When are the onions dug up?
After the gladiolus has bloomed, the first step is to cut off the flower stem. Make sure you leave the leaves to stand, as the onion plants need them to store nutrients and trace elements in the tuber. The leaves turn yellow and brown towards autumn. Now is the right time to cut the leaves to about ten inches in length to cut off and dig up the onions.
also read
- Digging up flower bulbs - why, when and how it is done
- The gladiolus, a perennial flower beauty
- Diseases and pests of gladioli
Don't dig up too soon
Even if the gladioli are not very handsome with their browning foliage, you shouldn't make the mistake of digging up the bulbs too early. Only the shorter days and the cooler temperatures rain the Gladiolus bulb to grow vigorously. The longer the tubers stay in the ground, the more power they can store for the next year and the more beautiful they will sprout again.
Dig up the tubers
Be careful when digging up the onions to avoid damaging them. Proceed as follows:
- Pierce the digging fork in the earth between the gladioli and lift it up slightly.
- Gladiolus bulbs collect from the loose soil.
- Pay attention to small brood bulbs and select them as well.
- Check onions for pests or injuries.
The gladiolus bulbs form many small brood tubers, which you separate from the mother plant immediately after digging up and use them for the increase to be able to use.
Dry onions
Before final storage, the onions must be dried in an airy room. To do this, first roughly remove the soil and spread the gladioli loosely on newspaper. As soon as the adhering earth residues are completely dry, they are removed and the gladioli can be stored and overwintered.
Tips
You can transplant the excavated bulbs directly into flower pots. Gladioli take two to three years to flower. This time you can do your own offspring well in the pot Maintain and plant out together with the mother onions in the third or fourth year.
