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According to legend, gladioli were named after gladiators who did not want to fight and symbolically plunged their swords into the ground. Luxurious flowers appeared at this place. Today, gardeners play an important role in the proper storage of bulbs. From the article you will learn how the preparation of gladioli for winter should take place.
Autumn care
In autumn, comprehensive flower care consists of proper watering, fertilizing and pruning. Compliance with the rules will allow the gardener to get bulbs suitable for wintering.
Abundant watering is necessary for gladiolus at a time when active growth of green mass occurs and buds are formed. If there is little moisture, this is fraught with weakness of the roots and curvature of the aerial part of the flower. Watering should be carried out with warm water at the rate of 10-15 liters for each plant, after the procedure, weeding and loosening of the earth should follow. For better tuber formation in the autumn, watering is recommended to be reduced.
It is difficult to overestimate the role of dressings, which should be several. At the time the second leaf appears in the culture, urea, potassium or ammonium nitrate and about 15 g of potassium sulfate per 0,5 buckets of water should be added. When the fourth leaf appears on the flower, similar top dressing is carried out again. You also need to use microfertilizers: for the formation of the bulb, preparations that include boron are useful. The third time fertilizers are used after the appearance of 5-6 full-fledged leaves, for the fourth time nitrophoska is suitable – 30 g per bucket of water. At the end of the autumn period, we recommend using a solution of potassium permanganate.
For trimming, you need to prepare a clean knife, the procedure is planned for the morning or late evening. As a result, the pruning should be securely hidden between the leaves of the plant. We recommend cutting off the above-ground part with secateurs after removing the bulbs from the ground. With a short pruning, not only the risk of infection of tubers with diseases is reduced, but also the drying time is reduced.
Next, we will give a step-by-step process for digging bulbs.
Video “How to save gladiolus bulbs until spring”
From this video you will learn how to properly store gladiolus bulbs in the winter.
Digging up plants
The procedure should be carried out 1–1,5 months after the end of flowering, choosing a dry and sunny day. Depending on the region, tubers are dug up in September – early October. The first month is better suited for flowers growing in the middle lane, the second – for the southern regions. The timing is also adjusted for temperature: if at night it constantly drops to zero, then in the daytime, if there are positive indicators, bulbs can be harvested.
It is necessary to remove the plant from the ground along with green foliage. It can be yellowed in hybrid and early varieties of gladioli. First, they dig up early, then medium and late varieties of gladioli. A shovel is used, with which the plant carefully digs at a distance of 20 cm from the tubers.
After digging, the future planting material is laid out according to varieties, shaking off the ground. The stems on the tubers should be shortened with secateurs to a height of about 20 cm and folded into wooden boxes, cardboard boxes or rag bags. The preparation of the bulbs includes drying and processing with preparations.
Drying
Planting material can dry perfectly not in special containers, but in black boxes that previously contained vegetables and fruits. The whole process takes up to 1,5 months. The boxes must be placed in a room with a temperature regime of +24 °C. Next, young bulbs need to remove the roots, babies and stems, put them in paper bags according to the varieties.
Performing the shaping
Preparation of gladioli for storage in winter also consists in disinfecting the tubers, laid out in gauze bags, with Inta-vir, Khom and Maxim. At the end of the procedure, the planting material is dried again at home at a temperature of +30 ° C for a week and at +20 ° C for a month. Then the tubers are placed in a place where they will be stored in the winter.
Storage at home
In order to minimize possible losses due to damage to corms, after preparing the gladioli bulbs for the coming winter, we recommend choosing a place to store them in a city apartment, refrigerator or cellar. For wintering, it is necessary to select bulbs without signs of disease and external damage, under 4 years old, rounded and approximately the same in height and diameter, the children should be large and with intact scales.
In the apartment
Bulbs need to take a place with a temperature regime of +8 to +10 ° C. This can be a glazed loggia (if frost hits, planting material will have to be brought into the room), an entrance hall or a common corridor, a window sill. Tubers must be placed in a triple layer of old newspapers. They require periodic inspection to identify and reject diseased specimens.
In the cellar
An excellent place to place gladiolus tubers will be a cellar, in which the temperature is always within 3–7 ° C above zero, and the humidity level is at least 60%. It is best to put planting material in mesh boxes and arrange them in tiers. In the cellar or basement, you can not put any fruits or vegetables next to the bulbs, otherwise the moisture that appears can cause the tubers to rot.
In a refrigerator
The humidity and temperature levels of the refrigerator are also good for the preservation of the bulbs. You can put them in a special compartment for greens or containers for vegetables. Each variety should be pre-wrapped in a couple of layers with newspaper. When choosing such a place, it is convenient to periodically check the condition of the tubers and remove moldy or diseased ones.
Major side effects
Containers for placing bulbs must be ventilated, so do not use plastic containers without holes or plastic bags. When used, the number of rotten and spoiled tubers can be from 50 to 70% of the total. If there is no oxygen access to the tubers, the process of decay will start. To prevent damage to planting material, we advise you to put a pair of garlic cloves cut into pieces in boxes. You can also sprinkle the bulbs with wood ash.
If rotten specimens are found in a refrigerator or other place, gray mold is to blame, which appeared due to excessive humidity. Drying the tubers and replacing the old newspapers in which they are wrapped with new ones will help.
Pest Control
In winter, thrips can harm planting material. When they are found, damaged specimens are removed, the remaining ones should be treated with Hom. If it is not possible to buy it, the bulbs are placed in a hermetically sealed container. Thrips on damaged tubers die if you put a cotton swab with medical alcohol. Next, dry the material. The procedure is carried out, taking a break of 4 days.
Properly prepared bulbs of your favorite varieties are able to adequately survive the cold, so that later you can again please the gardener with beautiful and fragrant gladioli that have appeared from them.