TROUBLE SHOOTING 
1. When glads don’t come up as they should. 
(a) Your bulbs may be old, flat, worn out bulbs that just can’t take it any longer. We send 
out only young bulbs so this won’t apply to bulbs from here. 
(b) Disease—Diseased bulbs, if soaked two weeks in Natraphene, will grow if they aren’t 
too far gone—and will come clean. If you haven’t soaked your bulbs, this may be your 
trouble. Never plant glads where diseased glads have grown before. 
(c) Alkali or fertilizer—If you have soil that is too alkaline or has lots of fertilizer in its 
your glads may never come up or not grow well if they do come up. In above cases put 
lots of Peat Moss around each bulb. Peat Moss is acid and also free of fertilizer. 
(d) Wire worms may drill a hole through the sprout and the glad may not come up at all 
or may come up and soon die. You can kill wireworms in your soil without hurting your 
plants by using ISOTOX by Ortho. ISOTOX is good for thrips, too. You can get it in 
the west in your nursery or garden supply store. Any insecticide containing Benzine 
Hexachloride will kill wireworms. 
2. Glads not growing properly. 
(a) Soil too alkaline or too much fertilizer. See section on alkaline soil. 
(b) Not enough water. Glads like lots of water. 
(c) Wireworms. See above. 
(d) Disease—Soak your bulbs in Natraphene 10 days before you plant. Don’t plant where 
diseased glads grew before. 
3. Not blooming properly. 
(a) Thrips—In warm weather dust or spray with 5% DDT, Chlordane or Lindane every 
10 days. Thrips are very small and hard to see. Buds look sunburned and leaves get 
silvery streaks in them. 
(b) Sunburnt glads—NOT LIKELY. You can grow good glads in temperatures up to 105° 
without much sunburn on most varieties. If the weather gets over 100°, water every 
day if possible and pick your glads the morning the first florets open. If the lower 
florets won’t ever open, then it isn’t sunburn—it’s 'THRIPS. 
(c) There are a few varieties like General Eisenhower and Evangeline that won't grow 
properly in hot weather. Vagabond Prince and a few other sunburn but if picked in 
the morning seem to stand 105° o.k. if kept watered. 
(d) Crooked stems—This is due to hot weather. All varieties are not effected, though. 
OPPORTUNITIES WITH GLADIOLUS 
Is your local florist able to buy plenty of up-to-date flowers locally or does he have to 
have them shipped in? Do you live on a well traveled road where you could sell flowers 
roadside? Do you have a small plot of ground that you could put in glads for an additional 
income? If you have some ground and plenty of water you should be able to make some 
extra money. It takes a little investment, a little land and a lot of initiative to start out. If 
you haven’t all three, forget the whole thing. 
Here are the possibilities on a plot of ground 50 x 100 feet. For cut flowers number 3 
bulbs work out best. You get good flowers and the bulbs grow to jumbo giving you an 
increase in value at both ends. 
Make 24 rows 2 feet apart and 90 feet long. Plant your bulbs about 6 to the foot for 
commercial growing. This will require approximately 13,000 bulbs. At an average selling 
price of 75 cents a dozen you would have over $750 return on cut flowers and your bulbs 
should increase in value over $5 per 1,000 giving you over $60 in value. You have to consider 
your time, spray, water and land value out of this, however. Also, you might not be able to 
sell all of the flowers if you get the wrong varieties or if you aren’t on your toes. Don’t start 
out with too expensive varieties. Don’t get too many varieties for florist use. They like to 
have an even dozen of a kind. Roadside is different—the more varieties and the odder the 
colors the better. 
For florist trade have about 35% white, 20% pink and salmon, 10% yellow, 15% red, 
10% cream, 10% lavender. This is just a rough estimate. Some florists are different than 
others. A few like dark colors and smokies, but to start out omit these. Don’t plant all at 
once as a florist doesn’t like to have you start and then quit ina few weeks. When your lads 
first come out take a half dozen spikes to your florist and show him what you have. Don’t 
wait until they are ready and go down because he might be all stocked up. Pick when they 
just one or two florets open. 
Many families, in their spare time, make up to and over $2,000 a year growing glads as a 
hobby. Remember, No. 3 or even No. 4 bulbs will make good flowers and will all grow into 
No. 1 bulbs under proper conditions. 
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