Gladiolus Care and Culture 
(Revised to September, 1947) 
PLANTING BULBS: Bulbs may be planted 3 to 6 inches apart in the row (not less than twice the diam- 
eter of the bulb) with rows 20 inches to 8 feet apart. For show blooms, 6 inches apart is best with rows at least 30 
inches apart. Depth, for large bulbs, 4 to 5 inches in heavy soil, 6 inches in lighter soil, small bulbs 3 inches and 
bulblets 1% to 2 inches deep. Be sure to give plenty of water before and during the blooming season. 
BULBLET GROWING: Small lots of valuable bulblets may be peeled or cracked with a quicker and surer 
start to be expected. Larger lots that might need help in etarting can be aided by ee soaked at night and put in 
the sun in a cloth bag during the day for a week or so. If you have peeled the bulblets we would advise treating 
as if they were bulbs in Lysol or Ceresan. 
CARE: After planting, cultivating once a week and weeding will help growth. Cultivation may be deeper at 
first but later should be shallow to avoid cutting off feeder roots. The plants should be hilled up before the roots 
get too long (when about a foot high). This will aid in holding blooming spikes erect in windy weather. When 
spikes are up to a foot or more, heavy watering should be given if there is no rain. 
FOR EXHIBITION BLOOMS: To give these an extra boost, fertilizer may be side dressed when the 
plants are nearly in the bud stage. Scatter about a handful each three feet along the side of the row about three 
inches from the plants just before a rain or watering and cultivate in well. 
SPRAY: From the time the plants are six inches tall they should be sprayed or dusted for thrip. Thrip may 
have been planted on your bulbs, having lived over in storage, or been brought in on bulbs you bought or get from 
your neighbor. They may blow in from some distance or fly in as at one stage of their existence they can fly as far 
as one-half mile. Therefore, even if your planting is supposed to be clean, you should spray or dust for thrip con- 
trol. A spray that has been widely and effectively used is made up of 1 ounce of Tartar Emetic (4% teaspoonfuls), 
2 ounces of brown sugar, 3 gallons of water. (3 tablespoons of molasses or corn syrup may be used instead of sugar.) 
DDT: We find DDT very effective as a thrip control. Either dust or spray is effective. We use DDT Dust 
with tale of 5% strength at the rate of 30 lbs. to the acre each time over. We use a power machine, but a hand 
duster that will make a dust fog around the plants is just as good. BUT REMEMBER, to kill the thrip the dust 
must touch the insect and as they are normally in the sheath, one dusting will not clean them out. Three to five 
applications at 7- to 10-day intervals are necessary. We have 5% DDT Dust with talc and can supply you at: any 
time. It is as near as your post office. 
Many prefer a liquid spray and we have 50% Wettable Powder (Deenate). This should be diluted with water 
to about 5% strength. 14% lbs. to 100 gallons of water is about right or 4 level teaspoons to 3 gallons of water. 
The best part of using DDT dust or spray is that there is no danger to the plant by using too strong a solution. 
The active ingredient is harmful only to insects. A toxic condition may be produced by inhaling too much of the 
dust or spray, but it has no permanent effect and ordinary care is sufficient to insure no harm to the person making 
the application, 
WIREWORMS: Wireworms can now be controlled by the use of Lexone cultivated into the soil at the rate 
of 12 lbs. to the acre before planting. Vegetable crops will have a bad flavor if planted on this ground in two years 
after application, but no harm is found in bulbs. We can supply you. Write for prices. 
WHEN CUTTING flower spikes, a small knife blade slid down the stem on each side between the stalk and 
the leaves and cutting across the bottom will permit you to leave four to six leaves on the plant to mature the bulb. 
Spikes are best cut in the morning when one or two blossoms are open. 
DIGGING: Bulbs can be dug 30 days after the flower is gone, or before { i th i 5 
should be cut off after the bulbs are lifted as close as possible to the bulb. Pruning. sheseds aie, ery 
stalks turn brown prematurely the bulb is probably diseased and should be destroyed with all the foliage. 
STORING: Bulbs may be stored in flat boxes to dry and cure. They should be not more than 4 inches deep 
so they will dry well. If wooden boxes with wire bottoms are used, curing will be hastened if bulbs are washed 
with a fine spray. Care must be used to not tear the husks with the force. Bulbs will be much easier to clean and 
there will be little dirt in the bulblets. As soon as the bulbs are dry and in the storage (about three weeks after 
digging) they should be treated with either Napthalene Flakes or 5% DDT Dust with tale. DDT Dust may be left 
on all winter but Napthalene Flakes must not stay on over three weeks. If Napthalene is used the trays should be 
covered so the fumes will be contained. This treatment will ruin the bulbs if it is used late in the winter after the 
root knobs form. DDT Dust is safer and surer. ; 
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