No. 1. 
No. 2. 
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Pons 
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No. 1. 
BRIEF LIST of REQUIREMENTS for 
GROWING GOOD GLADIOLUS 
Have good bulbs. 
Disinfect with LYSOL, NEW IMPROVED CERESAN or dust with DDT CONTAIN- 
ING COPPER or with the ENUFF BRAND that | list on page 5. This latter is both 
a fungicide and insecticide. SPERGON is also recommended. 
. Any kind of soil. If the soil is hard or sandy and can’t be watered a 3”” mulch of saw- 
dust or shavings or buckwheat hulls or ground corn cobs or most anything else will 
hold the moisture and be very beneficial to the glads. 
4. Full sunshine all day. 
. Do not plant near trees or strong growing plants that rob the soil of moisture or food. 
6. Good drainage. Glads will not tolerate ‘‘wet feet.’’ But if the drainage is good they 
will take a lot of water to advantage especially as they come into bud and bloom. 
. Go easy on fertilizer. You can put some deep in the trench below the bulbs or can 
side dress once or twice during the season but don’t over do it. 
. Spray or dust every week or ten days with DDT or other insecticide from the time they 
are a few inches tall. If using DDT better put in some Black Leaf 40 or some insecticide 
that will kill aphis or other insects that sometimes carry bean mosaic. Enuff Brand is 
very good. 
. When cutting blooms leave at least 4 leaves to nourish the bulb that is forming. 
. Dig a month or so after blooming or leave longer if possible and if the plants are 
still green. 
. When digging cut the stem tight to the bulb. Dust the bulbs with DDT or ENUFF or 
SPERGON. 
. Dry in a cool airy place for two weeks or more and don’t have the bulbs more than 
four inches deep in the tray or box you put them in. A warm place is OK if airy. The 
moisture must get out of the bulbs as soon as possible. 
. When the old bulbs can easily be removed from the new ones (in 2 or 3 weeks) take 
off the old bulbs and save the bulblets if you want to grow them on. Then let the 
bulbs dry out more for two or three weeks before putting them away for the winter. 
Put on some more DDT or Enuff Brand at this time after cleaning. This is said to help 
keep the bulbs healthy during the winter. Keep cool during the winter. 40 to 50 
degrees is OK. Very small lots can be put in paper bags. Discard all bulbs showing 
disease. But small scabs that can be lifted out with the finger nail don’t do any harm. 
They just don’t look so good. But bulbs showing any disease lesions that eat into the 
bulbs should be destroyed. There is no cure for a diseased bulb. 
TWO THINGS TO GUARD AGAINST 
INSECTS Under this heading the main insect is thrips. Many people when they get 
this on their glads think it is a disease. IT IS NOT A DISEASE BUT AN INSECT which 
can easily be kept off. Thrips dry up the buds so they do not open. To avoid them dust 
your bulbs at digging time, at cleaning time and before planting and then spray or 
dust during the growing season. 
Lately there has been some trouble with a disease called bean mosaic which 
spots the flowers. This disease is carried by insects other than thrips mostly aphis and 
leaf hoppers and | am not sure but that thrips carry it. DDT does not kill these other 
insects so it is well to use some other insecticide along with the DDT. Nicotine sul- 
phate or some other insecticide is all right. Insecticides and fungicides are listed on 
page 5. 
