Gladioli are flowers that belong to the iris family. Their homeland is the African continent and the Mediterranean. These plants have narrow wedge-shaped leaves and affect a variety of shapes, colors and varieties.
Gladiolus flowers : planting and careThese representatives of the flora are very demanding on the amount of light. The area for their landing should be well lit throughout the day. Even in the morning hours shading should not be, otherwise the plants will bloom 2-3 weeks later than usual. Gladioli can not be planted for many years in one place. Land for their landing needs to be changed.
The best soil for these representatives of the flora is sandy loamy or light loamy soil with a slightly acidic reaction. Preparation for landing should begin in the fall. For 1 square. m. you need to make humus 1-1.5 buckets, 100 g of ash, 50 g of superphosphate and 20-30 g of potassium sulfate. The site must be carefully and deeply dug.
Plant bulbs before planting, it is better to withstand three hours in a garlic solution. This disinfects them and stimulates good growth. Landing is made in the spring, when the soil warms up to +10 C to a sufficient depth. Before stabilizing the temperature, it is better to cover the plants. Bulbs are planted at intervals to a depth of 8-15 cm (depending on their size). On loose soils, gladioluses are planted deeper, and on heavy soils closer to the surface. The distance between the rows is about 25 cm. Large and small bulbs are best planted in separate beds.
Care for gladioli consists in abundant watering (a couple of times a week), weeding and loosening the soil (after each moistening). Plants also need to be fed with nitrogen in the second leaf phase. The next time they are fertilized (potassium + nitrogen + phosphorus) when a flower bud appears. Potassium with phosphorus is also introduced when inflorescences appear, then when the plant blooms. After flowering, gladioli are fed with the same composition. Organic fertilizers can also be used.
Care after flowering gladioli
A very important event for the care of these plants is cleaning. Care for gladioli after flowering consists in it and proper storage of bulbs. They need to be excavated 40-50 days after the plants have bloomed. You should not delay this procedure, since moist soil does not affect the bulbs too well. Caring for gladioli after flowering is very important. The first varieties that have bloomed earlier are harvested. Those representatives of the flora that were grown by tuber buds are left last.
It is better to dig the bulbs with a pitchfork to reduce the risk of damage, and then pull them out of the ground by the stem with their hands. Then they are cleaned of soil residues and put on tarpaulin or polyethylene. Sick specimens are discarded and burned. The stem must be cut under the base. You can leave only a short stump - not more than 0.7 cm. Care for gladioli after flowering also consists in the proper storage of bulbs. First, they are dried for 3 days in the sun. Replacing corms should be separated from the mother, cleaned from tubers and roots. This avoids fusarium infection. After this, the material is etched for about an hour in a solution of potassium permanganate, and then thoroughly dried in kapron or gauze bags for about 3 weeks, suspended in a warm place. Then the bulbs are kept for about a month at room temperature. They need to be stored in a dry room at a temperature of + 5-7 C, air humidity of about 70% (you can use a refrigerator for these purposes). Once a month, the material must be inspected, diseased specimens removed, and damp, dried.