Gladiolus or as it is also called fennel (due to the shape of the leaves similar to a sword) - a frequent guest in cottages and personal plots. Groups from this plant look spectacular in any territory. But to obtain such a result, you need to properly care for it, which is discussed in detail later in the text.

When to plant gladioli

The planting of gladioli can begin already in early April. The beginning of flowering will depend on the time of spring planting:

• bulbs planted in the early stages (April) will please with flowers in June;
• gladioli placed in the soil in May will bloom in August;
• for corms planted in June, the flowering period will fall in September.

Therefore, experimenting with the timing of planting, you can have flowering gladioli 3-4 months. But we should not forget that you need to consider which variety (early, middle or late) the plant belongs to.

Outdoor cultivation and care

Breeding and reproduction of the skewer is impossible without proper care. This graceful flower needs constant attention.

What soil do gladioli like

The cultivation of this flowering culture can be carried out on virtually any soil. But the normal development and abundant flowering largely depends on the right choice of soil. Gladiolus prefers structural chernozem to light loam or sandy loamy soils.

If the soil in the garden or in the flowerbed is not suitable, then you can slightly correct it:

• when the site is clay, then sand should be added to it, and in the fall during digging - humus and lime;
• rotted manure, humus or peat should be added to the sandy soil;
• peat is dominated by sand.

A significant role in choosing a garden plot is assigned to its acidity:

• the best option is a pH from 5.6 to 5.8;
• if the soil is more acidic, then the tips of the leaves are subject to drying, and the blooming of flowers is also inhibited. To reduce acidity during digging, you need to add chalk, eggshell or dolomite flour (200 g / m²);
• increased alkaline soil reaction causes yellowing of the foliage. Reducing alkalinity can be achieved by adding rotted manure with superphosphate (10 kg / 200 g) or with phosphoric flour (10 kg / 500 g). Peat moss and needles also acidify the soil well.

Preparing bulbs for planting

A prerequisite for the successful growth and flowering of gladioli is the timely and proper preparation of the bulbs for planting. This should be done 3 weeks before landing.

The whole process consists of several stages:

1. Gently peel the coverslip tubers. This must be done to ensure the quality of planting material and to detect existing diseases or pests.
2. Bulbs sorted by size and quality (healthy and affected).
3. Too large specimens (with a diameter of more than 8 centimeters) can be cut into several parts. But each of them should have a sprout. Slices must be sprinkled with ash.
4. Damaged and diseased areas should be removed with a knife and, as in the previous case, treated with ash.
5. Purified planting material can be subjected to vernalization, which stimulates the growth, flowering and enhances the immunity of plants. For this, the bulbs are spread up by sprouts in a warm, shaded place.
6. Immediately before planting the corm, it is necessary to disinfect in potassium permanganate (1 g / 10 l of water), soak for 30 minutes, in garlic infusion (300 g / 10 l of water) - about 2 hours, or in a solution of malathion (30 g / 10 l of water) having stood up to 40-60 minutes.
7. Sanitized material can be treated with growth stimulants and trace elements to accelerate the formation of the root system. For this purpose, 10 l of water should be diluted with a choice of: 1 tablet of heteroauxin, 1 g of sodium humate or 2 g of succinic acid and incubated for about 10 hours.
8. Small tubers (baby) are thoroughly cleaned immediately before planting in the ground.

Video: Preparing gladioli for landing

Landing

An important point when growing a skewer is the depth of the bulbs in the ground. It depends on the soil composition and the size of the planting material.

Important! The disadvantage of a deep fit may be the lack of flowers, but too shallow — the need for garter stems to avoid breaking them off.

Given these two factors, planting should be done as follows:

• specimens with a diameter of 4-5 cm (flower stalks of optimal quality) should be buried by 10-12 cm;
• on chernozems and sandy soils, the planting depth of standard bulbs (4-5 cm in diameter) can be increased to 15 cm, and on clay soils - reduced to 7 cm;
• a win-win option is landing on heavy soils - to a depth of three bulb diameters, and on light - four;
• adult corms should not be planted less than 7 cm;
• the baby is placed no deeper than 3-5 cm.

Growing gladioli, you must also follow certain recommendations:

• plantations do not like waterlogged areas with stagnation of water, shading and strong winds in open areas;
• plants need an annual change of planting location. They should be returned to their previous site no earlier than 4 years later;
• beds for planting need to be prepared in the fall. Digging is done to a depth of 40 cm and fertilizers are applied. You can add a mixture of humus (2 kg / m²), superphosphate (up to 50 g / m²) and potassium sulfate (30 g / m²);
• in the spring the soil is dug up on a bayonet of a shovel, urea (15 g / m²) is introduced;
• Before planting, the ground is leveled with a rake, and furrows or holes are made. The distance in the row between large corms is up to 15 cm, and between the rows - about 20 cm, for a child - 5 × 15 cm;
• good predecessors for gladioli are considered garlic, onions or cucumbers.

The skewer landing algorithm consists of simple actions:

1. Make furrows up to 20 cm deep.
2. Water the grooves well.
3. Spread planting material at the right distance.
4. Sprinkle with a layer of earth no more than 5 cm.
5. As the seedlings appear, periodically sprinkle the soil until the furrows are level with the ground.

The shading of gladioli in the morning becomes the cause of later flowering by 2 weeks, and in the evening by 3 weeks.

How often to water

With regard to watering crops, the following rules apply:

• once a week in the morning or evening hours you should water the plants, spending up to 10 liters per square meter;
• Before irrigation, it is necessary to dig grooves 3-5 cm deep in the aisles, into which water is poured. After absorbing moisture, the soil is loosened to prevent the appearance of a crust on the surface. Subsequently, plants must be sprinkled with earth;
• during the formation of buds, as well as during flowering, the volume of consumed water increases to 15 l / m²;
• in too dry time, the plants should be moistened more often than usual (about 1 time in 3-4 days). This is necessary so that the flowers and buds that do not have time to open do not wilt.

Loosening and top dressing

Gladiolus is a demanding flower for the application of organic and mineral fertilizing, as well as regular cultivation and removal of weeds. As already noted before, loosening is necessary after each watering. To avoid such a need, planting can be mulched. For this purpose, rotted sawdust, grass, compost, needles or straw are used. The earth is covered with a mulching layer as soon as the plants reach a height of 10 cm. This agricultural technique will also prevent the growth of weeds and overheating of corms. Care and cultivation of the crop is impossible without fertilizing.

Important! With a lack of nitrogen, the color of the leaves fade, and an overabundance of this trace element causes rapid growth of bushes to the detriment of budding and flowering.

At different times of vegetation, flowers need different nutrients:

• at the beginning of the growth of the first leaves, fertilizing with nitrogen is necessary. You can choose from: 30 g of ammonium nitrate, 25 g of ammonium sulfate or 25 g of urea per 1 m². Nettle infusion is also used for this purpose. A bucket of raw materials is poured with warm water and infused for 2-3 days in the sun. One liter of such an extract is diluted in a bucket of water before watering;
• at the stage of formation of 5-6 leaves, plants require potassium, nitrogen and phosphorus. For this, a mixture of 10 g of ammonium sulfate, 15 g of superphosphate and 20 g of potassium sulfate per 1 m² is used;
• the third feeding is carried out before the formation of buds (when the peduncle appears), when the plants need phosphorus and potassium. These needs will be met by 20 g of potassium chloride and 30 g of superphosphate per 1 m².

To prepare top dressing, a bag of organics is placed in a barrel of water (ratio 1:10) and insisted for up to 3 days. The infusion is divorced 1:10. With the simultaneous application of mineral and organic fertilizers, the dose of the former is reduced by 40%.

At the beginning of growth, organic matter can be added. For this, an infusion of bird droppings or horse manure is suitable.

How to crop

After the gladioli release the arrow, and the formation of buds begins, the stems must be attached to the stakes. Support is necessary to maintain heavy inflorescences and prevent breakage of peduncles. It will also help to grow it even and straight. If you are late with a garter, then the flower arrow may bend and deform.

As a result, the flowers look ugly. If there are few plants, then they can be tied to stakes driven into the ground, and if the flowerbed is large, then the use of props is practiced. To build such a structure, stakes are driven in at the edges of the row, and about 2-3 rungs are attached to them, to which gladioli are directly tied as the flower arrow grows. Still need to take care of the timely removal of wilted flowers after flowering - so the plant will not expend energy on the formation of seeds.

Did you know? The stems and foliage of gladioli contain ascorbic acid, so it can be considered a healing plant.

It is very important to adhere to several requirements when cutting peduncles:

• actions are carried out with a sharp knife in the morning or evening hours;
• the slice should not be visible from the remaining leaf plates;
• after pruning, at least 4 stems should remain on the plant, which will allow the bulb to form normally.

Winter preparations

The further development and flowering of the culture largely depends on the proper wintering. It consists of several successive stages:

1. It should begin during the growing season. For the normal formation of the bulb, flower stalks, dried up after flowering, should be removed immediately.
2. It is not advisable to dig already completely yellowed plants, this should be done a little earlier (30–35 days after flowering). First, early varieties are harvested, then medium and late varieties. By the time the night temperature drops to 0 ° C, you need to bring the bulbs into the room.
3. Leaves should be cutleaving about 2 cm. The seed is sorted. Sick, too small, or damaged specimens are burned. Outwardly healthy and of the correct form, the corms, whose diameter does not exceed the height, are left for planting. Old flat bulbs are preferable to replace with children.
4. It is advisable to rinse the material selected for seeds in warm water (you can add a little laundry soap) and disinfect. About solutions for disinfection was described earlier in the article. With the help of water, a quality baby is also determined (which will sink to the bottom).
5. The next step is drying.consisting of several periods. The first 7 days, the bulbs are kept at a temperature of + 28 ... + 30 ° C. Then it is reduced for a month to + 20 ° C. If such conditions are not possible, then at room temperature the material dries for about 2 months.
6. The last stage of preparation for winter storage is cleaning of plant debris and folding them in cardboard boxes. It is better if the bulbs do not touch. Regularly (once a month) the seeds need to be reviewed and removed spoiled.

It's no secret that in winter, the bulbs of gladioli need to be stored indoors, because in the open ground they freeze. But there are some experimenters who leave the bulbs to winter in the garden. Such gardeners include N. Supronenko.

His method consists of the following actions:

1. Dig up planting material at the usual time.
2. Process it and dry.
3. Plant in October before frost to a depth of 20 cm.
4. Insulate the beds with leaves, hay or pine branches.

Bulbs prepared in this way tolerate winter well. Powerful and strong sprouts appear at the end of May.

Rules for the storage of gladioli

Each owner resolves the issue in his own way: some are stored in room conditions, others in the basement, still others in the refrigerator, and still others cover the corms with a layer of paraffin. But everyone will agree that this is a troublesome process, especially if there is a lot of planting material.

Did you know? In ancient Greece, gladioli grew in the fields among cereals and were considered weeds.

But no matter how storage occurs, it is important to adhere to several requirements:

• air humidity within 80%;
• temperature mode - + 3 ... + 6 ° С;
• in boxes with onions, you can put the cloves of garlic, which periodically need to be replaced with new ones;
• children are best stored in paper bags.

If during the winter the bulbs dried out more than usual, then before planting, they must be placed in water.

Why don't gladioli grow

Gladioli are whimsical plants and, in order to have a beautiful and plentifully blooming front garden, every summer you need to properly care for and follow some instructions:

1. A fencer needs to be raised in 2-3 years on a new site, since he does not like to be in one place for several years in a row (more than three).
2. For culture, it is important to change not only the territory, but also the composition of the soil. For example, if you immediately plant a plant on chernozem, then in another period it is advisable to change it to sandy sand.
3. It is better to purchase climate-friendly material for growing. So, Dutch specimens will most often bloom only in the first year, and in the future they will hurt.
4. It is important to maintain the correct landing depth. Violation of this norm causes negative deviations in growth and development.
5. Juvenile bulbs (children) do not tolerate the neighborhood with large specimens that oppress them. It is better to place small and large onions separately.
6. 3-5 days before planting, the baby needs to be cleaned of hard scales, otherwise it may not germinate.
7. Plants must be watered and loosened in a timely manner, as well as fertilizing.
8. Weeds that often inhibit gladioli should be removed, preventing their normal growth and development.
9. A small thrips pest causes great damage to the culture, so you should carry out about three treatments with Fitoverm from July to August.
10. It will not work to grow large gladioli if a small bulb is given the opportunity to bloom in full force, therefore, in such an instance it is better to remove the peduncle.

Why are gladioluses fading

Looking at beautiful and large gladioli in the photo, many are often upset when they get the exact opposite result at home (the flowers are small and nondescript).

• Remember several reasons for such unwanted conversions:
• Some novice flower growers plant fennel in the shade, which is strictly prohibited, since this is a light-loving plant.
• Violation of the rules of agricultural technology: non-observance of the distance or depth of planting, insufficient feeding, a small amount of land (when grown in flowerpots), oppression by other crops or lack of moisture.
• When using unsuitable planting material for planting. A quality bulb should be large and almost round. Flat old specimens need to be discarded and replaced by children.
• As a result of the defeat of various diseases and pests, also plants and flowers can become smaller and grow poorly.

Care for flowering gladioli

The skewer has rather large flowers in comparison with the bulbs, as well as a weak root system, so the care of this crop during the flowering period should be slightly different than the care of other plants.

Particular attention should be paid to top dressing and watering, as well as loosening and removing weeds.

In short, it looks like this:

• when watering, the soil should be soaked to a depth of up to 35 cm. Surface wetting will not give the expected result;
• the soil must be breathable. This is ensured by constant loosening or mulching of the root zone;
• the most important is the timely introduction of nutrients, which are described in detail earlier in the section "Loosening and feeding";
• plants should be periodically spudded and weeds removed.

Seeing this unusual flower on your site, your family will immediately appreciate its beauty. And adhering to the advice outlined in the article, it will not be difficult to grow it and take care of the gladiolus.