazed loggia or lowered into a dry basement, where the temperature in winter does not drop below 8-10 ºC. Look into the box from time to time, and if you find any sprouts on the bulbs, break them out, as they are not viable anyway.

The rest of the bulbous plants are not stored in winter; they are planted in the garden before winter.

How to refresh and replace worn garden soil

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Landing in open ground

Before planting overwintered gladioli, you need to remember a number of points:

• the lifespan of the bulb is 4 years, it makes no sense to plant those that are older; • the children of the last season will not bloom profusely and luxuriantly in the first year of independent life on the site; • gladioli are whimsical, the place for planting must be carefully chosen; • the flower loves warmth, therefore, the earth should warm up well.

It is not difficult to choose the right place in the garden where gladioli will bloom, and planting and further care will be convenient for the grower.

You cannot plant flowers where:

1.the earth is constantly wet due to the proximity of underground sources; 2. in lowlands and wetlands; 3. on slopes and among bumps; 4. in areas with constant strong winds.

The place of the future flower garden should be:

• even; • moderately dry; • well warmed up; • sunny.

The conditions on the garden plot often change from season to season, even if last year gladioli bloomed beautifully in a certain place, it will be correct to check it on the eve of planting. On average, the place for these flowers needs to be changed every couple of years.

There is also a nuance for gladioli to take root, and planting and caring for them brought only joy: this flower should not be planted where vegetables grew before it, especially if manure was used as fertilizer.

Onions should be planted directly into the soil to a depth equal to four diameters of the bulb itself. It is also necessary to sort out large and small, it is impossible to mix it up - the large ones will take away the food from the kids.

The furrow prepared for planting should be sprinkled with sand, and the bulbs should be placed at a distance of 15-20 cm from each other.

Directly caring for flowers means:

• watering, every two days after planting in the evenings, depending on the weather - in the rains you can not water; • fertilizing with mineral and organic fertilizers, which are first applied after the appearance of 3-4 leaves; • loosening, like weeding, must be carried out as needed, remembering. That these flowers do not like very loose soil; • tying is sometimes necessary, because some gladioli outgrow the mark of one and a half meters; • hilling is possible to give greater stability before flowering, to a height of about 10 cm.

Subject to all conditions, gladioli will delight the gardener with abundant and very beautiful flowers that you want to take with you. It must be remembered that when cutting off gladiolus, it is necessary to leave a stem with 4-5 leaves to its bulb, for its successful formation and good growth of children.

How to protect tubers from diseases and pests

Gladiolus tubers are seriously damaged by thrips and other harmful microorganisms. Thrips penetrate the husk and drink all the juice from the flower bulb. After that, the gladiolus corm dies. Regular garlic and a special disinfectant Tsineb help to save the planting material of gladiolus from pests and diseases.

Garlic is laid in boxes, where the corms will lie until spring, along with the planting material. Use cut wedges. During each inspection of the condition of the flower bulbs, dried pieces of garlic are replaced with fresh ones. When the pests are already there, the bulbs are treated with Tsineb. They are immersed in its solution for half an hour, after which they are well dried for 2-3 days. The room where the planting material dries must be well ventilated. After drying, the corms are again laid for storage.

Answers to popular questions about preparing gladiolus bulbs

Do the bulbs need to be germinated before planting?

There is no point in germinating gladioli bulbs before planting them in the ground. After all, gladioli in the middle lane and without this preparatory event bloom quickly enough and have time to fully mature and lay flower buds.

Another thing is when it is really recommended to pre-germinate tubers, bulbs or rhizomes of anemones, dicentra, ranunculus, calla lilies, canna, freesia at home.

This might make sense if you have a very short and relatively cool summer.

What if the bulbs have sprouted ahead of time?

If the storage conditions are not followed, gladioli bulbs may begin to germinate prematurely. To curb their growth, you need to transfer the bulbs to a cooler place where the temperature is kept no higher than +4 degrees, for example, in the same refrigerator.

As a last resort, put them on germination in a pot with soil (sawdust, vermiculite, coconut substrate), and then carefully transfer them into open ground.

Can the bulbs be left untreated before planting?

If you are sure of the quality of your bulbs, they are completely healthy - they do not get sick with anything (clean, without spots and any sores), and last fall you carried out their preventive etching and did not observe any problems at all, then you can not soak in anything ...

Another thing is, if you want to stimulate their early awakening and germination of the sprout, then it is advisable to carry out the process of vernalization (treatment with the sun), and also pickle in a solution of a fungicide, and then an insecticide, just before planting in a flower bed.

What should the bulbs look like when they are ready to be planted in the ground?

By the time of planting on a flower bed, the gladiolus bulb should have 3-5 centimeter sprouts and swollen root tubercles or already root buds (3-5 mm).

What to do if the bulb does not hatch and does not germinate in any way?

Most likely, the bulb is too dry (overdried). You need to be sure to soak it in a growth stimulant, for example, Kornevin, Heteroauxin.

What if the sprout is elongated (it grew very long)?

On the bulbs, as a rule, in addition to the main central bud, there is a replacement bud (or even 2) nearby. Accordingly, you can gently break or trim the elongated sprout. Then a strong shoot will begin to actively grow and develop from the replacement bud.

Therefore, if your sprout has accidentally torn off (broken off), then there is nothing to worry about: the gladioli will wake up spare buds (the bulb does not need to be thrown away).

When to plant gladioli bulbs outdoors?

When the returnable spring frosts pass and the soil at a depth of 8-10 cm warms up to + 8-10 degrees, i.e. about when you plant tomato seedlings in the ground (you can a little earlier).

Thus, now you know that it is worth preparing gladioli bulbs for spring planting in a timely manner and correctly. Good luck!

Video: preparing gladioli bulbs for planting

How to properly dig up gladioli in the fall

You should work with gladioli in dry and warm weather. If it rains for a long time, you need to take care of a place under the roof where you can do the sorting and drying of the planting material.

For work you need to prepare:

• pitchfork;
• sharp secateurs;
• a piece of thick film;
• container with water;
• wooden lattice pallets or cardboard boxes, marker;
• any antiseptic (potassium permanganate, iodine, brilliant green, Fitosporin, Maxim).

Carefully digging a gladiolus bush with a pitchfork from different sides, it is removed from the soil and lowered onto a spread film. The substrate is necessary so that the small baby does not get lost in the ground, and unplanned self-seeding does not occur.

If the soil is dry, remove it from the roots by simply shaking the bush vigorously. If the soil is damp and sticks to the bulbs, rinse the roots in a bucket of water or wash off the soil with a jet from a hose. Then the stem is cut with pruning shears, leaving a tip of 2-2.5 cm. The roots are cut almost flush with the bottom of the bulb.

The old corm from which the gladiolus grew can not always be separated without damaging the bottom of the onion. Do not forcibly tear it off when the tuber dries out, it will become much easier to tear it off. Carefully separate the baby from the mother's corm.

Separated from the common stem, the corms are sorted into a baby (less than 3 cm in diameter) and standard planting material (from 3 to 7 cm in diameter). In the spring, the baby will go to grow on a separate bed, and the rest of the onions will be planted in the flower garden.