Recommendations from experienced gardeners: is it possible and how to store gladioli in the refrigerator?
Gladioli are a garden decoration. But few people decide to grow this beautiful flower, all because gladioli require special care.
At the end of each summer season, flower tubers must be dug up and stored. The easiest way to store gladioli bulbs at home is in the refrigerator.
Information on how to properly prepare flower tubers, how to store and plant them in the new season will help you achieve the desired result - lush flowering in the spring.
We will tell you in the article whether and how to properly store gladioli in the refrigerator.
Content
Are bulbs allowed to be stored in the refrigerator?
You can store gladioli bulbs in the refrigerator in winter. This is very convenient, as the refrigerator maintains ideal storage conditions.
Optimal storage conditions:
- air temperature - no more than 4°C;
- humidity -75%;
- lack of sunlight;
- good ventilation.
Preparation
So that next year gladioli will delight you with lush flowering and active reproduction, tubers should be stored in the refrigerator before storing you need to properly prepare:
The dug up planting material is carefully sorted (only strong, dense tubers without signs of rot or other damage are selected).- The sorted tubers are dried. To do this, planting material is folded in one layer into mesh boxes, after which it is sent to dry in a warm, dry place (the air temperature should not fall below +24°C).
Drying lasts at least forty days (at the end, the babies are removed from the tubers, the dried stem and roots are cut off).
- The bulbs are dipped in a weak solution of manganese (a few granules per liter of water are enough) for thirty minutes, after which the tubers are sent to dry again for another week. Treating the bulbs with antiseptic solutions is a very important step; it helps preserve planting material during storage from fungal and bacterial infections.
Flower tubers prepared for storage must be immediately sorted into varieties so that in the spring, when planting, there is no confusion.
How to preserve planting material until spring?
Before loading the bulbs into the refrigerator, each is wrapped in newspaper (preferably in two layers) and placed in a plastic bag with air holes. Store planting material in the bottom drawer of the refrigerator intended for vegetables and fruits.
If there is no free space in the vegetable container, a bag of gladioli bulbs can be placed on a glass shelf located on top of the vegetable box.
During storage in the refrigerator, gladioli bulbs are inspected for spoilage at least once every two weeks.Tubers with the slightest signs of rot are immediately put aside, otherwise all planting material will very quickly become covered with spots of rot.
When and how to take it out after winter storage?
Taking gladiolus bulbs out of the refrigerator thirty days before disembarkation (the necessary period for the formation of full-fledged arrows and pecking of a bud).
Considering that it is recommended to plant bulbs when the air temperature in the morning reaches at least 10°C (beginning of May), it is necessary to remove flower tubers from the refrigerator no later than the beginning of April.
After removal from the refrigerator, each onion is freed from scales and sorted by size and appearance. Quality tubers are shiny, pale yellow or cream in color, with dense white root buds. Wrinkled, shriveled, and spotted bulbs are planted separately.
After the planting material has been sorted, tubers are placed in boxes (in one layer), tops up. The box is placed in a dry, warm, dark place. After 2-3 weeks, when the dormant buds have hatched and reached at least 4 cm, the flower tubers can be planted in the ground.
Gladioli tubers planted in the ground immediately after refrigeration will take root, but you should not expect lush flowering from such plants.
How to plant?
Immediately before planting, gladiolus bulbs are soaked either in a special solution to strengthen the root system (sold in specialized flower shops) or in clean warm water. During six to eight hours of soaking, the tubers are saturated with moisture, after which they can be planted in a flowerbed.
The location for future planting of gladioli must be chosen in sunny, open areas (the flower loves the sun and warmth) with loose soil. Additionally, each hole is fertilized with organic fertilizer, ash, and sand is added. Seven days after planting, flower seedlings are fertilized with humus.
Alternative options
So that the gladioli bulbs retain their vitality and delight with their lush color in the spring, Optimal storage conditions must be observed: low air temperature and high humidity.
There are several options for how, in addition to the refrigerator, to organize storage of bulbs in the winter at home.
Waxing
Coating gladioli bulbs with paraffin is a reliable way to preserve planting material in your apartment until spring. The paraffin shell reliably protects the bulbs from drying out and blocks the growth process.
Algorithm of actions:
- A paraffin candle is heated in a water bath.
- A gladiolus bulb is dipped into melted paraffin (temperature no higher than +70°C), after which it is immediately transferred to cold water.
During the waxing process, it is necessary to ensure that the bulb is completely covered with an even layer of wax. Otherwise, air penetrating through the cracks can cause the tuber to dry out.
To wash off the paraffin, just hold the onion in warm water for a few minutes. Attention: Do not brush off wax with a brush, this can injure the tuber gladiolus
On a glazed loggia or balcony
A good place to store gladioli bulbs in an apartment in winter is a covered loggia.Planting material is sorted, laid out in a thin layer in cardboard boxes and placed on a stool or table. A good place is the window sill of a wooden window frame.
During storage, the required air temperature in the loggia is maintained by opening the window or doors to the room. Regular ventilation helps maintain the required level of air humidity.
During prolonged winter frosts, boxes with flower bulbs are covered with thick woolen rags and moved closer to the balcony door.
Absolutely forbidden store gladioli bulbs:
- in the bathroom (high humidity is the main cause of rotting of tubers);
- without husks (protective dry leaves can be removed from the bulbs only after drying, otherwise the risk of plant infection increases sharply);
- in sealed packaging bags (lack of ventilation during storage is the first step to rotting of the gladiolus bulb);
- in direct sunlight (the sun dries out gladioli tubers, making them unsuitable for planting).
Never store assorted gladioli bulbs in the same container. Firstly, when planting, it will be simply impossible to figure out which variety is where, and secondly, the close contact of healthy and rot-infected tubers leads to rapid deterioration of all seed material.
Adviсe
To prevent gladioli tubers from taking root during storage, before storing them in the refrigerator, they are thoroughly dried and placed in gauze nets.
As an option tubers can be wrapped in toilet paper (as soon as the paper begins to become damp, it is changed).
Gladioli bulbs are dug up for storage thirty days after the flower shoots wither. There is no point in keeping the tubers in the ground. High humidity and low temperatures activate the process of tuber rotting and the proliferation of bacteria and fungi.
If it is not possible to wait for the gladiolus to bloom, first of all, cut off the still blooming arrow, and after fifteen days, dig up the tuber. It is better to dig up bulbs not with a shovel, but with a pitchfork. This will protect the planting material from damage by the sharp blade of the bayonet.
Video on the topic of the article
This video will tell you about the proper storage of gladioli bulbs in winter:
Conclusion
Provided you follow the rules of preparation and storage in the refrigerator, gladioli survive wintering well. This type of storage does not in any way affect the splendor of gladioli flowering in the new season.
