Gladiolus is a common tuberous plant that hostesses like to grow in their summer cottages. Every 3-4 years, the flowers need to be updated so that they continue to please the eye. It is most convenient to propagate the plant by root children. How to get and plant them, read further in the article.
When to cut gladiolus flowers to get kids
The best time for cutting flowers is when the first lower flower has fully opened on the peduncle. You need to be in time in time so that the corm does not spend all its energy on flowering, but can redirect energy and vital resources to the formation of children.
Important! You need to cut the flowers so that as much leaves as possible remain on the plant. This directly affects the size and condition of the bulb, as well as children.
The later the flowers are cut, the later the babies begin to ripen. If you tighten the process to the autumn cold, they will not have time to ripen. In addition, damp and cold weather provokes the appearance of rot.
Digging and separating kids
After cutting flowers, it should take 35–45 days for bulbs and children to ripen before they are dug up. Accordingly, if blooming was in August, then you can remove the bulbs from the soil in the first days of autumn.
Different varieties of gladioli bloom at a certain time. Therefore, in the order in which the flowers were cut and you need to dig. In order not to get confused, you need to mark where and which variety is growing. The fact that the children are ripe, says their dark brown color and easy separation from the mother's bulb.
How to store gladioli babies
The dug out tubers need to cut the stems and roots, to separate the children from them. It is necessary to dig out all the kids. To do this, the soil should be sieved. The resulting crop is washed from the ground and dried. Children should not remain moist, as this increases the risk of rot. Therefore, after drying, it is necessary to treat the planting material with special preparations against this scourge.
Then put the potential seedlings in a warm place (with a temperature of + 25 ... + 30 ° C), in which they should be for 14 days. Then move to a room with room temperature for a month. After 30 days, you can lay them in winter storage. It is most convenient to keep the bulbs in a dry basement - the temperature should not exceed + 9 ° C and be below 0 ° C.
Important! Do not be afraid to dry the seed. From this, its quality will not deteriorate.
It is most optimal for it to be in the range + 5 ... + 7 ° С. Humidity is at 60%. If there is no basement, then you need to find the coolest place in your home. If you have a refrigerator with the “no frost” system, you can put the seed in vegetable boxes by first wrapping it in paper. Be sure to monthly review corms for rot and other lesions.
What to do with gladiolus kids
In autumn, the collected bulbs are stored. They can be stored until mid-spring to plant in open ground or to grow seedlings from them.
Seedlings from children
Growing seedlings is a long and painstaking process, but it is a guarantee to get seedlings of all the children. Planting seedlings of plants should be done at the end of the winter period or early spring.
The process is not much different from growing ordinary seedlings of vegetable crops, but here you must definitely consider two points:
- seedlings should be grown in separate containers to keep the roots intact;
- germination conditions: + 5 ... + 15 ° С.
Seedlings of 7-8 mm in size are selected. It is advisable to take those with clearly visible root tubercles. Each bulb must be planted in a separate glass or on cassettes filled with slightly acidic soil. First you need to trim the upper dense shell. This must be done very carefully so as not to damage the sprout that could already appear.
Did you know? Around the 300s BC gladioli corms were eaten. They were baked and used as the basis for cakes.
Be sure to treat with a weak solution of potassium permanganate (0.5 g / 1 l) in order to prevent diseases and pests. Watering is carried out through the pan. With the advent of the first sprouts, you need to move the seedlings to the most illuminated place. Can be highlighted with energy-saving lamps. Material will be ready for landing at the end of April.
Landing rules
To plant seedlings of gladioli is no more difficult than seedlings of vegetable crops. Significantly simplifies the whole process that each plant "lives" in a separate pot. For its landing, it is enough to cut the bottom in the tank and bury it in the ground in this form.
Thanks to this, the roots will remain intact, there will be no regrowing, and then it will be easy to dig up corms. After planting, young plants must be covered with spanbond (agrofibre) to protect against spring return frosts.
Did you know? In the Middle Ages, flour obtained from corms of gladioli was used in the preparation of bread.
Gladioli are very beautiful flowers that can be grown on your site both to decorate the landscape space and for sale. The process of planting and caring for them is not complicated, which is very pleasing to many gardeners. Try to grow at least one flower on your windowsill or in the garden, and you will become a fan of its beauty.
