Increasingly, gladioli become an ornament not only for the garden, but also for the balcony, open terrace or veranda, arbors. Grown in containers, pots or pots, flowers with original bouquets refresh windowsills, loggias, and garden paths.
Planting procedure for gladioli in pots
To grow gladiolus in pots or containers, you need to choose suitable varieties for this. Most suitable species with medium and small flowers, as well as varieties of miniature gladioli.
Did you know? The legend of gladiolus, which has come down to our time from ancient Rome, tells of two friends Sevte and Teresa. Being gladiators, friends refused to fight each other for the fun of the public, even by order of the emperor. The enraged Caesar ordered the execution of young men. At the time of their death, the swords of the gladiators turned into flowers. Since then, gladiolus is honored as a symbol of loyalty, respect and nobility.
Optimum landing times
Planting gladiolus begin in April - early May. Immediately the plants will not bloom, should pass two months after planting. Crops need to be covered for the first time with a film or with a trimming of a plastic bottle.
How to choose a pot for planting gladioli
Before you put the gladiolus in the spring in the pot, pick up the container with dimensions of 30 cm in depth and the same in diameter. Since several onions are planted in a container or in a pot for a lush bouquet, the planting containers must contain a sufficient amount of soil. At the bottom of the tank put a drain: pebble or expanded clay.
Attention! It is important that the container or pot necessarily had a drainage hole for the flow of excess water during watering, since gladioluses do not tolerate stagnant water at all.
How to prepare the substrate for planting
Remember, when planting gladioli in pots or vases, the soil in them will dry out more often than open ground. With this planting, use hydrogel and grumble the soil, it will not dry out much and become covered with mold. You can use the purchased substrate, while you need to know that gladioli like loose and fertile soil. Soil for flowers in pots should be structural and moisture-intensive.
How to choose a place for growing gladioli
Two weeks after planting shoots appear, now you need to find a good place for planting in a container. Gladioli like light and heat, categorically do not accept drafts. The place should be open, lighted and without drafts. The main secret of how to grow gladioli on a balcony is a heated balcony. If this room is cold, do not try - ruin the flowers and lose time. On a cold balcony, gladioli can only be in the summer and if your balcony is not blown. In the cold period of time it is better to transfer the flowers to the room on the window sill. Window sill can be insulated with foam.
Interesting! Gladiolus gained popularity in 300 BC. True, they were mostly used not for bouquets, but for food: casseroles, sauces and so on.
Care for container gladioli
For the cultivation of beautiful and healthy plants they need good lighting, regular, but moderate watering, feeding.
Watering the soil
To obtain lush beautiful flowers, you need the correct irrigation mode. Do not allow water to stagnate so that the roots do not rot. With a lack of moisture, the stem of the plant may be bent. In extreme heat, water a little bit two or three times a day, gently loosening it so that the flower does not suffocate.
Mulching and fertilizer soil
Gladioli require three meals a day during the season. Before the leaves appear, feed them with a nitrogen compound, then with nitrogen-potassium. At the time of the appearance of the peduncle, the composition should include nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium, with twice as much phosphorus. So that the soil does not dry out, you need to mulch. Gladioli in containers can be mulched with peat. Feed home flowers alternating mineral and organic compounds. Such complexes will strengthen the plants and ensure active development. Treat weakened flowers with growth stimulants (Zircon).
Garter plants
Gladiolus has large, elongated inflorescences that are hard for the plant to hold. There are two methods to help flowers in this matter: garter and hilling. For the garter, a rope stretched between the plants is used, on which the gladiolus can rest without the risk of breaking the trunk. When hilling, the plant is not only supported by an earth mound, but also breathes and feeds better.
Care for gladioli after flowering
Cultivation of gladioli involves care not only before or during the flowering period, but also after it. During this period, gladiolus is fed with phosphate-potassium fertilizers. Thanks to this, there is a good flow of nutrients from the stem to the bulb.
Important! When cutting gladioli in containers, leave a few leaves on it to nourish the bulb. Cut the flowers you need from plants that have blossoming lower flowers.During this period, watering provides an accumulation of beneficial elements in the bulb and lays future buds. When gladiolus has faded, do not cut the seed pods, but break them. So you will provide the bulbs with good nutrition and full passage of all biochemical processes. If this is not done, some of the nutrients will be wasted or the nutrition of the seed pods.
Digging and storage of corms
Gladioli are excavated at the end of October. If you dig up earlier, the bulbs will not be stored well. It is not advisable to remove the leaves when digging. Flowers gently raise a shovel, trying not to catch the tubers, and the stems hold their hand. After that shake off the sticking clumps of soil, cut off the large roots and lay on the film. It is better to cut off the yellowed parts of the stem, and leave the green ones - for some time the bulbs will receive food through them.
Flowers for a day dry in a dry place. Crowded babies are collected and cleaned, they are usually the most durable. When you decide to plant gladiolus in the spring, use these specimens for starters. They are treated with a solution of fungicide and dried, then sent to storage.
Prepared flowers are placed in boxes and placed in a warm (up to 25 ° C) room for two weeks. At the same time they need to be turned over, thus they are enriched with oxygen. After drying, the bulbs are separated from the mother and dried for about a month at + 22 ° C.
The best option for storage in the winter is a cardboard box with openings for air access. Wooden boxes are also suitable.
Remember! Do not store in polyethylene in any way: the bulbs just rot.
Store best in the cellar, there is the most suitable conditions. Carefully reading this article, you will find tips and recommendations for growing handsome gladioli, as well as the answer to the question of whether it is possible to grow gladioli on a balcony and how to do it.
