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THE GLADIOLUS FANCIER'S 
Bene a 
bulblets thickly, like peas. Distance between 
rows as little as will permit of your particular 
method of cultivating, weeding, etc. 
Do not make them compete with other 
roots of trees, shrubs or weeds. Cultivate 
often and close, keeping surface loose. 
Most of us already know that gladiolus 
prefer a somewhat acid soil. 
in the composition of vour soil is valuable. 
Avoid lime unless needed to cure a superacid 
condition (expressed pH 1 to pH 4). Like- 
wise avoid, more importantly, super alkaline 
soils (pH 8 to pH 14). Neutral is pH 7, but 
pH5 to pH6 is what you should strive to 
obtain. Your nearest State Agricultural 
Experiment Station will test samples (a pound 
or two) of your soil for acidity rating or will 
advise you how to do it. A well drained soil 
will have much to do with your cropping 
disease free bulbs, particularly if dug after a 
wet fall. 
If a heavy application of cow manure 
(3 to 6 inches deep) and coarse bone meal 
(25-30 lbs. to 500 sq. ft.) was applied in the 
fall and the ground left rough, no more ferti- 
lizing need be done the following year. 
If fall fertilizing was not done, well rotted 
cow manure may be worked into the soil 
before planting.. After the trench is dug, if 
soil is heavy, it will be beneficial to spill an 
inch of fine sand on the bottom before setting 
the bulbs. If sand is dry it can easily be 
spread with a sprinkling can with the rose 
removed from the spout. After the bulbs 
are set and one half of the excavated soil is 
returned over the bulbs to protect them from 
fertilizer contact, a handful of (2-8-10) or of 
superphosphate, such as (0-16-0) and (0-20-0) 
may be spread along about 4 ft. of row. This 
is in lieu of the fall application of the slower 
bone meal. 
If cow manure is not available, vou may 
now substitute in addition to the (2-8-10) or 
superphosphate used, about 2 handfuls of 
prepared sheep manure (baked to kill weed — 
seeds) per 4 [t. of row before filling in the upper 
half of the trench. 
Pack the soil a bit (carefully if the bulbs 
are sprouted) to assist in rapid capillary 
attraction and speedy growth. If soil is 
very dry at planting time, drench with water 
heavily, to penetrate six inches. Thereafter, 
until time when flower buds ca:: be felt in the 
stalks, use water very sparingly. Of course, 
if little or no rains for 15 or 20 dav periods 
drench again and keep the plants well weeded 
and cultivated. 
During the bud to bloom stage is the one 
time it is desirable to keep the ground definite- 
ly on the wet side. Next to impossible in 
well drained location to get it too wet at this 
stage. Naturally, if the soil be wet and soft 
and high winds come, some tall and heavy 
Silt. and sand | 
plants may go over, bulb tilting in the soil and 
tearing roots, if permitted. We consider it 
advisable to use some method of staking if 
the soil is kept extremely wet at this stage. 
We use some 6 ft. steel stakes, 3% inch dia- 
meter and rubber bands. The stakes are incon- | 
spicuous and if blooms are cut can be readily 
moved to other spikes throughout the season. 
After the peak of bloom season, if weather 
becomes extremely hot and there appears 
any tendency of the stems to soften somewhat, 
this extra watering may be concluded and 
very shallow cultivation continued through 
the balance of the blooming season if you can 
still get in among the plants to do so. 
Whatever general fertilizing method may 
be used, a ‘‘shot in the arm’”’ type may be 
used on a few or all plants just as the early 
buds begin to form in the stalks. Use a 
handful of dried blood meal for about 5 to 10 
plants or a handful of ammonium sulphate 
to about 10 to 15 plants, scratching it in 
several inches away from the plants. Soak 
the ground heavily the day before so that the 
plant will be saturated and in strong growing 
condition, thus withstanding a shock which 
might otherwise burn off the rootlets, turn the 
foliage yellow and stop further growth. This 
will increase the size of the florets and the 
length of the spike. 
Above formulas are maximum. Many 
would consider them extreme. We do not 
remotely approach these extremes ourselves as 
our aim is a bulb crop and the blooms inci- 
dental. But a large number of our customers 
have used these methods with highly gratify- 
ing results. , 
Purely for commercial bulb production we 
recommend use of 2-8-10 or better still 3-9-18 
applied about 1000 Ibs. per acre, disced in 
just before planting or otherwise applied in 
manner to safeguard the bulbs from:actual 
contact with the material. 
Particularly in hot weather, spikes which 
are cut when but one or two florets are open, 
fill out with more open at a time when bloom- 
ed indoors in the light but not sunlight, away 
from any breeze, making better exhibition 
spikes and preventing any fading of colors such 
as iS Sometimes found in some of the finest 
orange scarlets, as well as preventing wilting 
of varieties without strong substance. Cut 
stem slantwise to provide larger drinking area 
and place in water at once to avoid air pockets 
in stem. Allow three or four leaves to remain 
on the plant to mature the new bulb which is 
hardly half grown when spike is cut. At least 
six more weeks are needed to mature the bulb, 
except where blooms are from large bulbs of 
very late sorts, or where blooms arrive at 
late season from young planting stock. 
However, bulbs should be dug while the 
plants are still green and do not delay too 
long after average killing frost date in your 
area. ; 
