Gladioli: planting and care

In our country, gladioli are a symbol of the beginning of the school year. According to statistics, these are the flowers that first-graders carry in their bouquets. This is not surprising, because September is the time for the flowering of this amazingly diverse plant.

Varieties of gladioli

These flowers first appeared as garden plants in ancient Roman civilization. They were valued for their beauty and various magical qualities. At that time there were only a few species of this flower. Currently, a lot of gladioli have been bred in a wide variety of colors, sizes and flower structures.

There are 5 categories of gladioli:

• Common, blooming all summer.
• Imbricated, the flowering time of which occurs at the beginning of summer.
• Byzantine, blooming their flowers throughout the summer.
• Korcha, characterized by low growth and a spring flowering period.
• Swamps that can be planted in lowlands.

In the gardens of our country, ordinary gladioli are most often grown. They are divided by size flower and flowering times. Among the most beautiful varieties are the following:

• Annushka gladioli grow up to 160 cm in height. They are distinguished by large, strongly corrugated flowers with a delicate color in salmon tones.

• The Blue Butterfly variety grows up to 145 cm. Its flowers are sky blue in color with a richer edging. This variety is a top seller at exhibitions.

• Gladiolus flowers of the Spartak variety are very large in size. Their color is red-brown, with a dark, smoky tint.

• Gladiolus variety Snegurochka has small but very pretty flowers. They are painted boiling white and heavily corrugated at the edges.

• Gladioli of the Arina variety have dense corrugated petals with a lilac-raspberry color. There is a bright crimson spot in the middle of the flower.

Planting gladioli

For these flowers, it is best to choose open sunny areas of your garden. Poor lighting and wetlands cause diseases in the plant. The flowerbed should be located at a distance of no closer than 3 meters from the trees so that the flowers can fully consume the volume of water they need. Wind protection is also required.

soil For planting, you need to prepare in advance, in the fall. Black soil, loam and sandy loam soil with a weak acidic reaction are suitable for this plant. In the fall, the soil is dug up, weeds are selected from it, and it is enriched with fertilizers containing phosphorus and potassium. In the spring, the beds are dug up again and nitrogen fertilizing is applied.

Planting material also requires preparation. A couple of weeks before the expected planting date, the corms are carefully cleared of scales so as not to break the new seedlings. The material prepared for planting is laid out sprouts up and disinfected with potassium permanganate (1 g per 10 liters of water) and in a solution of karbofos (30 g per bucket of water). To speed up root formation, if necessary, treat the bulbs with growth stimulants.

plant   Corms should be harvested at the end of April, when the soil has already warmed up sufficiently. First, you need to add sand with a layer thickness of at least 1 cm into the formed groove, plant the corms in it, and then fill it with sand again. After a layer of sand, you can fill the bulbs with soil. The bulbs should be placed keeping a gap between plants of 15 cm, and between rows of 20 cm. If you are planting a baby, then the gap between them should be 5 cm, and between adjacent rows 10 cm. Large corms should be placed at a depth of 10 cm, and the baby should be buried 5 cm. These plants require careful care. When the sprouts reach a length of 10 cm, the soil must be mulched with humus to a depth of 5 cm. This will protect the soil from strong heating and retain moisture longer.

Gladioli care

Water plants need to be abundantly, but only once a week. The best time for watering is in the morning or evening. Try to protect plants from water getting on the leaves. To do this, it is better to direct the water between the rows. After watering, the soil must be loosened to prevent a crust from forming. If the weather is very hot, the frequency of watering should be increased, otherwise the plant will wither. After the formation of buds, the plants must be tied to pegs. It is better to pick off dried flowers, then the plant will not waste energy on ripening unnecessary seeds.

If necessary, weed the gladioli. Be sure to feed the plants. For the first time, fertilizing is applied at the stage of formation of the first leaves with nitrogen fertilizers. Fertilizers with nitrogen, potassium and phosphorus are applied a second time when 5-6 leaves appear. The third time, fertilizers with phosphorus and potassium are applied during the growth of the peduncle.

To cut flowers, use a sharp knife and do it at an angle. The remainder of the peduncle should remain hidden among the remaining leaves. This is necessary for the correct formation of the corm.

Remove the corms a month after flowering ends. This usually occurs in mid-September. Choose dry weather for this. Healthy corms will be covered with dense scales, while the children are well separated from the main corm. The roots of the stem need to be cut off. After this, the corms must be washed in running water and disinfected with a solution of foundationazole. Then the corms are washed again with water and immersed in a solution of potassium permanganate. Then the bulbs are laid out to dry and transferred to a paper-lined box for storage.

After 40 days, the scales are removed from the planting material, the baby is separated and it is placed in boxes for winter storage. The temperature in the room where it is stored does not rise above +10 degrees so that the corms do not germinate prematurely. The baby can even be kept in paper bags in the refrigerator.

Photos of gladioli