How to plant gladioli in spring

Long ago, in the past, when red gladioli were planted in the garden for bouquets to first-graders. Now breeding offers a great variety of varieties with different colors, ripening dates, flower shape. But, the planting rules for all varieties are the same. Consider in detail and analyze the possible errors.

How to plant gladioli in spring? The most important tips and tricks are below.

Bulb Selection

Most lovers believe that the older the bulb, the more magnificent and powerful the flowers will be. It's a delusion. The most blooming occurs in bulbs 2 and 3 years. Then it starts to age, gives a lot of children, but the peduncle throws weak and frail.

How to distinguish an old woman from a young woman? The old onion is thin, flat. The colors are characteristic of the variety, but the shade is darker. Donets wide. Sometimes the surface is slightly oily, slightly sticky. Husk is removed poorly.

Young - fat, with a small bottom. Smooth, light shade inherent in this variety. The husk itself falls off, without much effort.

Do not take for good flowering old women, they are suitable only for reproduction.

Pre-planting

You can’t just poke a gladiolus in the ground and wait for beauty. So that flowering is fully revealed, do not neglect the pre-planting processing of raw materials.

First, the gladioli are sorted out, cleaned of old dry hiding flakes. Thrown out dried and rotted, they can no longer be reanimated.

Now you need to carefully examine the planting material from all sides. If damage, dents, spots of incomprehensible etiology are noticed, then we will work as a surgeon. With a sharp sterile blade or knife, carefully cut out the damaged flesh. It is advisable to grab a little healthy tissue. So that amputation does not do more harm than good, wounds should be burned with ordinary medical green. Sprinkle with crushed charcoal on top. Or an activated tablet.

Next, you need to soak the gladioli in a strong solution of potassium permanganate for 16-18 minutes, then take it out on a paper towel. After that, a little solution of the root stimulating stimulant is poured into a wide flat tray and the bulbs are placed downward in it. After 12 hours, the flowers are ready for planting.

But, they usually do it so rarely. Now everyone is growing bulbs in advance, so that by the time of planting in open ground the height of the foliage is about 18-21 cm. This is a good way to accelerate the flowering of gladiolus for almost a month.

Just grow the raw materials in separate cups with moist sawdust or soil so that the roots do not intertwine. And do not deepen the gladiolus, but simply press it to the surface. At the time of transplantation to the street, just transfer it to the hole along with the soil.

Tip. To root faster, you can carefully scratch the bottom. A dull knife or even just a fingernail. Do not cut, namely scratch!

Preparing the ground

Do not plant gladioli every year in the same place. Or in the fall they thoroughly disinfect the soil, make fertilizers, and spill it with an insecticide. And be sure to sow green manure every year before winter. Best of all - legumes. This will heal the soil and help drive some pests away. In the spring they are closed up in beds. How can you wash yourself off the ground, isn’t it easier to move the bed to the side by half a meter?

Under the winter, they dig the soil, add organic matter and mineral fertilizers. Naturally, weed away from weeds. In principle, you can even cover the bed with a layer of mulch. Take it away in the spring and that's it.

A week before planting, they thoroughly spill the earth with a solution of potassium permanganate. Strong and hot.For three days - they are treated with phytosporin or em preparations.

Everything, the bed is ready.

When and at what depth to plant

Numerous folk signs are very controversial in terms of planting gladioli. Online sources recommend measuring soil temperature at a certain depth. Well, why such puzzles? After all, everything is simple. Planted potatoes - in a day you can plant gladioli.

To what depth? Someone advises only to sprinkle a little onion on top. Someone is teaching to dig in a shovel already on a bayonet! And why rush from one extreme to another? There are also no difficulties. We measure about three heights of the bulb. This will be the most optimal depth.

Landing process

On the bed prepared since autumn, furrows are marked with an improvised tool. Then, with a chopper or a plane cutter, select the soil to the required depth. The bottom is shed with warm water. Next, a layer of clean coarse sand is poured and all is sprinkled with a thin layer of fine wood ash.

Now the bulbs are carefully laid out, without pressing them into the soil, so as not to damage the roots and the bottom. Carefully fill the ground with half. Water again. This will allow the soil to compact and remove air voids. Finally they sprinkle soil on top and mulch with peat, ripened compost or humus.

Instead of furrows, you can plant in holes. It is very convenient to do this with a special tool, which is sold in an agricultural store. It is called for planting bulbs. Otherwise, the principle of landing does not differ from the above.

Now it remains only to care for gladioli and wait for flowers.

Important Tips

1. Gladioli grow up in a warm and dark place. If there is too much light, the bulb will quickly grow. And she may not have enough food, because it will be too early to plant in the open ground.
2. The most optimal planting scheme in the spring is 14 by 14 cm. This is for standard bulbs up to 7 cm in diameter. Accordingly, for children or for giant bulbs, the scheme is reduced or increased.
3. If you have many gladioli in the same variety, you will probably want to extend their flowering. It is very easy to do. You just have to stretch your landing time. For example, divide the entire volume of raw materials into 3-4 lots and plant them in spring in open ground with an interval of 12-13 days. Thus, the flowering of one variety can be extended for a month and a half.
4. Choose a sunny place protected from the wind for planting. Even with a garter under the weight of the flowers, the plant can break from a draft.
5. Speaking of garter. In order not to look for rods and elastic bands, take two strong bars. Drive them along the edges of the beds. And pull the two ropes. As the gladioli grows, just raise the garter higher. This is a good way to save time and nerves than to support each plant.
6. Do not plant fresh manure for planting and be careful with a nitrogen rich mineral water. No doubt, the foliage on such a diet will be powerful and magnificent. But flowering can not wait at all. Better feed gladioli with phosphorus and potassium. It is these trace elements that are responsible for flowers.

To protect gladioli from diseases in the open ground, plant marigolds or garlic nearby. And it is better from the very spring periodically spray plantings with infusions of these plants. Just try not to get on the buds and flowers. It happens that from such processing ugly spots appear on them. It will not bring harm, but the aesthetic appearance will be not the same.

How to plant gladioli in spring? In principle, there is nothing complicated in this science. Follow our recommendations and you will succeed. Beautiful long peduncles and long flowering are achievable.

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