Contents
Many lovers of these chic and noble flowers every year act according to a long-familiar scheme: they germinated corms on the windowsill, planted them in the ground, enjoyed flowering, dug up the bulbs in the fall, cleaned them of the ground and “all that was superfluous” and, after drying, put them in storage. After some time, corms begin to hurt, be affected by pests, weaken, rot during winter storage and, sooner or later, it becomes necessary to purchase new planting material. But real flower growers, first of all, will be interested in the reproduction of any flowers that they are engaged in. And very soon it will turn out that that “extra” that was simply removed every year along with dirt and earth is a great replacement for old flowers.
After all, one gladiolus corm does not live long, a maximum of about 5 years, and then it begins to “age”, which is manifested in all the above symptoms, which are not at all to the liking of any enthusiastic florist. And the easiest way to find a worthy replacement for her is to grow a good planting material out of a baby for the next year. After all, gladioli from children, as a rule, grow up strong, healthy and beautiful. The article will consider in detail all the stages of growing chic multi-colored handsome gladioli from children.
What is a baby and what is it for
First of all, it is necessary to consider the size of gladiolus corms. Most of the questions for beginners arise when it comes to an incomprehensible word – analysis of corms. This term usually refers to the size and the resulting possibilities for flowering bulbs.
- So, if the corm has a diameter of 3,2 cm or more, they say that it is the 1st parsing. This means that when planted, it will most likely give several powerful peduncles, the coloring will be as intense as possible, and the corrugation will open in full force.
- If the corm has a size of 2,5 to 3,1 cm, then it is called a bulb of the second parsing and its flowering will also be quite impressive.
- When referring to a corm in size from 1,5 to 2,4 cm, it can be called a bulb of the third analysis. In this case, flowering is likely to occur with a delay of several weeks, the buds on the peduncle do not form the maximum number and their smaller number will open.
- If the size of the corm is from 1 to 1,4 cm, then it is called the bulb of the 4th parsing. They usually bloom much later and show half the possibilities of those laid down in the characteristics of the variety. Although a lot depends on care, and even from such small bulbs you can achieve quite decent flowers.
If smaller nodules form at the base of the gladiolus corm, they are usually called tubers or simply babies. Gladiolus babies, in turn, come in two sizes.
- Children of the 5st category grow from 10 to 1 mm, which may well produce corms of the first or second analysis.
- From 3 to 5 mm – this is the size of very small children, which usually give only corms of the third analysis in the first year after planting.
That is, the baby is the organ of vegetative reproduction of the gladiolus, which appears at the base of the corm at the end of the growing season. It is usually covered with a dense and dry shell that protects it from all external influences.
So, gladiolus babies have three main and very important functions:
- Maintain and update the existing collection of gladioli.
- If you wish to significantly increase the number of grown plants, (for example, for sale), propagate them with the help of children.
- Adapt the newly acquired varieties of gladioli to the conditions of your garden, because it is the cultivation of gladioli from children that allows you to get plants that are most resistant to various diseases and adapt best to a new place.
Keeping babies in the winter
To do this, they are laid out in a warm and dry, dark place, most importantly, not in the sun. Drying of children lasts until about mid-November. Then it is desirable to sort them by size and store them in a dry place at any positive temperature, preferably up to +15°.
Preparing gladiolus babies for planting
Most beginner flower growers quite reasonably have a question: “Spring has come, I got the children of gladioli from the store, and what should I do with them now?”
Of course, to land, but before that you need to do some operations. There are several types of preparation of children of gladioli for planting.
If you take the baby in your hand and take a closer look, you will see that it is covered with a dry, but very dense shell. It is this shell that protects the children during storage from various damages, but it is because of it that the germination of the gladiolus baby can be delayed for a very long time, for a month or more. Therefore, it must be removed, or at least violated.
Usually the shell is removed by hand, it is not very difficult, but it can be quite laborious and time consuming. Therefore, it will be somewhat difficult to process a large number of children in this way. In addition, there is a possibility, due to inexperience, to damage the delicate internal tissues and, most importantly, the future growth point of the flower. However, with a small number of children, this method is worth trying, because the cleaned children germinate much faster and easier, and when planted at a shallower depth, they form a large final corm.
A much less time-consuming, but effective way is to germinate gladiolus babies before planting. At home, this can be done both warm and cool.
Then they are placed according to grades and sizes in jars or sachets with fasteners. Add a little warm water with potassium permanganate, so that it is pink, and close the bags or jars so as to provide air access. Water should be at the very bottom so that the children are not immersed in it. In such conditions, after a couple of weeks, the rudiments of roots and the first seedlings appear on them.
The terms will increase slightly, but the seedlings will appear more amicably.
Growing seedlings from gladiolus babies
If it is winter or early spring in the yard, and you still have time for experiments, then it is most reliable to try to let the gladiolus babies for seedlings. Of course, it will take more time and effort, but as a result, 100% of all children will sprout. In principle, the cultivation of seedlings of gladioli is no fundamentally different from the same tomatoes. There are only two conditions that must be met in order to grow gladioli:
- plant in separate containers so as not to damage the roots during transplantation,
- provide the most cool, and even cold conditions for growth. Ideally, the temperature should be between +5°C and +15°C.
Children of gladioli are usually planted in small cups or cassettes, and watered from below into the pan. When the first sprouts appear, they need the maximum amount of light. If you live in a private house, then you can place the planted seedlings in the basement and highlight it there with energy-saving lamps. These conditions will be ideal for good growth and root formation in gladiolus babies.
Small plants grown in this way can be planted in beds in April. Since each baby was planted in a separate container, there should be no problems with landing.
Planting and caring for children of gladioli in the beds
It is desirable to plant children of gladioli in the beds, the sooner the better. But it is necessary that the earth warms up to at least + 10 ° C. To accelerate germination and better development of corms, children can be planted shallowly, to a depth of about 2-3 cm. But it must be remembered that children at this moment really need constant moisture, so when planting at such a depth, you need to constantly moisten them. As a rule, they are planted at a depth of 4-7 cm. Here, much more moisture is stored in the soil, but there is also less heat, which can delay the germination of children.
After the first sprouts grow, if necessary, they must be protected with a film or non-woven material from possible frosts. Although small drops in temperature, shoots of gladioli are usually tolerated well.
Already a couple of weeks after the sprouts appear, planted gladioli babies can be fed with diluted mullein or other organic fertilizer. It is advisable to regularly loosen the soil between the rows – this provides the roots with additional air nutrition and helps to form large corms.
After the children have been planted in the garden, they need constant and regular watering until the very end of the season. Young bulbs tolerate drought the worst.
This will allow the corms to mature more fully by the time of autumn digging. And in the fall, from small children, you can already get a full-fledged gladiolus planting material.
Conclusion
There is nothing particularly difficult in planting babies and growing beautiful flowers from them. Be sure to try this method of propagation and cultivation of gladioli, and you will never experience problems with getting extra planting material.
