This regal plant does not often decorate flower beds - the inflorescences quickly lose their appearance and become sloppy, but for cutting it is unrivaled. This is precisely why gladioli are most often grown. This is a corm-like perennial plant native to the African subtropics. Over several centuries of breeding work, many varieties have been developed that are striking in color and size. But gladiolus did not learn to winter in our conditions.
Bulbs that renew themselves annually need to be dug up. Proper storage of gladioli will allow you to admire their flowers next year. To make it lush, you need to provide suitable conditions for storing gladioli bulbs in the winter in an apartment or cellar, carry out treatments against diseases and pests, and dry the planting material well. Its humidity should not exceed 14%.
Why do you need to dig up gladioli for the winter?
Gladioli are heat-loving plants that can winter safely only at above-zero temperatures outside if they are first covered with covering material for the winter. Russia has a rather harsh climate, so the flower, which reproduces by bulbs, must be dug up for the winter.
When the outside temperature reaches +9°C, most plants go to sleep to begin a new growing cycle in the spring.
In addition to low temperatures, gladiolus is also threatened by other dangerous factors:
- infectious diseases;
- fungi;
- rot;
- pests;
- rodents.
Therefore, even in warm climates, there is a high risk that the plant will not overwinter in open ground. Knowing how to properly dig up and store gladioli in the fall, you can propagate expensive varietal material and successfully preserve it for later planting.
Do I need to dig up gladioli for the winter?
Galina Aleksandrovna Kizima
Well-known gardener-practitioner, candidate of technical sciences. He runs the “6 acres” column in the Kaleidoscope newspaper, gives lectures at the Gardener’s House and on Radio Maria, and is the author of many articles and books on gardening.
Gladiolus has a two-tiered root system. Tuber buds form on the mother bulb in its upper part. If a large bulb dies in winter from freezing or excess moisture in the soil, the tuber will go deep into the soil along with the root system and die due to lack of nutrients.
Choosing a place
If you live in a private house, the ideal place to store gladioli is the cellar. It should be dry, cool, but not freezing. But if you store apples in the basement, you cannot put flower tubers there - they will rot. An attic, barn, storage room or canopy is also suitable. The optimal storage temperature for planting material is 5-10°C.
If you live in an apartment, finding a place is more difficult. It is not recommended to store gladioli in the refrigerator: the humidity there is too high, due to which the bulbs will germinate within a month. Any cool room away from batteries is suitable for storage. If the window sills are cold, they will also work. A cool, but not freezing, glazed balcony in winter is also suitable.
Preparing and storing gladioli in winter is not an easy task that requires care and responsibility. Regularly check the temperature of the room in which the tubers lie and throw out diseased ones in a timely manner so that the bright flowers will delight you with their attractiveness in the summer.
Optimal timing for harvesting gladioli for the winter
All bulbous plants are dug out of the soil for the winter immediately after flowering. Before this you need to let them ripen. If this is not done, the bulb will not have time to accumulate nutrients that will help it survive the winter and then bloom profusely next summer. An unripe bulb may shoot without flower stalks or may not sprout at all after planting.
The surface part of the gladiolus will help you choose the right time. As soon as it completely turns yellow and dies, you can start working.
If you need to speed up the aging process of varieties that bloom in September, cut off the upper stems with flowers, leaving three at the bottom. The cut is made with a sharp knife at an angle of 45° and treated with potassium permanganate so that the gladiolus does not become infected with fungal and infectious diseases.
The timing should be based on the type and variety. Early flowering varieties are dug up earlier. After them, late varieties are dug up in the fall.
Experts also recommend following the digging order, taking into account the colors of their buds. First, you need to remove varieties whose flowers have the following colors:
- black;
- burgundy red;
- purple;
- purple;
- blue.
These species suffer more than others from mold, mildew and infectious diseases. To propagate rare varieties, it is imperative to leave shoots with flowers to allow the seed to ripen well.
Flowers grown from children are dug up last so that they have time to grow to normal size.
Pest protection
Every caring gardener should be able to properly store gladioli bulbs in an apartment in winter and know what is needed for this. An important step in storing such flowers is protection from all kinds of pests. Among them are thrips. To avoid damage to the crop by such dangerous creatures, the bulbs need to be treated with the drug “Inta-vir”. After this, they need to be dried again.
As an effective protective drug, you can use ready-made store-bought or homemade products based on the following ingredients :
- 200 ml water;
- 1 head of garlic.
The garlic cloves must be thoroughly chopped and then transferred to water. After 20-30 minutes of infusion, the bulbs are treated with the prepared solution. Then the tubers are removed from the liquid, and after final drying they are removed for further storage.
There are other equally effective ways to protect gladioli seed from various pests. For example, they can be treated with candle paraffin , which is preheated and used to treat the bulb. Once the substance has hardened, the tubers are moved to storage boxes. This method prevents the early development of tubers - they will not begin to grow before the set time.
How to properly dig up gladioli bulbs
Flower growers should know how to properly dig up gladioli in the fall and then store them all winter. First, remove the tying material. Then they dig up the bulbs. Garden tools should be inserted vertically into the ground at a distance of 7-10 cm from the stem so as not to damage the roots.
The earthen ball is lifted on a shovel, after which the gladiolus is pulled out of the ground by hand by the stem and placed on a prepared area. All the children gather from the hole so that the soil does not become clogged in the spring.
The stems are cut off or broken off immediately. The soil is removed from the bulbs. If necessary, they can be washed and then dried in an open place. The main onion is separated by cutting off its roots completely. Only intact specimens should be stored without damage. Plants can only be dug up in dry weather.
Bulb digging period
Gladioli are dug up in the fall, starting in the second half of September, 35-45 days after the end of flowering. Corms that are ripe for digging are covered with root scales. The babies, which are loosely attached to the mother's bulb, are also covered with dense scales.
Digging should be done in good dry weather. First, bulbs of early varieties are dug up, then later ones. At the end, children and small bulbs are dug out. If brown or black spots are found on the corms, then digging should be done earlier to protect them from infection with other diseases.
Before starting work, the stems should be mowed or trimmed with pruning shears.
Preparation and processing of corms
Having studied the rules of digging and specified the time, you will need to carefully study the methods of processing the bulbs. When to dig up gladioli after flowering in the open ground at a dacha in the fall in the Middle Zone or in another Russian region, how to process them and how to properly store them in winter - all this is important for preserving gladioli until next spring.
When to take bulbs out of the refrigerator to sprout?
Gladioli should be removed from the refrigerator approximately a month before the date of planned planting in the ground. It is this time that is necessary for normalization of the flow of biological processes inside the biomaterial and successful “awakening”.
Planting in the middle zone should be planned for early April; accordingly, it is recommended to remove gladioli bulbs from the refrigerator in early to mid-March. Sometimes 20 days are enough for the formation of full-fledged arrows and the pipping of a bud.
Advice! Gladiolus bulbs should be buried 7-10 cm. It is better to plant them. When the stable air temperature in the morning reaches 10 degrees.
After removing the bulbs from the refrigerator, they should be prepared for planting as follows:
- The bulb should be freed from scales and examined. The surface of high-quality planting material should be shiny and pale yellow or cream in color.
- The root embryos should hatch on the surface; they are white and look like dense buds.
- Shrunken and wrinkled specimens should be planted separately, otherwise they may affect healthy specimens.
- If there are brown or bright crimson dots on the bulb, they should be cut off and then treated with a preparation to prevent rotting processes.
- The bulbs should be placed in cardboard boxes and the date of germination should be marked. After 2-3 weeks, the dormant buds should hatch. It is worth planting the bulbs in the ground when the sprout reaches 4 cm in height. He should get stronger.
The process of storing gladioli bulbs in the refrigerator in the winter is simple, and if certain germination rules are followed, the flower harvest will be rich.
Methods for storing gladioli bulbs
In order to get beautiful gladioli next year, you need not only to know when to dig up the bulbs in the fall and how to store them in the winter, but what place to store them.
First, the planting material needs to be kept for a month in a warm room, where the temperature is kept at 20-25°C, regularly checking it for integrity. Specimens with rot and deformation are rejected, after which only the whole material is sent for winter storage, having selected the optimal option for wintering gladioli.
You can store it in different places where the following conditions are met:
- air temperature from +3 to +8°С;
- humidity no more than 65-70%;
- lack of light.
Different places may meet these conditions, so the gardener will always choose the most suitable option for winter storage of gladioli.
In the apartment or on the balcony
City residents can store bulbs in their apartment between balcony doors or window openings, placing them in cardboard boxes. The ideal option would be an insulated loggia with a cabinet on which you can control the air temperature.
If there is a strong drop in temperature, bring the bulbs into the room or additionally cover the boxes, protecting them from freezing. You can store planting material in a foam or cardboard box with small holes for ventilation.
In the cellar or basement
Owners of a country house can store seeding material in the basement or cellar along with vegetables. The box should be placed in a remote corner so that it does not absorb moisture. For storage, wooden boxes with sand are used, which are installed on racks.
In the trench
In the south, gladioli can be stored in prepared trenches 80 cm deep and 70 cm wide. The bulbs are laid out in wooden boxes, covered with sawdust and installed in the trenches.
A layer of straw or dry leaves is placed on top, and then covering material. Laying in trenches should be carried out in warm weather, when frost has not yet set in.
In a refrigerator
If there are few flowers on the site, you can store them in a regular refrigerator, in the vegetable compartment, wrapping each bulb in several layers of paper. At the end of winter, the bulbs need to be taken out, dried in a dark, warm place and wrapped again in paper, placing them on a shelf with a lower temperature.
In bags
Most often, bags made of natural fabric are used as packaging. As a rule, garlic or mothballs are placed in them to protect against pests.
This packaging allows air to pass through well and protects from light. If there is a shortage of space, they are hung in a dark, cool room.
In a warm attic
If you have a country house with an insulated attic, you can store gladioli in boxes there, placing them closer to the pipe. Each bulb must be wrapped in paper so that the moisture does not erode from them, sorting them according to variety.
In the pantry
In such a place you can hang the bulbs in bags or in old nylon tights under the ceiling. It is important that the room temperature is kept at +7...+10°C.
In the ash or in the river sand
To maintain an optimal microclimate, the bulbs can be stored in wood ash or river sand, which is pre-calcined in the oven. It is important that they remain dry throughout the winter.
The bulbs prepared for winter storage are covered with ash or sand so that they are completely covered.
Removal of gladioli tubers
Storing bulbs for the winter begins with digging up planting material from the soil. This procedure is best performed after the substrate has thoroughly dried. It should not be watered for several weeks before the event. Using a garden tool, you need to dig the ground to a depth of 30-40 centimeters and remove the bulb. First, large specimens should be removed from the soil, and then small ones. The remaining green stems are cut off before digging begins or during the process.
After this, the dug tubers are cleaned of soil residues using a dry cloth. At this stage, it is important to make sure that they are healthy and free from such defects as :
- traces of mold;
- putrefactive formations;
- ulcers;
- affected by the disease.
Attention!
It is important to understand that even one affected element can lead to the death of all the others. Inattention to seed material is a serious threat to the future flower plantation.
Drying the dug up bulbs can be done both at home and in an open space on the street. But this is only possible in dry and warm weather for several weeks. To dry gladioli, you must use cardboard boxes lined with paper. Under good weather conditions, the seed will dry in 14 days. Over this period of time, the skin will turn brown and become rough. If you touch it, you can hear rustling sounds.
When grown at home, the bulbs are dried at a temperature of 22-25 degrees Celsius. As the skin dries, the temperature can be changed to 17-18 degrees.
To avoid tubers being damaged by fungal diseases, they must be treated with fungicides before removal. For this, a solution of potassium permanganate or copper sulfate is used, which prevents the problem of pathogenic microorganisms on plants and forms a natural protection for the material from dangerous diseases and fungi. The mentioned product must be diluted in water, and then the tubers should be immersed in it for half an hour.
Ultimately, the treated bulbs are removed from the liquid and re-dried in the apartment. If the husks are completely dry and begin to rustle, the planting material can be placed in a suitable space for long-term storage.
In the box
A box or box made of any material, but always perforated, is suitable for storing tubers. Air enters the bulbs through the holes, without which they will die.
Each variety of gladioli is placed in a separate box, not covered with a lid, and put away. For reliability, you can install a thermometer and a humidity controller in the box in order to notice changes in storage conditions in time and rearrange the bulbs.
How to store roses in the cellar in winter
Not all roses survive wintering on the site: some cannot withstand severe frosts, others cannot withstand spring damping off. Fortunately, roses are quite easy to store in the cellar.
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People in our extreme regions (North, Far East) annually dig up (with a large lump of earth) adult roses and store them in winter in cellars and basements. This is how they grow for a long time.
- Dig up the roses (the bushes should already be without leaves) with a lump of earth, or wrap the roots in a clay mash;
- Wait until the mash dries, place the roses in bags with slightly moistened sawdust, each rose in its own bag;
- Puncture the bags in several places to allow air to enter;
- Place in boxes and take to the cellar.
- Roses in the cellar should be checked regularly; if the shoot looks suspicious, the plant should be taken home and cut off. The cutting area must be covered with clay or garden varnish. Sawdust in bags must be moistened as it dries.
In spring, roses should be removed from the cellar, placed in containers with peat and left on the veranda or balcony before planting, avoiding open sun.
Tuber diseases and how to treat them
The bulbs are inspected monthly. This must be done so that if a disease is detected, the bulbs can be treated in time.
There are two possible problems:
- Gray mold, which appears due to high air humidity. If it is detected, it is necessary to dry it and replace the paper.
- Thrips. If bulbs damaged by this disease are detected, sorting is done, the diseased ones are removed, and the rest are treated with Hom. You can also put them in a container where cotton wool, previously soaked in medical alcohol, is placed, after which the containers are tightly closed with a lid. After some time, they are pulled out and dried. It is worth repeating the procedure again four days after the first treatment.
In addition, some gardeners use the following technique. They sprinkle the plant's bulbs with regular cockroach powder, and do it twice. Once before laying for the winter, the second in January. This helps keep the root vegetables fresh and healthy.
Buying new bulbs every year is quite expensive, but you don’t have to do this if you care for them properly. To do this, it is enough to follow all the recommendations and then every year magnificent gladioli will bloom in the garden, pleasing to the eye.
In the hole
Gardeners preserve seed in winter by simply burying it in the ground. You need to make an oblong hole and fill it with boxes of gladioli. You cannot sprinkle soil on the corms; first they are covered with dry sawdust, and then the containers are covered with film.
Preparing gladioli tubers for planting in spring: 6 useful tips
With any method of storing gladioli, it is necessary to maintain a temperature regime of 3-8°C and control humidity. Only in this case will the corms survive the winter well and be ready for planting in the spring.
Timing for digging up gladioli in different regions
The gladiolus bulb does not tolerate sub-zero temperatures at all. Even at -2°C it will die , which means it must be dug up before frost. Since the weather is changeable from year to year, you can watch for the right time and be left without flowers. Therefore, it is better to do this a little in advance, so that there is time to prepare the gladioli bulbs for long-term storage in the winter.
When should you dig up flower tubers to save them for next year? The ideal period for digging up bulbs is autumn ; literally a month after the end of the gladiolus flowering, you can cut the stem and dig up the bulb. In the south of Russia this can be done in October; in the northern regions, preparations for winter begin at the end of August. Usually by this time the leaves and stems of the plant dry out.
Digging up gladioli
If you plant late varieties in the northern regions, frost may occur by the time the bulbs are harvested. You should not wait until the greens begin to fade; such varieties can be cut with a knife as soon as the buds begin to bloom. Gladiolus lasts a long time when cut, so the flowers will fully open in the vase. In the meantime, the bulbs need to be left in the ground for another couple of weeks to ripen. After this time, you can dig.
On a note! In gladiolus with a cut peduncle, the ripening of the bulb occurs faster.
Different varieties of this plant bloom at different times. Therefore, the timing of digging varieties varies. First of all, the early varieties are extracted from the soil, then the mid-flowering varieties, and the last ones are the late ones. If last year's plants are planted in the ground, they may not bloom this year. They need more time for the bulbs to ripen, so they are dug up last.
Bulbs are not left in the ground for a long time because they can become infected with various fungal and bacterial diseases. The varieties that are most susceptible to disease are red, burgundy and other dark colored varieties. Therefore, they need to be dug out first. Late digging is also bad because the babies begin to separate from the mother tuber on their own and are difficult to find in the ground.
