QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS 
If you know all the answers don’t read this; but if you have just recently become interested 
in glads and are in the novice class, perhaps you may get some useful information from this 
page. 
1. When is the proper time to plant Glads? 
Answer—Generally speaking, an early planting may be put in as soon as the ground is pre- 
pared and has dried out enough to be crumbly. In our latitude (Chicago area), the proper 
planting season extends from the 20th of April to the latter part of June. for a succession of 
bloom throughout the season, several plantings may be made at intervals of 10 days or two 
weeks. 
2. Where is the best location for a Glad patch? 
Answer—Away from buildings, fences, hedges, trees and shrubbery, in full sunlight. And 
be sure you choose well drained soil, preferably where Glads have not been planted for a year 
or two. 

3. How deep and how far apart should plants and rows be? 
Answer—Large bulbs, 5 to 7 inches Deep. Medium, 4 to 5 inches. Small, 3 or 4 inches. 
Light sandy soils require the greater depths. Large bulbs may be spaced 4 inches to 6 inches. 
Rows spaced 20 inches or more. 
4. How are thrips best controlled? 

Answer—(a)—By buying clean bulbs from a reliable dealer. (b)—By changing soil every 
year and burning discarded flowers, tops, roots, etc. at cleaning time. (c¢)—Dusting bulbs in 
storage with a 5% D.D.T. powder, and keeping storage room temperature between 40 and 50 
degrees Fahrenheit. (d)—Dust plants with D.D.T. dust every 10 days for four or five appli- 
cations, first application when leaves are five inches high. 
5. Is it worth while to dip bulbs before planting? 

Answer—Yes, very much so. Soak in a solution of Lysol for four hours. Proportions 
are 4 teaspoons of Lysol to 1 gallon water. 
6. Is there any special way of cutting Glad spikes? 
Answer—Yes, in order not to rob plant of nourishment for balance of season, be sure and 
leave four or five leaves intact. Spikes will keep longer in water if water is changed every day 
and if a quarter inch of stem is cut off each day, preferably cut on a slant. 
7. Do varieties change color from year to year, so as to end up in a few years all of one 
or two colors, usually orange (and or) yellow? 
Answer—-Now and then a “sport”? of a variety will develop, having the same general 
characteristics as variety in question, but different in color, while all other plants of the variety 
remain of normal color. With this exception, the answer is no, they do not change color. If 
you want to prove this to your own satisfaction, try labeling all your varieties in the field and 
bulbs in storage. What happens is that some varieties are not as resistant as others. They 
“run out’? sooner. They die from old age or disease. It is a case of the survival of the fittest, 
the tuffies last more years and it seems these tough ones are more often than not yellows, orange, 
etc. $ ji 
8. When trimming tops at digging time should I leave an inch or so of stem on the bulbs. 
Answer—No, remove all the stem, close to the bulb. Leaving a portion of stem only fur- 
nishes a cosy hiding place for Thrips, Thrip eggs, etc. to cause trouble later in storage. 
9. What should I do about plants that turn brown in the field, or otherwise look sickly 
or abnormal? 
Answer—The trouble sometimes may be drought, burrowing moles, or insects working on 
bulbs, but usually it is disease. The safest way is to dig the plants at once and burn. so as to 
keep the trouble from spreading to healthy plants. At planting time it will also prove profit- 
able to sort your bulbs carefully and destroy all that do not look clean, plump and normal. 
10. Are jumbo bulbs the best buy? 
Answer—No—Unless they are grown from bulblets the same or the past season, or from 
small bulbs, in which case they are high crowned, that is thick from stem end to root end. Ex- 
cessively large flat bulbs or those that are thin and often curved down at circumference like 
an inverted saucer, are usually aged, have seen their best days, will split up into several in- 
ferior blooms and are more subject to disease. 

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