What to Do with Gladiolus bulbils

I just dug up my Glads, and there were a lot of bulbils. Do I save them and plant them next spring, or do I need to plant them in pots? If so, what temps and light do they need during the winter? I'd really like more of these glads.....Thanks for any help in advance!

Kristie

Hi Kristy, the way I treat my Glads when I lift them, is that I dig them up with the foliage still attached, rub off the soil gently, then either hang them up in bundles, or flower colours etc, till the foliage has dried and gone brown (the foliage dying down while still on the bulbs help to feed the bulbs and build up strength for the next seasons flowers)this is best done in a cool dry place say like a laundry room IF you have the space or in an out of the way place where you can keep an eye on them from time to time, OR, make a wire mesh shelve/tray and still treated the same way, lay them on this wire till they are dried as before, then once they are dried, you will be able to tug the foliage gently from the bulbs, discard the foliage and either store the bulbs on trays away from light, mice or any other animals that may find them tasty to feed on over the winter storage, you will find a lot of tiny little bulb-lets attached to the parent bulbs, you either discard them or do as I do and plant them say a dozen to a pot of nice bulb compost till the are of flowering size in about 3 years time, therefore you increase your collection for free, when you look at your bulbs when the foliage has dried, you will also find an old looking bulb bit on the root end of the bulbs, once they are dry, remove this by giving it a gentle twist and it will come away, this is last years roots and bulb, to leave this on the bulb can sometimes cause rot or mould to set in and it will enter the healthy tissue of the bulbs, to store your dried and de-foliated bulbs, either group them into colours and hand them up in an old pair of tights (hosiery) or similar, as these bulbs seem to prefer an air flow around them, next spring, you plant them as before and add a good compost to the soil, sand if you have a heavy clay soil to help with drainage and some good animal manure well rotted or a multi purpose feed to the planting area or holes. hope this helps you to save your Glads for many more years to come, just remember to check them now and again while in storage so that any that become soft or mildew/mouldy can be removed so it dont spread to the others. WeeNel.

Hey WeeNel, good to see you again! Thanks again for all the info....unfortunately I cut off all the foliage already :( But, at least that's better than last year. As soon as they were done flowering I cut them down to the ground....slowly but surely I will get it through my head! Next year I will do exactly what you said though! As far as planting the bulbils, how big of a pot per dozen, and should I keep them inside or some place cool like a garage? If they need light while inside, they probably won't do well, because I get poor light in my house......thanks so much for all the help, WeeNel, you're great!

Kristie

wee nel--i was given a bag of white iris yesterday--i will wait for the leaves to dry like you said but why can't i just plant the bulbs into the ground then? won't they need the cold? i am hoping to plant them and let them be

weenel--i just saw your post for iris in beginners flowers so don't answer the previous question! i already got your answer!! thanks

Hi Kirsty, now you have me stumped, asking a long standing gardener what size of pot, well I cant go by the size as I just look at the pots I have (like hundreds) and think, oh that one will take that plant etc, but for your tiny little bulb-lets, as they are about the size of a small pea, I would say about the size of a tea cup coffee mug, and you pop them into the pot with compost and if you dont get heavy frost, they can go outside, or as you said, into the garage once potted up, keep an eye on them as they dont need to be watered, just enough to stop the compost going bone dry, spring time they can go outside for light, first year the growth will look like grass germinating as the tiny leaves look like that, then each autumn pop into a larger pot and store as before, the new spring foliage will still look grassy but slightly thicker and 3rd year as you increase the size of pot, look at the bulbs for size, they may be big enough to go into the ground for flowering, if not do the same for another year, remember, bulbs are not like perennial plants that increase by roots to get bigger, the bulb is actually the store cupboard for the following years growth therefore needs time to build up strength before they are able to flower, that's why it is better to let all the old foliage die back into the bulbs naturally as this is the bulbs way of building up energy as well as forming the flowers when they have matured enough to form flowers. I know this sounds like a long proses to get bulbs to reach maturity, but they are free, you know they came from healthy parents, you know the colour and size etc, so better free plants than toss them away, actually if you live in an area where you can leave the bulbs in the ground all year, nature does all this for you as in a few years your amount of bulbs will increase on there own and we dont even notice this happening, a lot of folks do it that way with lily bulbs and only have to split the clumps of bulbs up say every 4 years if they feel the amount of flowers are getting too big, just remember to label the pots or you will forget what's in the pots as they do look like grass for the first couple of years, good to add the date you potted them and if possible, the flower colour if you have a variety of colours, but a surprise colouring is sometimes good, if you dont note the flower colour when tiny, then once they do eventually flower, you can then label them so each year you can add them to your border to colour match whatever your growing beside them. hope all this helps, patience is required but rewarded for free in a few years time, Good luck. WeeNel.

Thanks WeeNel, great info....just one thing....you said plant them in a pot the size of a tea cup....does that mean just one or several? After this, I promise to stop asking silly questions!

Kristie

Hi Kirsty. first of all, there are no silly questions you can ask, if your not sure of something, then it sure aint silly, you just need an answer, so please dont feel silly, we all started somewhere and inexperienced, and had to learn by asking all the questions you are stumped at.
Yes, you will plant say about 8 to 12 of these tiny bulblets per small pot, as they are so small however, each year they will get a little larger hence the reason I suggested you repot them into a larger pot and store cool, protected for the winter and put outdoors come spring, do this for 3 to 4 years and your bulbs will be large enough to flower, sorry if I omited to be more informative but better asking that feeling frustrated by the lack of info. we gardeners think were so cleaver, but like you, were still all learning, take care Kirsty and happy gardening. WeeNel.

Thanks, that cleared it up for me! I'm so excited about my new(in 3 or 4 years) glads! Thanks WeeNel!

Kristie