Gladiolus

My son busy planting Gladiolus.
I bought 9 new varieties today. About 60 of each. These will multiply so we will have many in a few years.
Bernie

You look like you plant in a fairly deep furrow. Do you cover so they are level with the ground or do you hill them up? How do you keep them standing up, Bernie? I was going to plant flat on the ground this year and hill them up with the little tractor and hiller attachment.

I forgot to ask, Bernie, where do you find your best buy on corms for the glads?

I got some at Sam's Club & some at Wal-Mart. There is probably lower prices elseware, but I only wanted a few of each.
Thrench is about 6" deep, cover a couple inchs now & then each time we cultivate. A drip tape will be laid along the row & also be buried. Finally hill them up later.
About 8" underground when we are done.
Bernie

Does this mean I can plant my glads in zone 5 now? Thanks, Jody

Sure thing!

YAY!!!! They are going out today then, I have to start back on my meds tonight. Ick. Can I plant my other summer bulbs too? Jody

Seasons over, so today we started digging. Our second year corms are huge!
The first year ones are thick! We planted all the little bulbettes from last year. (They were pea size & smaller.) Now these bulbs are good size. They will bloom next year. We have 2 rows. We have picked up only part of one row & have 3, 5 gallon pails full.
The new varieties gained pretty good for the most part. Lots of doubles & some triples. Some have lots of bulbettes. Couple varieties only have a couple of corms left. All these new ones I am going to keep separate so I can sell corms next year, 2006.
This pic is the second year corms.
Bernie

The row on the right are the second year glads. On the left are the ones from bulbettes.
The little white spots on the corms in the first picture are bulbettes.

Wow, Bernie! How many do you have planted in that field?
Terrie

We started out with 20,000 corms 3 years ago. Don't really know how many we have now.
We were able to cut 100 bunches of flowers, each week, for a number of weeks. 6 to bunch. Then the thrips got so bad the flowers were no longer good.
We have a plan of attack for next year, live & learn!
Bernie

Bernie,

I appreciate looking over all your threads on this flower! I planted my first bulbs of them this year and was impressed at how pretty they are! And that they came up the first year! Unfortunately I have a bed that wasn't properly removed of the grass first and will need to remove all the bulbs once spent this winter and redo the bed. Always grateful to have a gardening project in the works though! And I'll be able to buy more glad bulbs. I got mine at Sam's Club (probably a big no-no for a pro like yourself) but I got 100 bulbs of various colors for only 14 bucks. Not bad!

We bought 500 each of 11 new colors. Planted 250 of each, 2 plantings about 2 weeks apart.
First picture is first planting. Planted June 6, they are nearing end of bloom.
Bernie

This planting went in June 20. They are just starting to bloom.

Planning on adding many colors next year. We are finally getting people back to buying Glads right. A couple vendors screwed it all up a number of years ago & it takes forever to re-educate the public.
Bernie
Tried to get a shot of the whole field.
The things planted between the glads allow me to drive the sprayer thru. I need to spray about ever 5 to 10 days for thrips.

This message was edited Sep 9, 2006 10:21 PM

Why would people stop buying glads? They are a favorite of mine so I am curious...

What color is your best seller?

Everybody has different preference, so all sell well.
Bernie

bernie...so glad your glads did well....the ones i bought from sams this year didnt do a thing for me.....some leaves came up but no flowers...

Bernie, how close together do you plant the corms? I can see the space between the rows, but it looks from the picture that you plant the rows much thicker than me. I just plant one row in my backyard, planting the corms about 5" apart. You can see from the picture it's not very pretty, just a row of soldiers. Now I'm thinking I can plant more of them and put them closer together.

We plant them nearly touching each other. The pea size bulbettes we just dump in the row. Some of them even bloom.
Rows are 38" apart.
Bernie

thanks, I think I'll squeeze more in next summer

Bernie, what do you spray with for thrips?
Do you treat the corms with fungicide before you plant?

(I want to do what you do!)

For Thrips, just use anything with them on the label. You need to change from one to another or they get immune.
Orthene is good. Spray once a week.
The ones you buy are already "clean" & ready to plant. From a wholesaler, not in little packages. (You will be buying some at Wal Mart or Sam's or HD). You won't be able to resist!
Come spend the summer & get hands on training. LOL!
We are going to try Dahlias for cut flowers this year too.
Bernie

Bernie, if I didn't have all the dogs I do, I'd take you up on that suggestion! I'm best as an experiential learner.
I won't be buying them at those stores because we don't have any within 145 miles or so, and because you told me a better way!

I'm growing my first 3 dahlias this year as well. All from DG trades. :-)

How would I go about asking a farmer with a trackor to prepare my land for me? There is at least one who grows grapes on my road, but I'm so shy....and don't know how/when to ask or what to offer in renumeration. Suggestions?

A fellow gardener would probably do it for little amount.
Most farmers are friendly. Just go introduce yourself & tell him what you are up to. You may be surprised at what he may offer.
Then, in mid summer, drop in with a nice bunch of flowers.
I've made some great connections just by going the extra mile.
Bernie

I'm happy to go the extra two or five, once I get the first foot travelled (going to someone's door just makes me nervous! Maybe with cookies in hand.)

Chocolate chip would make me melt! LOL!

With walnuts?

No.
Fudge with walnuts to go along with the cookies.

lol

Bernie, I have wanted to plant my April glads deeper, but my soil that I am planting them in is too clammy to go deeper than 4 inches then. I believe that 6 inches deep and a little hilling is the right way. However it seems we have had so much in spring rains that I don't like to put them down in wetter soil....probably wouldn't hurt them perhaps? Also those thrips are hard on late plantings!