GLADIOLUS CULTURE IN FORM OF 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 infor- 
mation 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 prepared 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 
lore ayears0rn 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 trom 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 applications, first application when plants 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 tor 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 re- 
sistant 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 yellow, orange, etc. 
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 
furnishes a cozy 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—tThe 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 profitable 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. Excessively 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 inferior blooms and are more subject to disease. 
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