How to cut gladiolus after flowering

The main season of gladiolus occurs in August, when they brighten up your garden displaying an abundance of beautiful colours. They show off their gentle beauty easily, because they are usually taller than other plants. Gladioli come in many different colours and are often used as the dominant part of festive bouquets. If you like natural bouquets from your garden, you should definitely grow gladiolus.

Gladiolus in a vase and on a flower bed

Gladiolus is sometimes called the sword lily. You need to cut them off as low as possible and preferably in the morning. The best way is to stick a knife inside and cut it off by making a circular motion. If you want to let flowers bloom, you need to remove them afterwards – below the lowest flower. If you leave flowers on the stem will start producing seeds, and this weakens the tuber. Stop watering gladioli as soon as they are done blooming and prepare for tuber harvest. Tubers should be dry.

Photo: Pixabay

Harvesting tubers

Do not remove tubers from wet soil. Wait for several rain-free days. Dry tubers are more resistant to various fungal diseases. Tubers are usually harvested at the end of September, but you need to wait for the leaves to turn yellow. Do not do it sooner . Large tubers are usually harvested by the end of September, smaller tubers can be harvested until the first half of October. The best tool for harvesting tubers is a digging fork. Gently remove tubers from the soil – remove the entire part that is above the ground. Break and remove the stem close to the tuber.

Storing tubers

Clean tubers from dirt and let them dry which takes rather long time – up to two to four weeks and during this time, you will notice the formation of a separation layer, which helps you to separate the old tuber with roots from the new one. The best storing temperature is from 2 to 6 °C. Tubers freeze easily if the temperature falls below 0 °C, but higher temperatures may attract sucking pests such as thrips.

Source: https://izahradkar.cz/zahrada/okrasne-rostliny/kvetiny/meciky-kvetou-naplno-rezat-aby-hlizy-byly-zdrave/

Preview photo: Pixabay