Gladiolus

2024 Author: Gavin MacAdam | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-16 13:38

[Gladiolus (lat. Gladiolus) - flower culture; perennial herb of the Iris family. The plant is native to the subtropical and tropical regions of Africa, Central Europe, Asia and the Mediterranean. The Latin name of the culture comes from the Greek word "gladius", which means "sword", and this is due to the fact that in appearance the leaves of the plant resemble swords.

Description

Gladiolus is a bulbous plant with a single unbranched stem reaching a height of 150 cm. The leaves of the culture are thin, linear, sword-shaped, bluish-green in color, 50-80 cm long. One plant has 7-12 leaves. The flowers are large, the inflorescences are in the form of spikelets, depending on the variety, they can have a variety of shapes and shades. The fruit is a tricuspid capsule. The seeds are brown, oval or round.

The root system of gladiulos is two-tiered, one of the tiers is equipped with corms, the other with roots, which are formed with the appearance of the third leaf on the plants. Corms are bulbous, in old specimens they are flat, covered with scales over the entire surface, no more than 5 cm in diameter.

Features of cultivation

Gladiolus belongs to the category of light-loving cultures. They are also demanding on soil conditions. They are adherents of moderately moist, light, drained, permeable, slightly acidic soils. Optimal for growing crops - loam or sandy soils. Gladiolus does not tolerate acidic, saline, swampy, heavy and damp soils. Cultivation on strongly acidic soils is possible, but with the condition of preliminary liming. Neutral soils are undesirable, they are acidified with high moor peat. Negatively gladioli refer to cold winds and frosts.

Landing subtleties

They prepare the soil for the cultivation of gladioli with the onset of warmth. The soil is carefully processed with a shovel bayonet, fertilized with humus and full of mineral fertilizers. Corms are inspected before planting, rotted specimens are removed. Healthy material is laid for a couple of hours in a weak solution of basezol.

When forming a planting furrow, it is advisable to add a little washed fine-grained sand into them. Dahlia tubers are covered to a depth of 10-20 cm. The soil temperature at the time of planting should be 7-10C. The optimal distance between tubers is 30-35 cm (depending on the variety). Seedlings appear in about 20-25 days. Until the second true leaf appears, the soil is loosened.

Care procedures

Gladioli care is not difficult at all. Moderate and regular watering is carried out regularly, especially at the time of flower formation and flowering, otherwise the flowers will be bent. Plants need timely weeding and loosening. Tall gladioli are tied to props.

During the season, it is necessary to make at least three dressings: the first involves the introduction of nitrogen and phosphorus fertilizers a week after the emergence of seedlings, the second - with complex fertilizers in the budding phase, the moment of flowering itself. In order to avoid the appearance of various kinds of defects, for example, curvature of peduncles and folding of petals, fertilizers are applied to the stem zone, including calcium.

It is worth remembering that calcium is required to be applied in warm weather, during cool days it will poorly enter the plants. You should also be very careful with nitrogen fertilizers, you should not allow an excess of them.

Collection and storage of bulbs

Corms are harvested in early October, but before the onset of cold weather. First, using a knife or cut off the stem, leaving a couple of centimeters from the soil level, then dig up the corms, dry them, remove the adhering soil and rinse in warm water. For disinfection, corms are treated with a solution of potassium permanganate.

The first 3 weeks store the material in boxes in one layer in a dry room. Two weeks later, the children are separated from the corms and the roots are removed. After another couple of weeks, the bulbs are placed in nets and moved to a room with a temperature of up to 5C.

Application

The culture is used to create mixborders and group flower arrangements. Plants are often used in the design of fresh bouquets. Gladioli look great in combination with other perennial and annual flower crops.