We grow Gladioli without pesticides and enjoy the lush flowering of luxurious plants

To improve the planting material of gladioli, insecticidal plants can be used: calendula, pyrethrum, chamomile, garlic, wormwood, fennel, etc.

In autumn, after digging, the corms are thoroughly washed in water and placed for 6-8 hours in a prepared infusion of garlic. They do it like this: 500-700 g of crushed cloves are mixed with 3 liters of water, the container is tightly closed for 5 days, then decanted and diluted with water 10 times. You can replace it with an infusion of pyrethrum (400-500 g dry weight per 10 l of water) and calendula (the same concentration), which are mixed before use in equal proportions.

The processed material is placed in low boxes (corms in no more than 2 layers, baby - with a layer of 1-2 cm) and dried for 7-8 days at 28-30 C in a well-ventilated area.

Then they are cleaned of roots and old corms and stored at room temperature for 15-20 days. A month after digging, they are laid for winter storage at 4-7 and a humidity of 65-70% (in a dry ventilated basement).

During the storage period, the condition of the material is checked regularly, at least once a month. If mold appears, re-dry (at 18-20) and return to the basement.

A month before planting, the corms are cleaned from the covering scales, laid out with sprouts up and left at room temperature (the baby is not cleaned).

Usually planted on April 15-20. Corms with mechanical damage or signs of disease are prepared for planting separately.

The affected areas are cut out to healthy tissue (the knife is constantly disinfected) and the corms are kept in an infusion of garlic for a day.

Places of cuts are sprinkled with a mixture of crushed coal and sulfur (1:10). Intact corms are also treated with garlic infusion.

Gladioli are planted, having previously loosened the beds prepared in the fall. They are planted in transverse grooves 5-15 cm deep, depending on the parsing of the corms.

River washed sand (1-1.5 cm) is placed on the bottom. the bulbs are covered with the same layer of sand, and on top with earth. The baby is cleaned from the shell a day before planting and soaked in a solution of potassium permanganate (3 g per 10 l of water), planted in a similar way in grooves 2-3 cm deep, on the bottom of which sand is poured.

The beds are covered with foil, after watering the planting. The film is not lifted for the first 10-12 days. With the emergence of seedlings, the plantings are aired, weeded and, if necessary, watered. Sometimes they mulch with rotted needles with a layer of 2-5 cm. make sure that the soil does not overheat on sunny days.

When at a depth of 2.5 cm the temperature exceeds 25, the film covers are removed. In the event of a cold snap at night, they cover again. After June 15, the film can be removed completely.

During the growing season, regularly, every 15-20 days, do preventive treatments (watering and spraying) of gladioli with infusions and decoctions of insecticidal plants.

First time processed in the phase of the 3-5th leaf in corms and the 1-2nd leaf in the child with calendula infusion, which is prepared as follows: 300 g of dry crushed mass is infused for 24 hours in 2 liters of hot water, then filtered and added water up to 10 liters. The prepared solution is diluted 10 times.

Second processing do in the phase of the 5-7th leaf in corms and 3-4th - in children. A pack of dry chamomile or pyrethrum (100 g) is poured into 1 liter of hot water, infused for 24 hours, filtered and added to 5 liters. Before use, the infusions of garlic (5 l) and chamomile (5 l) are mixed, a quarter of a bar of laundry soap is added and the plants are sprayed.

During the budding period, spraying with pyrethrum is repeated, adding an equal amount of fennel infusion, which is prepared in the same way.

During flowering, spray it 1-2 times with the same infusion, but increase the concentration by 1.5-2 times. Treatment with infusions of insecticidal plants does not leave any spots on the flowers or spoil the appearance of the inflorescences.

20-30 days after flowering, gladioli are dug up and processed as mentioned above.

Thanks to this method, healthy planting material is obtained, without using pesticides that are far from harmless to health.