Gladiolus is a common flower use for decorating bouquets or cut flower arrangements and if it is properly taken care, it is quite easy for you to grow them. You would be able to find the genus Gladiolus consisting of 260 different species with wide variety of colors such as reds, purples, pinks, whites, yellows, greens, oranges and also bi-colored, together with many different sizes. The gladiolus is a long spike of multiple flowers that has sword-like leaves and most of its species originate from Africa while a few of them can be found in Europe and Asia. The layout plan that you intend to have in the garden for growing gladiolus really depends on the purpose in growing the flower. If you wish to make bouquets of gladiolus, you should plant them in rows just like you plant any vegetables because it is easier to maintain the flower when it started to grow. Apart from that, if you just want to add a splash of color to your flower beds, you can plant them according to your preference. Below are some tips that you can use for ensuring successful growth of gladiolus flower.
To grow gladiolus, you need to:
- Have a well-drained soil with a pH balance of 6.0 to 6.5
- Location to plant the flower
- Time of planting the flower
- Storage is important for maintaining its quality
- Shovel
- Hand gloves
Growing Gladiolus
How to Grow Gladiolus
- The first thing that you need to do is to check whether the area that you want to plant the gladiolus flower is suitable or not.
- According to research done by the University of Missouri, the flower blooms especially if it is located in area that has full sun along with a well-drained soil with a pH balance of 6.0 to 6.5.
- As for the gladiolus bulbs, you need to plant them at least 4 or 5 inches deep into the soil in groupings in order to get maximum bloom display of the flowers.
- According to research done by the University of Missouri, the flower blooms especially if it is located in area that has full sun along with a well-drained soil with a pH balance of 6.0 to 6.5.
- The gladiolus flower normally produces one stalk of blooms per corm.
- It is often planted near back of your flowerbed. By adapting this method, it can help the bloom stalks to grow as high as 5 feet in height.
- Make sure that you staked them in order to keep the tall bloom stalks from falling over.
- It is often planted near back of your flowerbed. By adapting this method, it can help the bloom stalks to grow as high as 5 feet in height.
For your information, the corm of the gladiolus flower is the bulb or the place where the flower stores its energy that it gets to help it grow properly.
- The gladiolus flower can be planted even one month before the last frost in the spring season along with staggered planting of the plant right after that in order to produce extended blooming time.
- The latest month for planting gladiolus is in early July because if you exceed this month, the corms will not be able to have enough time for their growing and blooming cycle.
- The gladiolus bulbs should be dug up during the fall season and this recommendation is based on the research done by the University of Nebraska-Lincoln.
- Then, you must ensure to remove the soil and pests from the corms.
- Next, you need to air dry them before you store them in a cool area with approximately 35 to 40 degrees temperature over the winter months which also have good air circulation.
- Then, you must ensure to remove the soil and pests from the corms.
- Once the blooming period has ended, you should leave the foliage in its place and do not cut it off because it will help the plant to gather sunlight and at the same time create food via the process of photosynthesis thus the bulb for future growth.
Always remember that whenever you want to grow gladiolus
- Especially during the summer, make sure that you mulch the surrounding of the corms in order to avoid the growth of weeds. If there are any weeds, make sure to pull them out.
- The gladiolus plant need at least one inch of water per week especially during its active growth periods. If your climate does not provide you with adequate rainfall, it is recommended that you create water supplement through irrigation.
- You can also make use of cow manure and leaves that works well with growth of the gladiolus plant due to its organic nature as fertilizers and soil conditioners. However, it is advisable to only use this method during the fall season and not in the spring if you want to grow gladiolus the proper way.
- Especially during the summer, make sure that you mulch the surrounding of the corms in order to avoid the growth of weeds. If there are any weeds, make sure to pull them out.
