In summer: leave green on the gladiolus bulbs
If the gladioli have bloomed, only the flower stem is allowed to start get cut. You should leave all green on the plant. This allows the tuber to continue to grow and gain enough strength for the next year by autumn.
also read
- Hibernate gladioli in the cellar
- How are gladioli placed correctly?
- Which gladioli are allowed to hibernate outside?
Dig up tubers in October
One of the care measures in the autumn garden is the excavation the Gladiolus bulbs. First, shorten the foliage to about four inches. Then, when digging up the onions, proceed as follows:
- Carefully prick the earth with a digging fork and lift the clod up.
- Collect the onions, separating the small bulbs from the parent tuber.
- Roughly remove the soil from the onions and let them dry.
Off to winter quarters
The gladiolus bulbs should only be placed on newspaper for about a week. During this time, the soil dries up completely and can be easily removed. Even shriveled and dead parts of the onion are carefully broken off on this occasion.
There are several methods of overwintering gladiolus bulbs. You can these:
- layer loosely in wooden boxes
- individually wrap in newspaper
- dig in a container filled with a mixture of sand and earth.
However, it is important that the room is not warmer than five degrees, as the gladiolus bulbs inevitably begin to drift at higher temperatures.
Tips
High humidity, such as that found in many basement rooms, inevitably leads to rot. You can prevent this by drying the gladiolus bulbs in Sawdust overwinter and change them regularly.