What is gladiolus? The royal splendor of the flowering of this plant will not leave anyone indifferent. Grace and exquisite shades of petals attract the eye and decorate life. Fantastic color combinations inspire the artist's envy. Florists do not cease to create ever new wonderful varieties of this amazing flower.
What do gladiolus flowers look like?
Gladiolus flowers belong to the Iris family. Gladiolus description is a perennial flowering tuberous bulbous plant. The habitat is subtropics and tropics of the African continent, the territory of the Mediterranean, southern Europe, the Caucasus, and Central Asia. By crossing African and European species, most cultivated plant species have been obtained.
The luxury of blooming gladioli
What does a gladiolus look like? It has long 40-80 cm xiphoid green leaves pointed at the ends, growing from the root. They close around a dense straight stem up to 1.5 m high with an inflorescence in the form of an ear located in its upper part. The number of flowers can reach 20, their density is rare and dense. The size of the flower with six petals in the shape of a funnel is from 5 to 15 cm. The petals are ordinary or corrugated, curved outward. The palette includes all colors: from white to deep purple. There are solid flowers and those in which several shades are combined.
Popular varieties
The most popular are tall hybrid varieties with large flowers. According to the shape of the flower, they are divided into:
- Butterfly - have closely spaced flowers with the original color of the pharynx.
- Primrose - up to 80 cm high, flowers are rarely located. The upper petal is up to 8 cm in diameter; its perianth hangs like a hood.
Gladiolus flowers are divided by size into 5 classes with indices of 100-500:
- (100) Miniature - less than 6.5 cm. Height - up to 60 cm, in an inflorescence of a triangular or primrose-shaped 15-16 small flowers with velvet, often corrugated petals. They are bred for growing in containers. The smallest are Small Walder (a small miracle) and Vi Volder (a tiny miracle) with pink flowers up to 5 cm.
- (200) Small-flowered - 6.5–9 cm, in beauty not inferior to varieties with large flowers. In the Cézan variety, the flowers are light red with a yellow pestle and a dark spot on the petal. Bright yellow Focus with a cherry stain. These two classes have advantages compared to large-flowered plants: at the same time they have more open flowers, the stem does not need a garter, the flowering time is early, they are resistant to the hot sun and rain.
- (300) Mid-flowering - 9-11.5 cm. Albit variety with a greenish spot on white petals. Arabian Knight has juicy burgundy and raspberry flowers. Elegy has velvety dark crimson.
Arabian Knight Charm
- (400) Large-flowered - 11.6-14 cm. Represented by varieties: Amethyst - pink with a dark red spot and dashes, Don Quixote flowers are velvety dark cherry in color.
- (500) Giant - more than 14 cm. They have powerful stems, covered with large flowers in the form of tropical butterflies, for which they received the name - gladiolus butterfly stroke. They begin to bloom in early summer and retain flowering until mid-autumn. White Prosperity has a spectacular white color of 15 cm in diameter, the height of the inflorescence is up to 1 m.
Exquisite purity White Prosperity
Unusual delicate greenish-yellow color of Green Star flowers for their original appearance, long flowering among gardeners received the title of "star". The height of the arrow may exceed 1 m.
Original color inflorescences Green Star
Annuals
Gladiolus is a perennial plant, but it does not tolerate cold. Frosty winter in Russia is not suitable for growing gladiolus as a perennial plant. In the autumn it is dug up, stored until spring and planted again, growing as an annual.
Perennial
Perennial are wild gladioli. Gladiolus (or skewer) imbricate (Gladiolus imbricatus) tolerates the Moscow Region winter without even shelter. With good care, he produces several inflorescences from 3-7 flowers of pinkish or purple-violet colors.
The Byzantine gladiolus (G. Bizantinus) is also frost-resistant. The flowers are small purple, turning into raspberry with a white vein. Having planted in open ground, it does not need to be dug up in the fall and covered for the winter.
Dwarf
These species have advantages: they are compact, bloom early, do not need support. They have a stalk height of up to 60 cm, asymmetrical flowers up to 10 pieces in inflorescence.
There are one-color varieties:
- "Charm" - pink;
- "Jade" is yellow green.
And two-tone:
- "Nymph" is red and white.
- "Sunmaid" is a mauve.
Additional Information! Recently, Dutch breeders have bred a new group of dwarf gladioli up to 50 cm tall. They are not suitable for cutting, but look great on flower beds.
By color
By color, hybrid varieties are divided into:
- Red gladioli - Baccarat, Zulu.
- Burgundy - Black Velvet.
- Pink - Prague.
- White - Tampere.
- Greens - Green Star.
- Yellow - Jester.
- Brown, smoky - Torino.
- Blue - Gates of Paradise.
- Blacks - Ebony Beauty.
In addition to these, there are raspberry, salmon, orange, purple and violet, blue.
The shape of the edges of the petal
In appearance, the petals can be:
- Simple;
- Terry;
- Folded;
- Corrugated;
- Draconic.
By arrangement of flowers in inflorescence
Arrangement of flowers happens:
- Single row;
- Double row;
- Another one is zigzag in a spiral.
Flowering time
Varieties are divided by time when gladioli bloom, the countdown is from the day of planting:
Bloom
- Early flowering - flowering begins on 71-74 days.
- Early - bloom on the 80th day after planting:
- "May Day" is a velvety two-row inflorescence of intense red color.
- “First Snow” - pure white flowers with white stamens.
- Medium - begin to bloom on the 90th day. For example, Moscow White Stone is a highly corrugated white with a creamy middle flowers.
- Later - bloom on the 100th day after planting. "Heaven" is a strong corrugation of large folds of flowers with rich raspberry lower petals and juicy overflows on the upper.
Flowering period
When do gladioli blossom after planting? Flowering time depends on the variety, climate of the region, planting time. When do gladioli bloom? Early varieties bloom in late July, medium - in late August - early September. Later varieties are covered with inflorescences in late September - early October. Early planting allows you to get early flowering, with late planting expect late flowering.
Additional Information! Planting too late may cause the gladiolus to not bloom.
How to accelerate the flowering of gladioli
You can speed up flowering gladioli by planting bulbs on seedlings in the ground. This method of growing gives earlier flowering, and the inflorescence is powerful, its color is brighter.
In addition, planting material is soaked in a solution of ash and trace elements that are part of:
- Boric acid - boron.
- Potassium permanganates - potassium, manganese.
- Copper sulfate - sulfur, copper.
- Magnesium sulfate - sulfur, magnesium.
- Zinc sulfate - sulfur, zinc.
This method gives the plant nutrition sufficient to start flowering 2 weeks ahead of schedule.
Flowering Plant Care
Bulbous and root-root plants almost do not require care, which can not be said about gladioli, which are waiting for constant attention. Care includes:
- Regular soil moisture to a greater depth.
- Loosening the soil and weeding weeds.
- Top dressing.
- Garter of high grades.
How to prolong flowering
To enjoy longer blooming, not all bulbs are planted at the same time, but with an interval of 15 days, then the flowering period will last.
Important! It is necessary to pick off fading flowers in time, then the plant will give all its strength to the flower, and not to the seeds that are formed, which will last the flowering.
Cut to a bouquet
You can cut off the inflorescence in the phase of the half-opened first bud. At moderate temperatures and in cloudy weather, cutting is carried out at any time of the day. The correct cut in hot weather is carried out early in the morning or in the evening, using a sharp knife.
Important! The remaining part of the peduncle should be in depth between the leaf plates, which leave at least 4, which guarantees the further growth of the bulb and its normal development.
The basic rules of growing
There are some rules that can be followed to achieve success in growing a flower:
- Every 2 years they change the landing site.
- When transplanting to another site, a place with soil is selected according to a type that differs from the previous one.
- Choose a bright, ventilated place.
- Varieties adapted to the area are planted.
- Maintain the correct landing depth.
- Plants are watered and fed.
- Regularly loosen the soil, weeds are harvested.
Note! Dug up corms must be stored properly to preserve them before planting.
Seat selection
Gladiolus flower is a sun-loving plant. Shadow and partial shade will make it fragile and shallow, flowers will make it weak, or even destroy it. The earth needs loose, suitable soil - semi-sandy, semi-clay or chernozem, with low acidity. An excellent “precursor” is legumes that enrich the soil with nitrogen and will be a protection against wireworm. The site is freed from weeds and roots.
Important! Every 2-3 years, the landing site must be changed.
When can I plant
The gladiolus is planted in a rather warm land: at a depth of 10 cm, the temperature should be 10 ° C, from April to mid-summer, depending on the region.
What depth do beds
The bulb is planted to a depth equal to three times its diameter, approximately 15 cm. The planting depth depends on the density of the soil, its composition: the denser it is, the less shallow the corms are planted. Accordingly, the depth of the beds will be different, but it should be slightly larger than the depth of landing.
Gladiolus Care
Proper care of gladioli contributes to normal growth and lush flowering. It includes:
- Thorough watering, sufficient soil moisture.
- Weeding and loosening.
- Top dressing with the use of liquid mineral fertilizers.
- Digging up and storing corms before planting.
Watering
The first time after planting is watered every 2-3 days to form a peduncle. In dry times, watered every evening, at the same time loosen and harvest weeds. It is advisable to use rain or settled water. It is watered between rows or previously prepared furrows, and not the plants themselves, a sufficient norm of water is 10-12 liters per square meter.
Important! Care must be taken to ensure that water does not get on the stems and leaves, which can cause rot.
Usually, watering is carried out 1 time per week early in the morning or in the evening. So that after irrigation a crust does not form, the soil is loosened to a depth of 5-6 cm, while hilling plants.
Note! Tilling is carried out 1 time in 10 days, regardless of whether it rained or not.
In dry times, watering is carried out after 3-4 days, otherwise the peduncle will become sluggish, and the flowers, without blooming, will wither. The roots of the gladiolus are located at a depth of up to 35 cm, the soil needs to be moistened to this depth, surface watering is not suitable for the plant.
Weeding
Particular attention should be paid to weeding during the appearance of sprouts, so that the weeds do not drown the seedlings. During the season, the site is weeded 3-4 times.
Additional Information! The presence of a large number of weeds contributes to the appearance of pests or diseases.
Spraying
After the first leaves appear, sprouts are sprayed. Use solutions to kill thrips, whiteflies.
Garter
After the buds appear, the arrows are tied to the pegs so that they do not break under the weight of the flowers.
Top dressing
Top dressing for the season is carried out 5 times. When the first leaves appear, fertilizers containing nitrogen are applied to grow green mass. After the appearance of 6 leaves, fertilize with potassium-phosphorus compounds. When buds are formed, top dressing is done a third time, during flowering, the fourth top dressing, and the fifth after cutting the stems of faded gladioli.
It is better to feed the plants in small portions, at the same time as watering. As organics, bird droppings are used, pouring it with water and insisting for 10 days.
Important! Fresh manure is strictly prohibited.
It is useful to carry out foliar top dressing with aqueous solutions of boric acid, potassium permanganate or mixtures of trace elements.
Possible problems in growing
The main danger is represented by diseases, fungal and bacterial, and insect pests.
Pests
More often the invasion of pests such as thrips, whiteflies, nematodes, and May beetles annoy. The treatment of plants with kalbofos will help to destroy pests. They give the results of planting next to the gladioli calendula, onion, garlic.
Disease
Gladiolus suffers from fungal diseases (this is rot, bacterial scab), an infectious disease - botrythiosis, viral diseases (this is mosaic, jaundice, ring spotting).
The best remedy against diseases is their prevention: the proper storage of planting material, the use of disinfectants, the destruction of diseased plants, and disinfection of the soil. To combat diseases, fungicides, potassium permanganate solutions, and copper-containing preparations are used.
Signs of improper care
Violation of agricultural cultivation techniques, dense planting, unsuitable soil type, rare digging of the site, preservation of plant residues and damaged plants on it lead to the appearance of diseases, contribute to the appearance of pests. The absence of flowering, the nondescript sluggish appearance of gladioli are the result of violation of storage conditions of corms, untimely treatment of plants from pests.
Composition of growing gladioli
Compliance with the rules of care guarantees lush flowering and healthy appearance of plants. A child will not be able to take care of the flower, but any beginner grower will be able to grow a beautiful flowering plant.
