Planting gladioli in the spring in the ground

One of the first flowers that people began to decorate their gardens with were gladioli. Planting gladioli in the spring in the ground may seem like a very simple process that does not require specific knowledge. But it’s not. The hostess, who at least once planted these flowers in her garden, knows: for gladioli to bloom in large inflorescences, have a tall and strong stem, you need to properly store the bulbs of these flowers and know exactly when to plant gladioli in open ground. This article will be about this.

Planting gladioli in open ground

To figure out how to plant gladioli in the spring, you need to know the features of these flowers.

Gladioli were grown in ancient Rome, they were the favorite flowers of the Egyptian pharaohs, they were considered a talisman of gladiators. These flowers are also called skewer because the pointed and long leaves look like weapons.

Grow skewer should be in well-lit areas, this flower loves the sun. A strong wind or draft is detrimental to the gladiolus, because these are tall plants with long stems that can easily break.

The ground for the skewer should be loose, not prone to moisture accumulation. The best soil for a flower will be sandy soil with the addition of peat and humus.

Gladiolus bulbs

The skewer is a bulbous plant, that is, it reproduces by the formation of small shoots on the tubers – “babies”. Due to the fact that the climate in Our Country is quite severe, winters are frosty and cold, gladiolus bulbs have to be dug up in autumn and stored until the next season in basements.

Usually skewer tubers are dug up in October, when the flower has faded, and its stem has become dry and easily separated from the tuber. The collected bulbs need to be examined, to identify diseased or rotten, sluggish specimens. It is better to throw away such tubers immediately – they will not be able to overwinter and turn into beautiful flowers next season.

The rest of the bulbs are left without removing the husk, they are placed in the sand and lowered into the cellar or cellar. There the skewer tubers remain until spring.

When to plant gladioli in open ground

Many commercial flower growers grow gladioli in greenhouses and heated greenhouses. In this case, the skewer bulbs are taken out for germination already at the end of January or at the beginning of February. After 2,5-3 months, the gardener will receive the first flowers and will be able to profitably sell them.

If it is supposed to plant gladioli in spring in unprotected soil, it is necessary to raise the bulbs from the cellars a little later.

There are several ways to grow skewer:

1. The usual method involves planting all the bulbs on the same day. To do this, you need to take into account the peculiarities of the climate in the region, and when, presumably, the earth warms up to 10 degrees, germinated tubers can be planted in holes.
2. The continuous flowering method allows you to decorate your garden with flowering skewers from June to October. To do this, the first part of the bulbs is taken out for forcing at the beginning of March, each next batch of tubers must be taken out for germination with an interval of two weeks. In the same sequence, the tubers are planted in the holes, as a result, gladioli will bloom continuously, new plants will constantly replace those that have already faded.
3. Taking into account the climatic zone is also very important – the skewer cannot be taken out into the open ground until the earth at a depth of 10 cm warms up to 10 degrees Celsius. Bulbs are afraid of frost, gladioli do not develop at low temperatures and lack of sun, in conditions of high humidity and prolonged rains, tubers are easily affected by fungal infections and die. Therefore, the timing of planting gladiolus bulbs should be compared with the climate and weather in a particular region. For example, in Siberia, skewer is planted no earlier than the first half of May, and in the middle lane, gladiolus bulbs are transferred to the holes already in mid-April.

How to plant gladiolus in spring

To grow beautiful and healthy flowers, you need to properly prepare the skewer bulbs for planting in open ground. To do this, on the appointed day, the tubers are taken out of the basement and carefully examined. First of all, soft and rotten tubers are removed, hard bulbs are cleaned of crusts and husks, and “children” are separated from them (they need to be grown separately).

If dark spots are found on gladiolus bulbs, you can try to cure them. To do this, cut off the affected area with a sharp knife and cover the cut with brilliant green. Before landing in a permanent place, the “wound” should be healed by the epidermis.

Before planting in the soil, you can do a preliminary germination of tubers – this will accelerate the flowering of gladioli, will allow you to reject “dead” bulbs, from which nothing will grow.

Sprouting skewer bulbs is performed in the following sequence:

• First of all, you need to disinfect the planting material. To do this, skewer tubers are placed for half an hour in a half-percentage solution of potassium permanganate or any other antiseptic composition.
• In order for the gladioli to have larger flowers, reach a greater height and be healthier, the bulbs can be soaked for a couple of days in a solution of boric acid (2 g per liter of warm water).
• Plastic or wooden boxes or individual pots are filled with soil mixture: turf, humus, sand and peat. Wood ash, superphosphate and bone meal can be added to the same soil – all this contributes to the rapid development of gladioli.
• Indentations are made in the ground and a little sand is poured there – the bulbs are placed on this layer and pressed a little.
• The tubers are covered with soil mixture from above and watered with warm water.
• Until the first shoots appear, boxes with bulbs should be kept in the basement or other cool place with a temperature of 15 to 18 degrees.
• When sprouts appear, the boxes are brought into the light: it can be a greenhouse, a veranda or a greenhouse. Here the earth is regularly loosened, watered and fed every two weeks.
• When the weather permits, teenagers are taken out into the open ground (this should be done around mid-April).

It is not at all necessary to pre-grow gladioli, you can get by with simpler preparation. The tubers taken out of the basement and peeled are laid out in a warm place with constant access to sunlight (but not under direct rays).

Dry the gladiolus bulbs for a couple of days.

During this period, many gardeners recommend spraying the tubers with a spray bottle, however, it is better not to do this. In conditions of high humidity, roots will appear from the tubercles, which easily break off when planting gladioli in a flower bed – this will slow down the growth of flowers and delay their flowering.

Those specimens that remained in their original form (did not give either sprouts or tubercles) are thrown away.

Planting prepared bulbs in a flower bed

The main thing that a gardener should be able to do is to properly deepen the skewer bulbs. The rule here is: The size of the hole should be three times the diameter of the bulb. Then the gladiolus will be able to develop correctly and bloom quickly.

A handful of dry sand is poured into the prepared holes and the tubers are carefully placed there. Fall asleep with dry earth and abundantly watered with warm water.

Flowers planted in this way will be large and strong.

Care for the gladiolus

Caring for gladioli planted in a flower bed is quite simple, you just need to perform a series of manipulations:

1. When the sprouts reach eight centimeters, they need to be covered with a five-centimeter layer of humus. This procedure is necessary in order to prevent excessive evaporation of moisture from the soil and protect the stems from overheating.
2. Once every two weeks, in the intervals between neighboring bushes, it is necessary to loosen the soil. Do this carefully, trying not to damage the bulbs and roots.
3. Watering gladiolus is necessary according to a special technology. Not far from the stem, grooves are made, where water is poured. If you water the flowers under the root, you can damage the fragile leaves and stems.
4. A tall skewer can break from the wind or under the weight of its own flowers, so when the first buds appear, the gladioli are tied to supports.

Growing gladiolus is quite simple, the most difficult thing in this process is to decide when to plant gladioli in open ground in the spring. But these beautiful flowers will “thank” the owner for his work and will definitely become a worthy decoration of any garden.