Gladiolus is a plant native to the tropical forests of Africa and the Mediterranean. This representative of the Iris family is very popular among gardeners because of its bright unusual flowers. Another name for gladiolus is fennel.
The flower has a nice, fragrant relative - acidanthera, popularly called fragrant gladiolus, but it belongs to the Kasatikov family. It is used in breeding with gladuolus to obtain new varieties with delicate odors.
Description of gladiolus
Gladiolus is a perennial. Its rounded corm is composed of many glossy scales and is updated every year. It can be white, black, burgundy or red. The stems are elongated, straight, not branched and have an arrow-shaped shape. They reach a height of about 50-170 cm. Elongated leaves are thin, pointed towards the end, grow by 40-90 cm. Their color varies from bluish to deep green, depending on the species and variety. They maintain the strength of the shoots by connecting at the base. Inflorescences are found both unilateral or bilateral, and spiral.
The shape resembles ears up to 80 cm in size. The flowers have six fractions of various sizes closed with each other, which differ in shape and shade. The fruit is a box consisting of three leaves, with small round seeds, black or brown.
Types and varieties of gladioli with photos and names
The selection of the skewer is well developed, which is why the genus Gladiolus includes 280 species and even more varieties.
| View | Description | Varieties | Flowers Flower stalk |
| Large flowered | Thick sturdy stalk 90-150 cm tall, leaves elongated, dark green, have a glossy sheen. |
| 5-20 cm in diameter, triangular, with variegated petals up to 28 in one inflorescence. There are purple, pinkish, red, yellow petals with a white or gray base. A large size of about 90 cm and a straight spike-shaped form are characteristic. |
| Butterfly-shaped | 50-100 cm, strong medium-height greenish-gray stems, sometimes slightly deflected under the weight of the inflorescences. The xiphoid large leaves are elongated towards the end, yellow-green with a white tint. |
| Large sessile with intense color: yellow, pink, purple, burgundy, purple-white with a slight orange tint. Petals are wavy, curved, lace. The pharynx is lighter. Around 15-20. Elongated, thickened at the base. |
| Primrose | 70-120 cm long, compact form with an elastic non-branching stem. The leaves are thin, narrow, light green in color, covered with vegetable wax. |
| More often, solid red, white, pink or purple. There are also bright yellow (Leonora). 4-8 cm, triangular or round, petals are thin, have slightly wavy edges, and the upper ones are slightly curved and resemble a hood. There are 18-23 colors. |
| Dwarf | Small-sized species (50-80 cm) with large dark green glossy leaves. The stalk is dense, slightly rough, streovidny. |
| Exotic, of various shapes, with folded petals. Orange, purple, red, yellow, pink with a whitish sheen and pronounced pharynx. Compact, arranged alternately. |
When to plant gladiolus bulbs in spring, depending on the region
The gladiolus is planted in the late-mid-spring. Depending on the region, landing dates vary.
| Region | Period |
| Central Russia (Moscow, Moscow region). | It is advisable to plant it with the arrival of warm weather in order to exclude the possibility of disease and frostbite of corms, that is, April 25-May 10. However, this may be a later date, given the continental climate, the temperature should be + 9 ... +12 ° C. |
| The middle lane, including the Leningrad region. | The weather is colder, the possibility of sudden cold weather or unwanted precipitation, so the landing time is shifted: May 10-July 1. It is not worth rushing, it is important that the corms take root, and the soil has time to warm up. If frost does occur, smoke protection is possible for protection. |
| Siberian region and the Urals. | The climate is unstable, the periods for which there is no sharp temperature drop are only 90-120 days, which complicates the landing in open ground. Dates vary from May 28 to July 1. To protect against cold weather, agrofibre or a special film should be placed on the flower beds. Plants in this region rarely survive until next year. |
| South lane. | The cultivation of gladioli is not particularly difficult, since this is an area with the most favorable climatic conditions. Disembarkation time: March 20-April 15. You should not wait for the onset of heat, corm may not take root and die. |
Preparation of gladiolus bulbs for planting
Preparation should be carried out 2-3 weeks before planting in open ground.
First, from the corms it is necessary to carefully remove the excess husk, carefully examine the surface so that there are no rotting or malignant growths on it.
If any have appeared, they need to be cut off, and the places of cuts should be disinfected with green or weak alcohol solution and covered with crushed charcoal, cinnamon. Also check for damage or pathogenic ulcers that should be anointed with a weak iodine solution or brilliant green.
The bottom of the bulbs, that is, the area where the roots grow, needs to be measured. The best for planting is considered to be 2-4 cm. Young corms quickly take root and are resistant to colds or diseases. Old ones, the bottom of which is more than 4 cm, are most often used for growing sprouts for reproduction (children), as well as to update the material for planting.
After a thorough inspection and selection of corms, they are placed in a brightly lit place, placing raw sawdust with the addition of vermiculite on the bottom. You can also use a regular box, regularly moistening the bottom. Eliminate the possibility of drafts and temperature extremes. With proper care, the sprouts appear after 1-2 weeks.
It is important that the bulbs of especially valuable varieties can be divided into 2 parts, for greater productivity. This must be done so that on each half the bottom and sprout are preserved. Cuts should also be covered with charcoal or honey.
1 hour before planting in open ground, corms should be placed in a potassium permanganate solution with a consistency of 0.5%. Then allow the bulbs to dry and plant on the site.
Planting gladioli and subsequent care
Flower beds should be placed on the sunny, well-lit side, on a small hill. The location of the flowers must be changed every year to prevent infection by parasites, diseases or depletion of the nutrient medium. It is also undesirable to plant gladioli after corn and cucumbers, which are the causative agents of fusarium. The most favorable soil remains after potatoes, beets. Ashes, sand, peat, organic matter and mineral fertilizers must be added to the substrate.
It is worth considering the acidity of the soil: it must be neutral.
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You need to start preparing the site from the end of autumn: loosen and dig up the earth to a depth of 40 cm, weed it from weeds, root deposits. Thus, the soil will become loose and will easily pass oxygen. Landing is carried out in several stages:
- In the selected area, dig holes of 10-15 cm.
- Nitrophos is added in a consistency of 80 g. per 1 sq. m
- The spaces between corms leave about 10-15 cm, given that adult plants need to be tied up.
- Bulbs are grounded by no more than 13-14 cm. If placed deeper, the skewer will give a lot of inflorescences, higher - a large number of children will appear.
There is another way to land: thickened. It allows you to avoid tying gladioli, flower beds are lush and bright. With this method, the intervals between corms are reduced to 5-8 cm.
The soil is abundantly fertilized with needles, wood sawdust and phosphorus, nitrogenous or potassium top dressing.
When the skewers take root and adapt to new conditions, they must be properly looked after. Watering should be carried out no more than 1 time per week, make sure that the water does not stagnate, otherwise rot will begin, and also avoid droplets falling on the flowers. Loosen the soil regularly and remove weeds. Garter, if required, should be carried out before the peduncles grow. You can use ordinary wooden cuttings.
Top dressing
For the entire period of growing gladiolus carry out only 5 top dressing. They include various mineral, organic and chemical substances.
| Application Periods | Fertilizer |
| First | Use organics, namely humus. During rains and during watering, he actively gives nutrients to corm. |
| Before flowering | When at least 3 healthy leaves appear, you need to make nitrogen fertilizers. Nettle infusion is also good. With further development, you can feed with a universal mixture for garden plants. You should also spray the shoots with a solution containing boric acid in a ratio of 2 g per 10 l of running water. |
| Bloom | With the advent of inflorescences, increase the amount of mineral fertilizers: potash and phosphorus. It is recommended to use ash, sand and pine needles to increase soil nutrition. |
| After flowering | Prepare a solution of 15 g of superphosphate, 30 g of sulfate and 10 l of water. They water the gladiolus until the end of summer. |
| Final | Mix 5 g of potassium permanganate with 10 l of water. Fertilize with such a solution in early autumn, before the onset of frost. |
When to dig out gladioli
Gladiolus needs to be dug up before the first cold weather. This usually happens in mid-autumn, but each region has its own time frame.
| Region | Period |
| Central Russia (Moscow, Moscow region). | It can be produced September 15-October 10, and later, if comfortable climatic conditions are maintained or flowering continues. No need to disturb the fender until the temperature drops below +8 ° C. |
| The middle lane, including the Leningrad region. | The weather here is more unpredictable, so the dates are shifted to September 1-20. |
| Siberian region and the Urals. | Gladioli should be dug up by the end of September, on the 10-15th of the month. |
| South lane | Since the temperature here drops slowly and remains warm in the fall, corms are taken from the soil on October 20-November 5. However, you do not need to delay the timing, otherwise the decay will begin and the plant will die. |
How to store gladioli
After digging up the corms are placed in a well-heated room, at room temperature + 22 ... +25 ° C. They must be turned over daily to prevent damage. Bulbs should be dried for no more than 3 weeks, during which time the scales dry out and gain a glossy sheen. After this period, the tubers are moved to a cooler place. In an apartment it can be a space on the floor next to the balcony door, and in the cottage - a cellar or cellar.
Store better in cardboard or plastic containers with openings for air. Corms can be placed in several layers, laying them with newspapers or loose paper. The best temperature will be + 3 ... + 10 ° С, air humidity of at least 70%. It is necessary to regularly check the bulbs and get rid of the sick or dried out.
It is worth remembering that at the end of winter, gladioli begins a period of active growth, which must be slowed down. To do this, you can put mint leaves, green apples in a container.
Reproduction of gladioli
There are several ways of breeding skewer, the most popular of which is vegetative:
- Using a disinfected knife, separate the ripened baby and sprinkle the cut place with charcoal crumbs or cinnamon.
- Dry small corms and plant them in open ground in early May.
- Dig a furrow about 5 cm deep and place the kids in it.
- Sprinkle the soil with peat and ash, water abundantly.
- Cover the area with plastic wrap on top.
- After 1 month, when the stems grow to the film, it must be removed.
Another method is dividing the bulbs.
- Choose a suitable corm with a large base and a small amount of tuber.
- Cut vertically with a disinfected knife into 2 equal parts.
- Dry the lobes by placing them for several hours in a well-lit place.
- Treat the slice with charcoal or potassium permanganate solution.
- Plant the resulting corm in open ground.
The seed method of reproduction is not so popular, but interesting. It is feasible only in comfortable conditions.
- First you need to prepare a substrate consisting of sand and humus leaf, you can also add peat and needles (in equal quantities).
- Before planting, the seeds must be placed in a 0.01% solution of sodium humate or heteroauxin.
- Plant seeds in a container with drainage holes at the end of February.
- With the onset of warm weather, the pots are placed in greenhouse conditions with constant high temperature and bright lighting until fully ripened.
Methods of combating diseases and pests of gladioli
| Disease | Manifestation on the leaves and other symptoms | Repair methods |
| Fusarium disease | Turn yellow, covered with a whitish coating. | If the disease occurs during the growing season, the plant is unlikely to survive, so it should be removed along with the soil around. To exclude the occurrence, treat the bulbs before planting with a manganese solution. |
| Sclerotinia | Wither, dry at the base, the stalk rots. | Dig up affected gladioli immediately to prevent spread. If the disease has just begun, treat the flower with a solution of fungicides: Ordan, Hom, Previkur. |
| Scab | Black marks on corms and all parts of the skewer. | Increase soil acidity and remove infected flowers. |
| Viral infection. | The stalk may be covered with brown lines. Black dots protrude on the outside. | It is impossible to cure completely. You should get rid of the infected plant so as not to spread the infection. |
| Shield. | Sprouts die off. Stained. | Use Permethrin, Bi 58, Phosphamide, Methyl mercaptophos or a soap solution. |
| Aphid. | Green little insects on the surface, stem. Philodendron dies. | Tincture of lemon juice, Intavir, Actofit. |
| Spider mite. | A thin thick white cobweb envelops the stem and leaves. | Water regularly, apply Neoron, Omayt, Fitoverm according to the instructions. |
| Thrips. | Thin white stripes appear. The plant grows wilted. | Use Fitoverm, process with Actara, Mospilan, Actellik or Calypso. |
