Gladiolus — how to care for and grow in the open ground? Instructions + 90 photos

Owners of private plots of gladioli will be pleased with the variety of varieties. It is a perennial plant of the Iris family. Their cultivation requires certain knowledge and skills.

Summary of the article:

Gladioli are very beautiful plants. They look great in bouquets, they stand for a long time after cutting. Flowers of very different colors are displayed. They are planted in dachas, gardens, city flower beds. The photo shows only some varieties.

These flowers love open windless sunny areas. In shady or swampy places, they will often get sick. It is not always possible to find a place that meets all the requirements. If the gladioli are shaded, then flowering will begin later. With strong shading, you can not wait for it.

The high standing of groundwater has a negative effect on the development of plants. There is no air coming to the roots. It is better to make a bed higher. The distance between flowers and other plantings should be at least 3-5 m.

Soil preparation

The place for planting should be prepared from autumn. Plants like chernozem, sandy and sandy loam soils. If their composition is not suitable for gladioli, then improvement is required. If there is an excessive amount of peat, sand is added. Peat is introduced into sandy soils.

It is necessary to determine the acidity of the soil. If it is high, then slaked lime, chalk, ash or dolomite flour should be added. Usually 100-200 g per 1m2 is applied. The soil must be dug to a depth of about 50 cm. Be sure to remove weeds.

Legumes, strawberries, onions and garlic will be good precursors to gladioli. They improve the soil structure and scare off the wireworm.

If the soil is chernozem, then fertilizers can not be applied in autumn. For other types, phosphorus-potassium fertilizers in the amount of 30 g per 1 m2 should be added to the site. Do not apply fresh manure or chicken manure.

You can prepare beds with a width of 1 m for planting flowers. It is better to put a fence around the perimeter so that water does not drain.

Spring soil preparation consists in re-digging a shovel with one bayonet and harvesting weeds. Nitrogen fertilizers are applied. Gardeners often use urea at the rate of 15 g per 1 m2.

Preparing the material for planting

To get beautiful blooming homemade gladioli, you need to choose the right planting material. It cannot be argued that only large bulbs are of high quality. On the contrary, they age and lose their reproductive properties. Very large and flat bulbs will give small flowers.

You can find out the age of the biomaterial by the bottom. The wider it is, the older the bulb. The width of the bottom should not be more than 2.5 cm. It is better to reject the old planting material after 3-4 years.

In order to preserve a valuable variety, baby bulbs are selected. The very first bud should be removed. In this way, nutrients will flow into the bulb.

Gladiolus bulbs need to be prepared 2-3 weeks before planting. They are cleaned of scales to remove parasitic microorganisms and check for diseases.

It is better to burn biomaterial waste. Dried, moldy and soft bulbs are completely unsuitable for planting. Small damages can be removed with a knife, and the cut place can be greased with green paint.

After getting rid of the scales, the bulbs are laid out with sprouts up. It is better to leave one sprout. Other sprouts are carefully removed and covered with green paint. The planting material is being treated against diseases and pests.

You can prepare an environmentally friendly garlic remedy. To do this, 300 g of garlic is passed through a meat grinder and 10 liters of water are poured. The planting material is placed for 2 hours in this solution. The same procedure is useful to carry out after digging out the bulbs of gladioli. The amount of infusion can be different, depending on the amount of planting material.

Bulbs are also treated with potassium permanganate. 1 g of potassium permanganate is diluted in 10 liters of water. In such a solution, the seed material should be from 30 minutes to an hour. In order for the flowers to grow quickly, the biomaterial uses a growth stimulator.

We plant flowers correctly

The bulbs are planted in the ground, warmed up to 8-10 ° C. The sealing depth should be approximately 10 cm. 2-3 cm of sand is poured on the bottom of the bed.

In the middle zone of Russia, the landing is carried out at the end of April. Later planting of gladioli will lead to a decrease in soil moisture and delayed flowering.

The distance between plantings and the depth of embedding will depend on the size of the planting material, its variety. It is more convenient to make landings in the form of rows.

Large bulbs are placed at a distance of 15 cm from each other and to a depth of about 10 cm . The grooves need to be watered before planting. The beds are covered with a layer of humus with peat crumbs or straw. The film is stretched from above.

You should not plant these plants in the same place two years in a row. This will help to avoid diseases. Gladioli do not like to coexist with cruciferous crops (cabbage, radishes, turnips, etc.). Under winter, these flowers can be planted only in the southern regions of Russia with shelter and the creation of the necessary conditions.

Further care

Gladioli in the open ground should be watered several times a week, depending on the weather. It is better to pour water into the furrows between the rows. It should be warm so that a crust does not form. After sunset, the leaves of the plant should be dry, so it is not advisable to get on them when watering.

Top dressing of plants is carried out about 5 times a season. Flowers should be weeded as needed. The soil around the plants needs to be loosened. Large gladioli are tied to pegs. Faded buds are removed.

How to store bulbs in winter

About a month and a half after flowering, the bulbs are dug out. This is done in dry weather.

The seed material is cleaned, the strongest bulbs are selected without damage. They need to be placed in a solution of potassium permanganate for 30 minutes. Then the biomaterial is dried for 3 days outside, and then in a ventilated room for about a month.

It is necessary to store the excavated gladioli at a temperature of 5-10 ° C. You can put garlic cloves next to the bulbs. During storage, it is necessary to check the condition of the planting material approximately once a month.