Gladiolus cormels for trade of other Gladiolus cormels

I have a bunch of Yellow (unknown name) and Peach (unknown name) Cormels they are mixed so i dont know which ones are which .... but i was wondering if anyone out there also has Cormels they are willing to trade ... i have them from large marble size to pea size.. i must have hundreds of them.. and i still have another 10 corms to dig up to collect the cormels... let me know.. i would just like to have a variety of colors other then yellow and peach... thanx a bunch!
chrissy

You have mail...

I have never dug up my glads, they have been in the ground for 2 years now. Question, where are the cormels,is there a post in here somewhere that describes them? I did a seach and didnt come up with anything.


Edited to say: sorry not trying to take over a thread but you guys were talking about cormels.

This message was edited Dec 10, 2003 12:58 AM

hi dravencat.. ur not taking over the thread..its a good question that alot of people dont know where the cormels are on glads... i posted a pic below.. the cormels are around the bottom of the corm... sometimes they get large enough to detatch themself and be right below the corm.. one bulb usually has alot of cormels.. i have had up to 20 on one corm... the best time to dig them up is after the leaves have turned brown... if u dig them up before that the corms tend to be small ... here is a pic that shows u where they are on the corm.. hope this helps,
Chrissy

Also Dravencat, here is a pic of what they actually look like... this pic is of my babie cormels i have in a glass jar... notice the different sizes.. the tiny ones u see are from the corms i dug up while the leaves where still green... the larger marble size ones are ones i dug up a couple of months later... i still have about another 10 to 15 to dig up and collect the babie corms.. what color or name do u have Dravencat? (:
chrissy

In my case, gladiolus bulbs work their way to the surface after a couple of years and I usually end up pulling out some cormels when I pull weeds or pull off dead foliage.

kelli, ur glads work their way to the surface???? hmmm never heard of that... how deep do u plant them? do u plant them pretty close to the surface.. the first year i planted mine i left them there without pulling them up.. i had at least twice as many glads come up this year and bloom.. this year i pulled them up and was suprised to see tons of glad cormels.. i have tons of freesia that multiplied... right now i have something growing out there i cant tell if its baby glads... i think it is.. i cant remember what the freesia foilage looks like.. i guess i will know once i see the bulb when i go to dig up the other glads, there are about 6 to 10 of them all new green leaves about 10 inches tall... anyway that is still very wierd for me to hear urs come out of the ground kelli... intresting! (:
chrissy

I can't dig all that deep because the soil is hard and because there are other plants very close, but I think I planted them about 4 inches deep.

well thats still deep enough.. mine where planted about that depth also...hmmm.. have u ever heard of anyone elses doing that?
chrissy

I think the new glad corm forms on top of the old one, so it's feasible that they would eventually work their way up. I would think it would take a long time.

Cheri'

That's so neat. I always assumed they spread by these cormels. I didn't know that a whole new corm formed on top of the old one! So does the one on top keep the one underneath from putting up leaves and flowers?

The corm underneath dies. All that is left of it by the end of the season is that flat disk that you find on the bottom of the good corm when you dig it up.

Huh, so do other corms/bulbs do this too?

All bulbs don't do this. I'm not sure if all corms do. Chasmanthe does, watsonia appears to, and I've not paid attention to freesia.

cici77, Ive got red, yellow, white, peach....hhm Im sure theres are at least one or two more colors but cant remember. I have no idea of the names, I bought these as a mixed bag. At the time I bought them I didnt give a fig about names I just wanted glads. lol hmm I know its December but the ground is still soft, would it be a good idea to go ahead and dig these up and put em away till spring? Would there be cormels after only 2 years? Maybe I should wait until I can identify the colors.I dont know. Those pics we perfect.
Now I have an idea of the itty bitty cormels I got from ebay one year. Soo tiny and dried out too. That was the first and last time I tried cormels. Thank you for showing me the difference, now I can have more stuff to trade. woohoo! Cici77 if you would like some of these I can go dig some up and send em to you for postage. I just wont know what colors Ill be sending.

This message was edited Dec 10, 2003 6:40 PM

ohhh Dravencat
that is very kind of u... do u grow gladiolus from seed??? (: if so i have some hit parade (a purple/fushia) seeds i can trade with u.... although seeds are not likey to be true to the parent... but eitherway i would love some... i love glads... i want every color of glad every growing... (: before i forget... i read in this book on glads i have written in the 50's that to speed the cormels sprouting up, squeeze the cormels ever-so slightly till the outter shell cracks.. this helps with two things.. one u can see if the corm inside this protective coating is there and not all shriveled up (which i have had about 10 to 15 of them look perfect only to crack them open and nothing but a tiny brown shriveled corm inside) they should be white/creme colored and fleshy like a tulip bulb.. and two, it takes less effort and time for the little baby cormel to push thru this protective coating... and it will sprout faster... how long has ur foilage been dead on ur glads? mine just recently turned brown... but we have warm weather here.. i dont know about ur area, if ur able to dig them up or not ... hmmm.. before u do, lets wait and see if someone else who knows more about glads and ur kind of weather if its safe... k.. (:

and cheri, i think the cormels develope on the new corm, at the bottom, i say this because when i dug mine up while they were still green the babies were popping out of the netting on the bottom of the full corm...and the old corm was undernieth the new corm..all dried up and flat looking.. take a look at the pic of the drawing i took a picture of out of my book.. (:
chrissy

cici77 - that makes good sense to me!

Cheri'

I hope someone comes in soon then, my interest is peaked here. The leaves on mine have been gone for at least a month now, not a problem there and the only thing I had planted around them were green beans. It snowed a couple of days ago but its been raining for the last two days and the temps are at 47F. I dont think I would have any problem digging right now. Ive got a couple of iris I bought for .59 a pack and I want to get them in the ground too, just not sure where to put them. I didnt plan on enlarging the front garden till spring. I wonder what DH will rhink of that, Ive already done it twice. LOL

I've not heard anyone else say that their gladiolus bulbs work their way to the surface like mine, but I've never asked about it, either.

cici77, freesia foliage looks almost like young glad foliage when it starts to come up, but stays slender and starts to flop over a little when it gets to the 1' stage.

cici77 Im up for just about anything, that color sound purtyful. I really need to get my butt out there and dig some up real quick, its almost 60 outside if you can believe it.

ohhh dravencat... i dont know what u should do... i would hate to tell u to go ahead and dig them up.. i would just DIE if it killed them.. although i doubt it would... but i just dont want that responsiblity... if u dig them up , are u planning on storing them??? i am gonna go on the net to see if there is anything that i can find about digging them up around this time of year.. what is ur nightly lows..? how many do u have? lets say u have 20 corms.. and u dig up 5 , and collect the cormels and store the adult corms.. that way u wont kill (if thats possible) all of them.. but thats up to u. i am in no way encouraging u to do that... i am saying if u do it, maybe thats one way u can.. if those 5 die... when i buy some other colors this spring , i will replace the ones that died.. ok.. and if they live i will send u babie cormels off the new colors i buy this spring when they go dormant in late nov. - early dec. for me... i want to get some light purples this year.. i hear our nurserys start carrieing them late dec. ...oh and can u email me ur address and i will mail those seeds out for ya... anyway ... kelli, i have never heard of that either.. i planted my glads spring 2002... and just started digging them up this year.. i will be intrested in seeing how close to the top my last set of cormels are... when u say they work their way to the top... do u mean they poke themselves out of the ground to where they are laying part-way out of the dirt .. or just reeeeeaaalllly close to the surface? and jkom51 , about what is growing now , it must be glad babies,... because these dont look like they are gonna be flopping anytime soon... they almost look like iris the way they fan out.. hmmm maybe i will take a pic and see what u guys think.. i SHOULD go out now and dig these glads up .. but it usually takes me a while , because i plant the corms right back in their hole, i better wait till tomarrow.. plus its 49 degrees out today(BURRRR),windy, raining and hailing! UGH! anyway i think that it for now.. i will go out and take a pic of those freesia/glads growing and post that... and dravencat, let me know what u decide to do, if u do it before i find out on the net...k... (:
chrissy

Approximately the top 1/3 of the corm is sticking out of the ground. It's a clump of several mature corms that needs to be thinned out, though I did that last year. Maybe that was a different clump.

You can send any of that unwanted rain this way. It is as dry as a bone here.

so if the cormels are forming under the new corm year after year, and the cormels are growing into corms, the laws of physics says something has got to move. LOL! If it can't push outward, it would have to push upward, wouldn't it?

I've never seen it, but I can believe that in certain circumstances glads would work their way out of the ground.

Now ya'll have got me thinking about glads, and how I need some .... dang it.

Cheri'

And the answer is.........???

lol, cheri ur funny.. want some baby cormels?? i got more then i can plant at this point and like i said before i have another batch to still dig up!!! so let me know if ya want some.. (: and by the way , u make sence about the pushing up thing.. it makes total sence.. now the next question for kelli is... is ur glads directly in the ground? or in a bed? and if they are in the ground ,is ur dirt hard concrete like dirt, to where the glads wouldnt be able to go downward.. now that i think of it.. a bunch of glads i had planted in 2002 seemed deeper then i had planted them and i have heard those and daffs, tulips and i think even lilies (correct me if i am wrong) prob. a bunch of other bulbs will pull themselves down deeper then planted.. sooo kelli.. where are ur glads planted? (: also u can have all the rain we just got... i am soooo not ready for winter... all the cold and rain.. UGH! but i guess i cant complain since we have had a pretty warm fall/winter... i went out and took those pics and froze to death.. (now its 42 degrees...) and here they are.. i also took pics of the destruction of what i "think" is borers on my weeping willows, granny smith apple, and weeping birtch tree.. while i am at it anybody know anything about those? the borers that is??? i am gonna post the question and pics of those on the tree forum or pest forum.. heck maybe even both!!!! its making me sick to see my trees in suck disarray... anyway guys here are the pics of what i think are the babie glads... what i thought could have been freesia.. but i really think its glad.. but why are they growing now???? maybe because of the warm weather..??? lets hear it guys.. i want all of ur opinions! (:
chrissy

and yet another pic of the taller ones growing...
chrissy

cici77, I havnt got my lazy butt out there yet but when I do Im just gonna store them in my basement till spring then put them back out. Im not gonna dig all of them either, maybe half. Ive been meaning to move them around anyway so it gives me the perfect reason to do so. As soon as I have em out and if they have some good sized cormels Ill let your know and get your address to mail them out and what not. Those seeds would be great, just a few would be cool. Im doing alot of personal firsts with seeds this year. Im so excited(dancing) and I just cant hide it(singing) laalallalal. you get the picture lol

My glads are planted in the native soil, you know, that grey adobe brick stuff that built Old California. (I call it magic soil, since it looks like nothing but actually is very fertile. The amount of biomass generated by a 1/4 acre lot in one week is incredible.) Oh, I add compost when I plant and all that good stuff, but it always reverts back to clay and I have learned to accept that.

well kelli, we dont have that grey stuff but i know whatu mean ... min eis that light brown concrete stuff.. kalichie (sp?) clay.. it gets waterlogged very easily.. so unfortunately all my bulbs go in raised beds.. it used to be farmed for alf-alfa and barley, but hasnt been farmed in a while .. anyway dravencat did u decide to pull them babies up or leave them till next year??? also send me ur addy and i'll mail u a few seeds.. i wish i could find the bag with most of those seeds i got .. there are a bunch more in the other bag.. oh well i'll find them... anyway .. kelli let me know when u get those cormels.. k..(: was there anyone else i was suppose to send corms to? if so let me know and i'll send them out for ya..
chrissy

Hey Sorry been working alot. I did pull a couple up today. Didnt have very many on there at all. Most of them were pea sized but a couple were marble or bigger. If its not too cold tomorrow Im going ot go dig some more cuz boy did it feel good to get dirty again. LOL. Now remember I cant remember what the colors are gonna be because I have them all mixed up, but as soon as Iget some more in here I will mail some out if you want them. Ive already got the boxes just in case.

As I was cleaning the dirt off of the bulbs I noticed alot of cormels in between the new and old corm, one set had twins. Now I know Im going to go dig some more up today, lol. Ok got to go clean something in this house so I can go dig.

Everything works its way to the top. Well, not everything but the rocks and the larger bulbs do. Maybe it is because the soil is so hard underneath here that the amended soil "moves" on top of it exposing the bulbs. it is a challenge to plant anything that needs to be very deep. I moved all of the bulbs this year into what has been the tomato patch.

I dug all of the bulbs out of this spot. Can't you tell? I sifted and everything but the narcissis are very sneaky. I only had 10 bulbs to begin with! and dug up twice that many and moved them lol. Ah well, my winter project is to dig out another 4 ft or so in front of this bed. (And paint the fence).

I could deal with everything big working its way to the top. When I was digging the glads I found out I didnt get all the roks out of the garden. At least if they came up then I wouldnt have to dig em out all the time.
Frogs you sound like me, gonna enlarge this garden another couple a feet. Im gonna do that with a big bed out front, a smaller one out back and now Im thinking of adding on to the one at the front stoop by taking it all along the front walk . Boy am I gonna have a busy summer

cici77 did you get the package?

hi dravencat, yes i emailed u this morning letting u know u suprised me with it!!!!(: when i first got the mail, i saw it and thought.. what in the world!!!! and when i saw the lable from sender and i just about died!!! i had forgotten in all together.. lol.. and here u thought i would think u forgot about me!!!! lol.. so now that its back in my brain, i will send urs out!!!! (: the recent ones i dug out were even bigger then the last although i dont know if they are as big as some of the big ones u sent me! but more like one size down from the big ones u sent me.. (: and those 'big ones' u sent me i think will give me a bloom or two.. they are not far off size from some of the ones i got at HD.. and i have gotten their bulbs before, and they started out small to begin with! (: but i want to send u a couple of extra bulbs/corms that i didnt plant that i got from Home Depot this season... i got have a few of 'hit parade' which the package shows a light purple edging with a lighter almost white center.. i think i have seen pics of that kind and it shows it almost all fushia.. so now i am confused.. but i have a couple of those and one or two light lilac glads that says its 'wind song' or something like that.. lol.. anyway let me know if u want those two kinds.. and i will send them out with ur babies.. k..(: and thanx again for the nice suprise in the mail! (:
chrissy

LOL Chrissy, I really thought you were just waiting on me. Im glad I gave you a nice surprise, I love giving surprises. I would love to have some of your extras if you want to send them. Im always up for new plants. At some point Im going to get some thta have those tear drop shapes in them, those are so pretty.
The big ones I sent you arnt even half the size of the biggest ones I have, those are bigger than a silver dollar, but I wanted you to hopefully have some bloom for you so I tried to send something that would give you that chance. I started some of the smaller cormels and already had shoots popping up, LOL and I gave that one to a friend of mine here so now Im going to start some more. Then I think Ill give those to my mom. Everything she has growing in her gardens I planted, she just kills unkillable plants. LOL so I plant stuff for her and then I know it will live and prosper. I go over to her house just to weed and mulch every spring. This year Im going to go to the recycling center and get some more of their mulch instead of buying it. I did that this fall for my yard and had to get like 3 truck loads,I didnt realize I had so much garden until then and Im going to be digging up more garden space this spring. LOL. I figure shell need about 2 truckloads and Ill just need to bring my wheelbarrow since she lives in a townhouse and I cant pack in front of her house because of the way the parking lot is. I love doing her garden, its the whole front yard.

well dravencat.. i know i have a few of the hit parade... oh u know what i also have a few of i think its either 'comet' or 'saturn' i think those are purple and yellow... here i put a pic of which one it is.. k.. i love seeing how the little babies grow.. they are too cute!!!! i had one about the size of the biggest size u gave me, but that was back in oct. and i gave it to my sister.. infact i gave her alot of the mommas because i had sooo many that had reproduced the year before... and the maamaa ones were about as wide as a baseball.. not as round of course cuz the corms are kinda flattish...lol..but u get what i am saying they were bigger then the palm of my hand,.. alot of mine where like that... i replanted most all of them and what i didnt i gave to my sister... oh i may drop a few freesia in the mail with the glad corms.. i forgot i dug them up.. i dont know what color they are... i think purple or yellow.. no i think they are a dark purple... anyway give them away or plant them.. whichever! (: funny u say that about ur moms garden because i have to go to my moms house here soon and plant some of the extra glads i have here,, i promised her.. (: shes all happy.. she has a beautiful garden.. my dad and my hubby built her a huuuge pergola (sp?) and she has boganvilia (sp?) on part of it and pink wisteria, climbing roses... ahhhh its just lovely... anyway gonna try today to get that package out for ya.. had to get my dripper system hooked up to all my new gardens yesterday... i had been waitiing tooo long to do it and hand watering them was just not cutting it!!!! lol
chrissy

opps forgot the pic of the glads...(:

Your mom's garden sounds beautiful. There just arnt many people around here who really do alot with their yards except cut the grass so whatever I put out is always new to them and to see me out there is something they are used to now I think. LOL Not a pretty sight on mornings I dont even bother to brush my hair first before I go out deadheading. LOL
Freesia sounds wonderful not matter the color. I keep meaning to get some but try and wait for the prices to go down, and then by the time they go down Im a day late with a pocketfull of money. Go figure. So yes freesia would be great!
I love seeing all of the new babies come up, especially on my daylilys. Im thinking about moving my bee balm tho because its starting to come up under some hostas and I dont want it taking over, I just planted them last spring and they had already started spreading. I could probrably send you some of that if your interested but you have to be careful where you plant it or just put it in a pot. Its the red one, reminds me of carrot top, but I do like it its very different to me how the petals grow. If you want some of that just let me know and Ill send you some when everything thaws out around here.