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Gladiolus

13 Comments on Gladiolus»

1. Glads from retail; store, number of day’s planting to flower

   Blooming period can vary from 60-120 days from planting. Plant in early May when soil is workable thru mid-June 6-8 inch apart and 6-8 inches deep in rows or groups.

   Comment by Kris — 10/1/2006 @ 2:14 am

2. Hi, Just today i bought gladiola bulbs in a mesh bag. They look like small onions.They are in a mesh bag. We live in chicago. Could you tell me when should i plant these bulbs outside ? Can i just take these and plant them as directions on the bag say ? Do i need to do something else before or planting them into the ground. Please help, this is the first time i am working with bulbs. Thanks alot.

   Follow package directions. Plant in well-drained soil, 6-8 inches deep to keep them from falling over. Plant in early May thru mid-June or you can plant every 14 days to get successive bloom thru the summer. They like full sun, well drained, loose soil. Add support or stake them if they get too tall in the summer

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   Comment by Kris — 10/1/2006 @ 2:15 am

3. We dug up our Gladiolis bulbs and there are “babies” all around the bottom.Do just plant the origninal bulb and leave these babies on them?

   The cormels(babies) can be removed , saved and replanted separately next year until they reach flowering size.

   Comment by Kris — 10/1/2006 @ 2:23 am

4. If I plant gladiola bulbs now, will they still bloom by summer

   Gladiolas can be planted from March thru end of May so get them in the ground as soon as possible for mid summer blooming.

   Comment by Kris — 10/1/2006 @ 2:25 am

5. Does it matter how you position the bulb in the hole? Is ther a ?this end up? kind of thing? I?m planting glads by the way.
   Lisa

   Plant glads with the pointed tip up.

   Comment by Kris — 10/4/2006 @ 5:23 am

6. Do you cut gladiola stock before winter or in the spring?

   If you live in the Northern states you need to dig up the corms and store them for the winter or the cold will kill them. If you live in a climate where glads will winter over in the ground, then you can let the leaves die back after which the dried leaves can easily be removed or cut them down to the ground.

   Comment by LeeAnn — 11/1/2006 @ 7:08 am

7. Do I need to cut back my gladioli for winter, or dig them up? I live in upstate NY, where winter temps can hover in the 20’s.
   Stephanie

   Most gladioli are hardy in zone 7-8 except for the hardy glad (G. nanus)which tolerates zone 5. You are probably in zone 6 and eventhough temperatures hover in the 20’s there is always the possibility of a hard freeze which would kill the corms. I would recommend that you did them up. blockquote>

   Comment by Stephanie — 1/21/2007 @ 9:33 am

8. April 11 in NY - I checked the bulbs I had dug up and put away for winter. Guess I did not dry them out sufficiently, and now they have about 1 foot long white leaf? growth. What can I do? Any chance to save this batch?

   Gladiolus corms need to develop a root system in order to support the leaf growth. At this time you should plant them in a pot of well drained potting soil until its warm enough to plant outdoors. This will give it time to develop some roots. You may or may not get flowers but its worth a try.

   Comment by Mark McEvoy — 4/11/2007 @ 4:13 pm

9. I planted gladiola bulbs last year and the green stalks came up with no problem. However, there were never any blooms. Again this year, they all have green stalks, but no blooms! Help!

   A few possibilities come to mind. 1. Quality of the corm - the larger the better bloom. The corm needs to be at least 3/4″ dia. or larger to bloom. 2. They need full sun and well drained soil. 3. If glads get too much Nitrogen fertilizer then they produce leaves and no flowers. If your flower bed is next to a lawn, it can inadvertently get too much N from lawn fertilizer.

   Comment by Kendra Nowlin — 5/16/2007 @ 10:21 am

10. Anything I can add to the water to make the blossoms last longer after cutting and making a bouquet. I hear peroxide, also something sweet like 7-up or such. Thank you.

    You can add floral preservatives such as Crysal, Floralife or make your own with sugar, bleach, lemone juice and water. Go to cut flower care for more recipes. Re-cut the stem every 3 days when changing the water and add fresh preservative. Remove lower flowers when they are finished blooming for continued blooming. Also, a trick florist use is to pinch off the top few buds from the gladiolus spikes to reduce stem bending and promote bud opening of the remaining florets.

    Comment by Mary Peters — 8/8/2007 @ 1:59 pm

11. hi. i have grown glads for many years. this year my glads look dry and they are all wilting when it is time for them to open. we had a dry spring/early summer, but i watered them often. about 200 corms, some new this year, and all are the same way. any ideas? thanks

    It may be one of two problems. Either not enough water when the flowers spikes are forming. Glads require 1 inch of water per week and soil should be soaked 6-8 inches at watering. The other possibility is thrips. Gladiolus thrips is a major problems that attacks the foliage and flowers. Flower buds abort,distort or shrivel up.

    Comment by david christopher — 8/11/2007 @ 3:54 am

12. I LIVE IN CENTERAL MN. I’M HAVING A DEVIL OF A TIME WITH THRIPS THIS YEAR. WOULD YOU SUGGEST DISPOSING OF ALL THE BULBS AND STARTING OVER NEXT YEAR? I USUALLY DIG THEM UP, DRY, AND THEN DUST THEM AND STORE IN A MESH BAG. WILL THE THRIP SURVIVE IN THE BULB UNTIL NEXT YEAR? THANKS FOR THE ADVICE

    When you harvest the gladilous corms, cut off the tops and burn them. Dust the corms with pyrethrum before storing them for the winter. Thrips can winter over inside the corms. Infested corms become sticky with a rough texture and usually darker than healthy corms. Store the corms at 35-40F. in an unheated garage. The near freezing temperatures should kill the thrips. Rodale suggests before planting soak the corms for 3 hrs. in a lysol solution consisting of 1 1/4 tblsp of lysol to 1 gal. of water. Check for thrips with yellow sticky traps early in the season so that you can spray the plants before they burrow in too deep.

    Comment by David Mumm — 9/5/2007 @ 6:58 pm

13. I just purchased a large bag of Gladioli bulbs and have been told to plant them in 2 week intervals so that I will have blooms all summer long. Has anyone ever done this? I have a bed in the front of my house that I was going to dedicate only to these plants. Does anyone know how far apart they should be planted? I have 100 bulbs total.

    Plant the medium size corms 3-4 inches deep. The general rule of thumb is twice as deep as the corm is tall. Space them 5-6 inches apart and allow 20-36 inches between rows in order to have easy access to cut the flowers.

    Comment by Jessica — 4/2/2008 @ 1:51 pm

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