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Old 01-07-2005, 03:38 AM
Donald Gares
 
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Default gladiolus falling over....why?

Ok, we planted about a zillion gladiolus bulbs (cheap at Menards) this
spring and to our surprise they most all came up. The problem is that
they got VERY tall (some almost 5 feet) and most have fell over before
they were even totally in bloom. In short, it just seems like they at
"top heavy".

Did we not plant them deep enough, do they need fertilizing, cheap
bulbs, etc., or is it just the nature of them?

Also, any chance they will make it over winter in extreme SE Iowa (zone
5)? We know that the books say that you must dig them but as cheap as
they are we seriously doubt if most individuals do.

Thanks to all who reply,

Don & Rhonda

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Old 01-07-2005, 07:56 PM
Laura
 
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Default

That's pretty much the nature of them - tall gladiolus quite frequently fall
over.

You can use plant hoops or some stakes and ties to hold them upright. I take
the lazy way out; I just planted mine in a "cutting garden" in the backyard
and cut them for bouquets when the bottom bud on each stalk opens. Even if
they had already fallen over in the garden, they still stand up in a vase.
:-)

There are "hardy gladiolus" (g. byzantius) that are shorter and less likely
to fall over, and are supposed to be hardy to zone 5. They are quite pretty,
though the flowers are somewhat smaller and the range of colors appears to
be white, pink, rose, and bicolors/patterns of these colors. Many of the
mail-order nurseries sell these, and they are usually quite cheap. Do a
Google search on "hardy gladiolus" and you will get lots of hits. Sometimes
my local garden centers also have these in the spring, although usually they
just have the regular gladioli.

And Brecks has some new "Glaminis" that supposedly have full-size blooms on
a 20" plant. I just got some (on clearance - the full price was $$$!) and I
am waiting for them to come up, so I can't speak to their qualities yet.

I can't speak from experience as to their hardiness; I'm in zone 8b, so I
usually leave all of my glads in the ground.

HTH,
Laura


"Donald Gares" wrote in message
...
Ok, we planted about a zillion gladiolus bulbs (cheap at Menards) this
spring and to our surprise they most all came up. The problem is that they
got VERY tall (some almost 5 feet) and most have fell over before they
were even totally in bloom. In short, it just seems like they at "top
heavy".

Did we not plant them deep enough, do they need fertilizing, cheap bulbs,
etc., or is it just the nature of them?

Also, any chance they will make it over winter in extreme SE Iowa (zone
5)? We know that the books say that you must dig them but as cheap as they
are we seriously doubt if most individuals do.

Thanks to all who reply,

Don & Rhonda



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Old 01-07-2005, 10:29 PM
Donald Gares
 
Posts: n/a
Default

Thanks, that's the kind of info that we needed.

Have a great 4th,

Don


Laura wrote:
That's pretty much the nature of them - tall gladiolus quite frequently fall
over.

You can use plant hoops or some stakes and ties to hold them upright. I take
the lazy way out; I just planted mine in a "cutting garden" in the backyard
and cut them for bouquets when the bottom bud on each stalk opens. Even if
they had already fallen over in the garden, they still stand up in a vase.
:-)

There are "hardy gladiolus" (g. byzantius) that are shorter and less likely
to fall over, and are supposed to be hardy to zone 5. They are quite pretty,
though the flowers are somewhat smaller and the range of colors appears to
be white, pink, rose, and bicolors/patterns of these colors. Many of the
mail-order nurseries sell these, and they are usually quite cheap. Do a
Google search on "hardy gladiolus" and you will get lots of hits. Sometimes
my local garden centers also have these in the spring, although usually they
just have the regular gladioli.

And Brecks has some new "Glaminis" that supposedly have full-size blooms on
a 20" plant. I just got some (on clearance - the full price was $$$!) and I
am waiting for them to come up, so I can't speak to their qualities yet.

I can't speak from experience as to their hardiness; I'm in zone 8b, so I
usually leave all of my glads in the ground.

HTH,
Laura


"Donald Gares" wrote in message
...

Ok, we planted about a zillion gladiolus bulbs (cheap at Menards) this
spring and to our surprise they most all came up. The problem is that they
got VERY tall (some almost 5 feet) and most have fell over before they
were even totally in bloom. In short, it just seems like they at "top
heavy".

Did we not plant them deep enough, do they need fertilizing, cheap bulbs,
etc., or is it just the nature of them?

Also, any chance they will make it over winter in extreme SE Iowa (zone
5)? We know that the books say that you must dig them but as cheap as they
are we seriously doubt if most individuals do.

Thanks to all who reply,

Don & Rhonda






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Old 01-07-2005, 10:43 PM
paghat
 
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Default

"Donald Gares" wrote in message
...
Ok, we planted about a zillion gladiolus bulbs (cheap at Menards) this
spring and to our surprise they most all came up. The problem is that they
got VERY tall (some almost 5 feet) and most have fell over before they
were even totally in bloom. In short, it just seems like they at "top
heavy".

Did we not plant them deep enough, do they need fertilizing, cheap bulbs,
etc., or is it just the nature of them?

Also, any chance they will make it over winter in extreme SE Iowa (zone
5)? We know that the books say that you must dig them but as cheap as they
are we seriously doubt if most individuals do.

Thanks to all who reply,

Don & Rhonda



Glads can be grown against a fence or wall to be semi-trellised or in any
other manner bound upward with minimal effort, & where they'll be
protected from winds that knock them down.

Glads are naturally prone to "lodging" or falling over, but a higher
percentage will lodge if planted at a shallow depth. Instructions are
frequently to plant them near the surface like irises, but planting them a
little deeper than the recommended maximum does not hinder them, according
to field studies conducted by Farid Uddin et al of the Bangladesh
University Department of Horticulture. The only change they observed from
planting corms more deeply was fewer of the flower spikes lodged (20 to
33% of shallowly planted corms lodged, but less than 8% of the deeply
planted ones lodged).

But many specialists insist (despite the findings of the Bangladesh study)
that development will be retarded if they are not planted in the warm zone
near the surface. So the traditional recommendation is to start them
shallow then build mounds of soil over them when they are at the three to
five leaf stage, & earth up a second time when they are at the seven leaf
stage. This too will minimalize the percentage that lodge. Personally I'd
just plant them a full six inches deep & not worry about earthing up,
unless I knew I had unusually tall-spike varieties.

There are also semi-dwarf varieties such as the butterfly glads that are
inclined to remain upright without assistance, though even these may lean.
There are gladiolus varieties like 'Nova Lux,' 'Eurovision' & 'White
Prosperity' which were purportedly developed with higher leaf apex to
better support the spikes, so that they will lodge less, but a percentage
always will, & they can just be the ones taken first for bouquets. And
there are species gladioli that tend to remain upright way better than the
hybrids.

When stakes are unavoidable, they only need to be three feet tall to brace
the lower part of the stem, so won't much interfer with the overall look
of the flowers in the garden.

-paghat the ratgirl
--
Get your Paghat the Ratgirl T-Shirt he
http://www.paghat.com/giftshop.html
"In every country and in every age, the priest has been hostile to
liberty. He is always in alliance with the despot." -Thomas Jefferson
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Old 02-07-2005, 03:00 AM
Betty Harris
 
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Default

(paghat) wrote:

"according to field studies conducted by Farid Uddin et al of the
Bangladesh
University Department of Horticulture."




Bangladesh University Department of Horticulture????? OK. I'll humour
you and assume there actually is such a thing. Then why are they
researching glads instead of doing something useful, such as
researching how to feed all those millions of starving Bangladeshis?
Yeah, they have their priorities right, don't they?



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Old 02-07-2005, 07:30 AM
paghat
 
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Default

In article .com, "Betty
Harris" wrote:

(paghat) wrote:

"according to field studies conducted by Farid Uddin et al of the
Bangladesh
University Department of Horticulture."




Bangladesh University Department of Horticulture????? OK. I'll humour
you and assume there actually is such a thing. Then why are they
researching glads instead of doing something useful, such as
researching how to feed all those millions of starving Bangladeshis?
Yeah, they have their priorities right, don't they?


And why are there any horticultural stations in the USA when that all
funding could be going to putting an end to racism, poverty, crazy-ass
presidents who start wars for made-up reasons, lack of access to an
overpriced & underinsured medical system, finding safer cleaner cheaper
energy options that don't require crazy-ass presidents to start wars, &
proving whether or not the chewing gum loses its flavor on the bedpost
overnight.

But seriously chumster, one doesn't build up economic viability for a
nation by avoiding investment in economically viable industries, including
horticultural. That'll do more good for Bangladesh than any number of
sweatshops full of children earning fifty cents a day so you can buy cheap
slacks at WalMart.

-paghat the ratgirl
--
Get your Paghat the Ratgirl T-Shirt he
http://www.paghat.com/giftshop.html
"In every country and in every age, the priest has been hostile to
liberty. He is always in alliance with the despot." -Thomas Jefferson
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