AREA SELECTION AND PREPARATION

Plow, rototill or spade your soil as you would for any other garden plants, it is best to move your glad planting from one area to another each year to help prevent disease carryover in the soil.

If soil tests or other reliable indicators points to a lack of nutrients, a balanced commercial fertilizer such as 5-10-10 may be incorporated into the soil immediately prior to planting, at a rate of 2-3 pounds per 100 square feet. Avoid over fertilizing.

Composted animal manure or leaves should only be worked into the soil in the fall.

SELECTING AND PLANTING CORMS

Plant only clean, plump corms from a reliable source. We recommend purchasing the corms from the many mail order catalogers listed in the Buyer's Guide.

Their selections are outstanding and the health of the corms excellent. If you choose to purchase your corms at a local Garden Center, do so early in the season, as soon as their corms arrive.

Once home, the corms should be allowed to air in a cool location, such as your basement, until planting time.

Your first planting should be when you would normally plant sweet corn in your area. Corms planted in cold soils are apt to rot before they begin to grow.

Subsequent plantings at two-week intervals will ensure bloom over a long period of time. Plant corms three to five inches deep and from four to six inches apart. Insecticide spread in the trench before covering will discourage underground insects.

Before glads bloom, hilling soil six inches up around the stalk helps prevent the glads from tipping over during storms. Remember that glads need plenty of water but will not tolerate wet feet. If drainage is a problem in your soil rows should be raised to facilitate the process.

CARE OF YOUR PLANTS

Weed by shallow cultivation and hand weeding. Avoid packing or heavy caking of soil surface, which prevents soil aeration. If available, a light mulch of straw, grass clippings, etc., between rows will discourage weeds and help conserve moisture.

Insect control is important in growing glads. Pests include thrip, which is by far the most damaging.

Thrip are tiny insects, tan to black in color and less than 1/8" in length, can be controlled by several good combination sprays and dusts, including organic products, are available at your local Garden Center. If you chose organic products more frequent applications will be needed.

DIGGING CORMS

If you live where the ground does not freeze in the winter you may choose not to dig your corms; however, disease and crowding may reduce the amount and quality of your bloom. You should remove plant tops 6-8 weeks after bloom and remove them from the garden to prevent the spread of disease.

It is suggested that you dig and divide your corms every couple of years, being sure to discard any damaged or diseased corms. If you live where the ground freezes you will need to dig your corms each year or if you chose not to dig, purchase new corms.

Glad corms should be lifted in the fall before the onset of ground freezing weather. About 6-8 weeks after blooming, the corms may be harvested by loosening the soil with a spade or digging fork so that the plants can be pulled by hand.

The plant should be separated from the corm as close to the corm as possible, either by hand breaking or cutting with pruning shears.

You should remove the old plant tops from the garden to prevent carry over of disease. The corms should be cleaned or rinsed off with running water and then spread out to dry in shallow layers in trays or porous bags in an airy location that will not freeze, for a period of from 2 to 3 weeks.

This area must be above freezing temperatures. During this time a cork layer forms between the new corm and the old mother corm and roots. Break off and discard this old corm as soon as possible. Delay in cleaning results in greater difficulty in removal of the old corm.

EXHIBITING GLADS

Glad shows are a delightful way to enjoy the many outstanding cultivars on the market. The Shows of Member Societies of NAGC are listed in the summer issue of Glad World, published by NAGC.

You may attend merely to look and enjoy or to participate. There is usually no charge to attend or to exhibit. If you see a gladiolus you especially like, write down the name and number listed on the entry tag, so you may purchase that corm in the future.

Buyer's Guides contain listings of catalogers selling corms and are usually available at all Gladiolus Shows. Other opportunities such as Large and small fairs, along with other floral exhibitions, exist where you can view glads or display the results of your growing efforts.