What is Gladiolus? Gladiolus is a classic Perineal which blooms colorful, large with tall spikes. This flower belongs to the Iridaceous family that typically rises between two to five feet in height. Gladiolus is available in various gorgeous colors such as red, white, lavender, purple, yellow, pink, green, etc.
Gladiolus is also known as sword Lilly because its look perfectly describes the name. According to the World Checklist of Selected Plant Families, there are almost 300 species that resulted in 2017. Species in the gladiolus genus but brightens landscapes, gardens, the homes with their mesmerizing colors.
Its stem is unbranched, sword-shaped, longitudinal grooved leaves enclosed in a sheath. They only produce 1 to 9 narrow leaves. The leaf blades can be plane or cruciform.
Reproduction of Gladiolus.
Gladiolus grow or reproduced from a stem-like structure called corms. Corms are swollen underground stems that store food and nourishment for the plant.
When to sow the corm
You can plant gladiolus corm throughout the year. Corm should be sown in sandy loam soil because wet soil can make the corn rot. The spacing between each bulb should be 6 to 10 inches apart. The bigger corm should be shown deeper in the ground but brightenscolorsust be wondering does gladiolus bulbs spread on their own
Through this article, you can find your answer.
How do gladiolus spread?
The simple answer is, yes, this can spread on their own. This plant can spread itself and grow tall if left on the ground with the perfect climatic condition.
Before understanding how gladiolus spread, it’s necessary to know how it multiplies.
It multiplies at the time of reproduction through the small corm, known as cormels.
Another way of reproduction is by the division of mature corms. These divided corms have more than one bud on their top.
State with a better bulb
At the time of sowing, you can easily find a good bulb comparing the size of the corm. The larger corm grows bigger in comparison to the smaller size corm.
When to plant
Plant the corm between the spring seasons to early summer. The flower takes 60 to 90 days approximately to bloom.
SUN AND SHADE
The falling sun is best for its growth, but it can also flower in partial shade.
ZONE
In colder regions, they can grow at annual you can dig up the corms in the falls and store them for replanting in the coming spring. Gladiolus plant is winter hardy.
EXPECTATIONS
Gladiolus corm itself contains nutrition to become a new 4-foot flower spike with up to 20 fist-size florets.
Sow the gladiolus corm in the ground and wait for up to 90 days for the flower.
Gladiolus blooms from the bottom to up so that each stem can give colorful flowers for up to two weeks.
HOW TO FIX THE FLOWER THAT STARTS TO LEAN
The gladiolus stem starts to lean when its flower blooms up as the gladiolus stalk starts to open. Stalks get too heavy, so to fix it put a Sandler bamboo cane beside the stem that is not standing straight, and secure them for a long time by using twine.
To fix the entire bed of gladiolus, put the stakes at every corner and side of the plant.
LOCATION OF GLADIOLUS GENUS
Gladiolus occurs in the area like:
1-Mediterranean Europe
2- Asia
3- South Africa
4- Tropical Africa
The canter of the diversity of the unbranched, longitudinal grooved leaves gladiolus is in Cape Floristic Region.
PREPARING A PLANTING SITE
Start losing your ground/garden soil by using a tiller or fork. First, lose it up to 12 to 15 inches. Then, mix heavyweight or compost in it up to 2 to 3-inch layers.
Note-
Never plant the gladiolus bulb in heavy, soggy soil
Plant the larger corm more dipper in the soil
Plant the glands in the fall sun
PLANT GLADIOLUS
- Gladiolus are adaptable and easy to grow bit it grows best infertile land.
- Plant the corms 4 to 5 feet deep and should be 6 to 10 inches apart in space with the pointed side facing up.
- In the cutting garden, plant the gladiolus bulb in grid pattern”5″ on the canter.
- In containers, beds, and Borders, you should plant them in informal groups of 7 or more to make it more mesmerizing.
- Water the gladiolus corm thoroughly while Planting it.
Note:
- Try to sow the seed deeper which, could help the plant to stand erect once the flower starts to bloom.
- If you are planting a big corm that grows tall, be sure to stake them at the time of planting.
- Make sure not to damage the corm.
CARE THROUGHOUT THE SEASON
- Staking: The plant of gladiolus need to be supported by staking and caging them so that they do not fall/lean because of their heavyweight. Do this at the time of planting corm as not to damage the corm or plant. After staking the Plant tie, it loosely with twine or soft material. Remove the stake after the harvest.
- Growth habit- gladiolus stem can grow up to 2 to 4 feet tall. Its leaves are narrow, sword-like structures with tall stalks that only spread 1 foot wide.
- Mulching- It is a process to protect the plant by spreading the protective layer of material on the soil. Gladiolus is a plant that needs weeds to grow. Mulching also provides moisture to the ground. Mulch the plant once as they emerge from the ground.
- Watering – After planting corms, water them thoroughly at least one inch a week. Water it more on a dry day.
- Trimming and pruning – gladiolus does not require trimming and pruning. Gladiolus are grown for decoration purposes, for the garden, and for storage purposes.
Remove the faded flowers known as deadheads to prevent the plant from self-sowing throughout the bed.
- Fertilizer- Must add compost or old manure in the soil before sowing the corm. Always add water-soluble and organic fertilizer to the plant.
CARING FOR AFTER BLOOMING
Harvest (For decorations purposes)
- Cut the flower either early in the morning or at night
- Cut the stem with only one or two bloomed flowers rest will open after keeping them in vas
- Use a sharp knife and bring a bucket of lukewarm water.
- Cut the stalk diagonally and put the flowers in a bucket of warm water.
- Keep the bucket in a cool dark place and dress them in the vase.
Store (another year)
- Cut the Foliage to dig the soil to get the corm as soon as the leaves turn yellow.
- Keep the corm in direct sun for 3 to 4 days and let them dry.
- Once it gets dry, remove and soil and discard the old corm. Now you will see new small comets attached to new coms separate the small one and keep the big one.
- Keep the coms for next season, it will take 2 to 3 years for coms offshoots to grow, but it will eventually become a beautiful gladiolus flower.
