Chinese gladiolus: landing, care
Chinese gladiolus is a colorful plant for your backyard. It also has other names – montbrecia, crocosmia. But the essence is the same: it is a bulbous plant with unusual flowers of rich shades. Learn to grow this beautiful garden man!
Planting Chinese gladioli
Exceptionally open sunny areas are suitable for planting this flower. The plant will not bloom in the shade. The soil at the planting site should be moist, but without water stagnation.
Chinese gladiolus is popular far beyond its homeland
From autumn, for every square meter of the area where gladiolus will grow, add 2 buckets of humus, 40 g of superphosphate, 100 g of slaked lime and 20 g of potassium chloride. In the spring, fertilize the ground with any nitrogen-based fertilizing at the rate of 30 g per 1 sq. m.
Plant the bulbs in April. Clean them from debris and soak for 6 hours in a weak solution of mineral fertilizer. Drop in the bulbs to a depth of 4-5 cm. The distance between them is 10-12 cm. Keep in mind that 3-4 flowers will grow from one bulb.
The gladiolus of this species has a long flowering – from July to September.
Flowers will delight you for a long time in the garden or in a bouquet. In a vase of water, they may not fade for up to 2 weeks. By the way, cut flowers can be dried. They are also good in this form.
Here are the basic tips for caring for a garden plant:
- From the moment the plant has 2 leaves, start fertilizing it every 10 days. To do this, water the garden bed with mullein solution and any complex mineral fertilizer. At the time of bud formation, add potash fertilizer to the fertilizer.
- Water the flowers about once a week.
- Loosen the flower bed as needed.
- In mid-October, start preparing the plant for winter. Dig up the corms. By this time, they will have 5-6 daughter bulbs. Shake them off the ground, but do not peel them too thoroughly and be careful with the roots. Dry the bulbs at room temperature for 2 weeks. Put them in cardboard or wooden boxes, in paper bags. Be sure to sprinkle with sawdust or peat. You can also move it with moss. Store in the basement.
If the bulbs are not dug up for the winter, they will bloom several weeks earlier. But if the winter turns out to be cold, the bulbs will freeze and die, no matter how you cover them, so it’s better not to risk it.
The main thing in growing montbrecia is proper planting. If at this stage you are not mistaken, leaving will not be difficult.