Gladioli: care

These are the main characteristics of the genus Gladioli:

• They are native to the Middle East, southern Africa and southern Europe.
• Its “bulbs” are actually called corms.
• Its flower spikes show a wide range of colors. These range from warm, reddish and yellowish tones, to cooler tones such as violet and purple.
• The flowers can also have a great variety of sizes.
• The plant reaches heights of up to one and a half meters.
• Like most bulbs, it is a genus of perennial plants.
• Its flowering usually occurs between the summer and autumn months.
• They are temperate climate plants.

If you like this type of plants, we recommend you to know these 15 bulb plants: names, characteristics and photos.

To summarize, these are the basic gladiolus care:

• Light: the vast majority of gladioli need a large amount of light.
• Climate: its ideal temperature is from 10 ºC to 24 ºC
• Soil: sandy, with very good drainage
• Irrigation: moderate, abundant in its early stages
• Subscriber: from when the plant reaches a height of 25 cm and once more at the beginning of flowering.
• Trellising: the highest species need it.

Gladioli, being a plant typical of temperate climates as it is the case of the Mediterranean where they flourish in a spectacular way, they need to receive a constant sunlight. In fact, in the case of not receiving it, it is very possible that it will not produce any flower. However, if we are in a climate with high temperatures, we recommend placing the plant in a half shade so that it is not always exposed to sunlight, since this can not only damage the flowers but also the stems. Therefore, it will be better for the plant to remain covered during the hours of greatest solar intensity.

As we have commented above, most of the species of this genus are found in optimal conditions in a range of temperatures that goes from 10ºC to 24ºC. It is, therefore, plants of temperate climate. Although there are exceptions, such as the case of the Gladious nanuswhich can withstand temperatures typical of colder climates, although not extreme.

These plants can adapt to a large number of soil types, as long as they offer good drainage. If what we want is to offer them optimal conditions, our gladioli will appreciate having a loose sandy soil. If you do not have a soil of these characteristics, it will be enough to locate your gladioli somewhere where vegetables have grown.

The gladiolus watering it should only be abundant in early stages of plant growth. In this phase we must prevent the soil from drying out completely at any time. After the initial stage, watering should be reduced somewhat, although it is important that the plant does not lack water before flowering, since if this were the case, it could not flower. For this reason, it is important adequate soil drainagewhich allows us to provide constant irrigation without ever flooding.

You can consult this other article to learn more about When to water the plants.

Gladioli will grow with much more vitality in soils enriched with organic fertilizer such as compost. However, you should be careful to avoid using manure or chicken manure: these plants tend not to react well to it. Therefore, as always, the earthworm humus It will be one of our best allies in the cultivation of gladioli, since it provides a large amount of nutrients to the soil as well as favoring the development of beneficial microorganisms.

Here you can learn how to make earthworm humus.

It is very important to keep the gladiolus soil free of weeds and adventitious plants, as these plants are not good at competing for nutrients. Also, the taller species will need their flower pods to be tutored or guidedsince if they are not supported they can bend and fall to the ground.

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