Every gardener sooner or later thinks about growing perennial gladioli outdoors. Such flowers look incredibly beautiful, which makes them a very original decoration for a flower bed or alpine hill. But they are afraid of the cold, which forces florists to move them indoors for the winter season. It is very important to properly store gladioli at home in winter.
Rules for digging bulbs
If you are interested in the peculiarities of storing gladioli at home in winter, it is important to carefully consider the procedure for digging flowers from open ground. It is known that this flower crop is very afraid of the cold, so it is important to have time to dig it up before the first frost.
But there is no need to rush to remove young specimens from the soil - at least 4 weeks should pass from the end of flowering for representatives of early varieties and about two months for late ones. During this period, the bulb will finally ripen in the ground and will be ready for new conditions. Otherwise, it will rot and die.
Important! It is important to note that blue, purple and lilac flowers are dug up first. This is due to their instability to fungal manifestations.
Experts advise digging up perennials in October, when the weather is dry outside, but the heat has already subsided. It is important to have time to prepare the crop before the onset of severe cold weather. In mid-latitudes, this period falls on the 10th–15th of the second autumn month. It is during this period of time that it is best to remove seed from the soil.
But performing such a procedure is only half the battle. The next important step is preparing the plants for the upcoming cold weather. To do this, the tubers need to be thoroughly dried and then treated with antifungal agents. Only after this are they removed indoors for further storage in the winter.
What to do if it’s a long time before planting, but the gladioli begin to sprout?
Mostly corms of gladioli from early and early-mid flowering periods begin to germinate prematurely. Their rest period is shorter than that of the middle and late ones. There is nothing wrong with early germination for gladioli. High-quality planting material without signs of disease will be preserved normally until planting.
Premature germination of corms can also begin when humidity and temperature increase. Make sure that the storage temperature of gladioli does not exceed +5...+7°; dry the damp corms. Wrap in new dry newspaper (craft bag) and place on the bottom shelf of the refrigerator - healthy corms with sprouts will be well preserved until planting.
Find out more about growing gladioli from this article >>>>
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.
We cut it correctly
The bulbs are trimmed, leaving a small “tail” of about 1 cm, and carefully cleaned of the children. The old corm is separated from the new one using a garden pruning knife. You cannot tear them off with your hands! If the children are difficult to separate, you can wait 2 weeks.
It is not recommended to peel the husks from gladioli: it is best to do this in the spring, before planting. It is then that it will be clear whether the onion is suitable for use or whether it is unhealthy.
What to do with the kids? Select large specimens, wash them and disinfect them. Until spring they should be stored at a temperature of -8–10°C. “Children” that have floated to the surface of the water cannot be planted.
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.
Choosing containers
Any container made of natural material is suitable for storage:
- cardboard box;
- fabric bag;
- paper bag;
- wooden box;
- mesh for vegetables.
Plastic and cellophane bags are not suitable because they do not allow the bulbs to “breathe”. You can wrap each one in newspaper to protect it from light.
To protect the tubers from insect pests, sprinkle them with powder, for example, Karbofos. You can also use the traditional method: put fresh garlic and dried mint leaves in a storage container. Check your inventory once a month.
Control of parasites
If dangerous pests such as thrips have managed to infect the crop, you need to know how to deal with them and how to store diseased tubers in winter. The success of overwintering depends on the timely detection of parasites in tubers.
Unfortunately, thrips is the least noticeable creature that can camouflage itself in the seed of gladioli, so gardeners often do not have time to notice it when examining the bulbs. To avoid storing affected specimens together with healthy ones, after removing them from the ground, it is necessary to carefully inspect each area.
To combat thrips, before moving the bulbs to wintering, it is necessary to use a highly effective product. For example, you can use :
- Alcohol solution. Experienced flower growers claim that alcohol is the main enemy of any flower pests. And thrips are no exception. To get rid of such parasites, just place the tubers in a glass container, and then put a swab soaked in alcohol in there and carefully close the jar. Within a few hours, dangerous creatures will appear on the surface and die. If this does not happen, the procedure can be repeated.
- The drug "Actellik". This product must be diluted with liquid in a ratio of 2 grams per liter. Then you need to place the seed in it and hold it there for five minutes. Then the bulbs are further dried at a temperature of 20−25 degrees Celsius.
- Decis solution. This product is sold in hardware stores and comes in the form of ampoules. Two ampoules are diluted in 10 liters of warm water, after which the excavated seed is placed in the prepared solution. After 30-40 minutes of treatment, the tubers are dried.
Healthy!
There are other effective means of combating thrips or any other parasites. The main thing is not to ignore the need to treat the bulbs before placing them in the house for winter storage.
How to plant?
Immediately before planting, gladiolus bulbs are soaked either in a special solution to strengthen the root system (sold in specialized flower shops) or in clean warm water. After six to eight hours of soaking, the tubers are saturated with moisture , after which they can be planted in the flowerbed.
The location for future planting of gladioli must be chosen in sunny, open areas (the flower loves the sun and warmth) with loose soil. Additionally, each hole is fertilized with organic fertilizer, ash, and sand is added. Seven days after planting, flower seedlings are fertilized with humus.
For active flowering, gladiolus needs a large amount of light, air and free space. Therefore, when planting, a distance of at least 15 cm must be left between the holes.
Storage conditions
To preserve gladioli for the winter, it is important to pay attention to the principles and conditions of their storage. Such plants easily endure winter not only in the cellar, basement or other dark space, but also directly in the house. Only for this you need to take care of certain conditions of detention, which include maintaining the required temperature, lighting conditions and humidity.
First of all, you need to take care of the temperature . It is no secret that gladioli can be stored longer in a cool environment with a temperature of 4−12 degrees Celsius. If this indicator is higher, the tubers will begin to produce green sprouts, which will lead to their death.
When storing at home, it is advisable to place such seed on a glazed balcony, using wooden boxes with ventilation holes and a lid that allows air to pass through. It is necessary to prevent the plants from suffocating. The structure should be moved to the balcony and placed on a shelf. If the temperature on the balcony is below zero, the bulbs should be covered with warm material, for example, old clothes or a fur coat.
Healthy!
An excellent alternative for a balcony is a regular refrigerator. The advantage of this method is the ability to independently change the temperature regime, which will allow the bulbs to remain in the best possible shape.
Each seed should be wrapped in newspaper and placed in a plastic bag. Small holes are made in it through which air will be supplied. Each package is placed in a separate compartment and stored there until the spring season arrives. Gladioli are normally stored together with fruits or vegetables.
We meet deadlines
To direct the strength of the blooming gladiolus to the formation of healthy bulbs, they should be cut when the flowers are partially open.
Every gardener would like to admire his flower garden for as long as possible, but if you neglect this advice, the number of healthy plants will decrease next year. The deadline for removing flowers is 2 weeks before harvesting. But calculate the time not only according to the region of residence, but also based on the weather. If it rains in the fall and the average temperature is around 10°C, dig up the bulbs earlier than the end of September.
In the south of Russia, most gardeners remove corms in mid-October, and some leave them in the ground, covering them. To avoid risks (winter may be too frosty), it is still recommended to store the tubers at home.
Common Mistakes
Many novice flower growers make a lot of mistakes when they start to figure out where and how to properly store gladioli for the winter.
Examples include the following situations::
- The club material is removed from the soil too early, which prevents it from drying out properly.
- Before placing the bulbs in the storage area, the grower did not treat them with fungicidal and insecticidal agents.
- The required temperature conditions for storage on the balcony were not met.
- The seed did not receive the required amount of air, which caused it to suffocate.
In addition, some gardeners fill a box or bag of tubers with sawdust or earth, believing that this will provide them with reliable protection from the cold. However, such care often leads to negative consequences, such as moisture penetration inside. In this case, rotting of the bulbs will occur much faster.
Preventive measures
Bulb affected by fungus
When gladioli are stored in unfavorable conditions (high humidity, unacceptable temperature, lack of ventilation), the tubers are more susceptible to dangerous diseases of viral, fungal or bacterial etiology. Pests lurking at the base of the foliage or under the scales of the bulbs can also be to blame. Breeders, constantly working to improve the species, use all kinds of chemicals, which also negatively affects the viability of the bulbous crop.
Signs of disease and freezing are lethargy, excessive lightness or hardness of the tuber, covered with green or brown mold, spots of different shades.
Gladiolus bulbs are susceptible to fungal infections, among which dry rot (fusarium) or sclerotinia . Yellowed thin leaves with crooked stems and dark spots on them are external signs of a plant being damaged by these insidious diseases. If such signs are detected, you should be wary, since the disease manifests itself on tubers as red-brown, black or yellowish depressed spots. Subsequently, the gladiolus bulb becomes stale and rots. Such tubers are not suitable for storage; it is better to remove them immediately.
Storing gladioli in winter is easy if you take a number of preventive measures in advance. Before storing them, you can disinfect them in a solution of Fundazol, and before planting them in the ground, dust them with dry powder of this drug. Contrast baths with alternate immersion of tubers in hot (55 C) and cold (4 C) water are also justified. It helps to treat the corms with a solution of baking soda immediately before planting (2.5 tablespoons of powder per bucket of water).
The timeliness of the measures taken will serve as prevention against diseases and protect healthy neighbors from infection. Selection of healthy material and compliance with storage conditions is the key to a healthy harvest.
Useful tips
To avoid such unpleasant situations and make storing gladioli bulbs as productive as possible, you need to take into account several recommendations from experienced gardeners. There is an opinion that planting material can withstand a long winter if it is regularly ventilated and checked for the presence of putrefactive formations or damaged areas.
If rot appears in any place on the onion, there is no need to rush to throw the onion in the trash. You can solve the problem in another way. To do this, you need to get rid of the affected part and treat the tuber with a weak solution of potassium permanganate. Then it is sprinkled with ash and placed in another place to avoid contamination of healthy specimens.
Very often, gladioli tubers begin to dry out. If this happens, don't panic. You just need to soak them in cool water for half an hour before planting them in open ground. For more productive rooting, water can be diluted with a stimulating substance.
As the warmth returns in the spring, the tubers will begin to germinate too quickly. In order for this process to be carried out as quickly as possible, it is better to move them to an environment with good lighting and a higher ambient temperature and maintain it there for several weeks.
It is not difficult to protect gladioli bulbs from death in winter. To do this, it is enough to take into account the principles of storage, as well as provide them with proper care. In this case, the seed will move freely from year to year, and will also produce healthy and beautiful flowers for the next warm season. The immune system of perennials becomes stronger every year, which makes their reproduction possible. Soon your favorite plants will transform your garden plot beyond recognition.
Preparation
must be properly prepared before storing in the refrigerator
The dug up planting material is carefully sorted (only strong, dense tubers without signs of rot or other damage are selected).- The sorted tubers are dried.
To do this, planting material is folded in one layer into mesh boxes, after which it is sent to dry in a warm, dry place (the air temperature should not fall below +24°C). Drying lasts for at least forty days (at the end, the babies are removed from the tubers, the dried stem and roots are cut off). - The bulbs are dipped in a weak solution of manganese (a few granules per liter of water are enough) for thirty minutes, after which the tubers are sent to dry again for another week. Treating the bulbs with antiseptic solutions is a very important step; it helps preserve planting material during storage from fungal and bacterial infections.
Flower tubers prepared for storage must be immediately sorted into varieties so that in the spring, when planting, there is no confusion.
