What Do You Need To Feed Gladioli? Correct Feeding And Fertilization Of Gladioli. Photo

2023 Author: Ava Durham | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-11-27 07:13

Gladioli have a long growing season, during which they consume from the environment through the roots and partly through the leaves, nutrients from various natural compounds and fertilizers. In large quantities, they, like all other plants, need nitrogen (N), phosphorus (P), potassium (K), in somewhat smaller quantities - calcium (Ca), magnesium (Mg), iron (Fe), sulfur (S) and other elements. Nutrients that are consumed in large quantities are called essential, or macronutrients, while those consumed in smaller quantities are called micronutrients. The latter also include boron (B), manganese (Mn), copper (Cu), zinc (Zn) molybdenum (Mo), and others.

Just 65 years ago, it was believed that about ten nutrients that make up the bulk of the plant, such as carbon, oxygen, hydrogen, nitrogen, phosphorus, potassium, calcium, magnesium, iron and sulfur, are sufficient for normal plant growth. Relatively recently, it became clear that the list of nutrients necessary for plants is much wider.

As a rule, there are enough compounds of calcium, sulfur, iron and magnesium in the soil for the culture of gladioli. Basically, these ornamental plants need nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium, sometimes calcium and magnesium. When growing gladioli in personal plots, a florist can limit himself to the use of fertilizers containing three main nutrients - nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium. However, if you want to have inflorescences that stand out in beauty and power, you must use fertilizers containing many other nutrients.

In any case, you can not give food to plants without taking into account the nutrient content of the soil. Therefore, each grower once a year, in extreme cases - once every three years, must take a soil sample from his site for analysis. As a result, having obtained data on the content of the main nutrients in the soil in his area, the florist develops a nutritional system for gladioli for his case, and this requires knowledge of the characteristics of the consumption of nutrients by plants.

Nutritional features of gladioli

The most demanding gladioli for nitrogen and potassium. They need relatively less phosphorus. Therefore, the ratio of essential nutrients (N: P: K) for their normal growth should be 1: 0.6: 1.8. This ratio refers to total consumption. At different stages of development, the assimilation of individual nutrients by plants changes. For example, at the beginning of the growing season of gladioli, nitrogen is needed one and a half times more than potassium, and five to ten times more than phosphorus.

Nitrogen is better consumed by gladiolus plants in the presence of phosphorus and potassium compounds. The greatest consumption of this element by plants is observed during the development of one to four leaves in gladioli. Excess nitrogen leads to a delay in flowering and a deterioration in the quality of the upper flowers, a curvature of the peduncle and a decrease in the plant's resistance to diseases. At the same time, a powerful growth of the stem and leaves is noted, in which case they say that the plant "fattens".

With a lack of nitrogen, the growth of gladioli is delayed, flowering is weakened. The latter is expressed, in particular, in a decrease in the number of flowers in the inflorescence. In addition, the color of the leaves is light green.

In those cases when at the initial stage of plant development only nitrogen fertilizers are applied in top dressing, the growth does not die out for a long time. This can lead to poor maturation of gladioli corms. So that the growth processes after flowering do not continue, but gradually fade away, at such a time it is better to feed with nitrogen fertilizers together with phosphorus and potash. With abundant nitrogen nutrition, the size of the corms of gladioli can exceed the usual ones, but in terms of their internal structure they are worse, they age faster, the plants from them grow poorly.

If grown adult corms of gladioli (two years old and older), then in the initial period of development it is not necessary to feed with phosphorus fertilizers - the planting material and soil provide all the needs of the plant. Gladioli are very demanding on potassium nutrition, therefore, plants from adult corms in the initial period of development are fed with nitrogen and potassium. For a child who does not have such reserves of nutrients, it is better to give a complete fertilizer, that is, containing nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium.

Potassium should be included in the diet of gladioli throughout the growing season, as it participates in compounds that ensure the movement of plant juices. This element makes the plant more resistant to bad weather and disease. If there is not enough potassium, then the old leaves of gladioli give it to the young, and they themselves dry up and die off. First, the edges of the leaves dry out. At the same time, the peduncle grows weakly, it can be shortened.

If during the period of formation of three to four leaves, when the peduncle of gladioli is formed, do not give enough potassium for top dressing, the number of buds in the peduncle decreases. However, the greatest consumption of potassium, as well as nitrogen and phosphorus, in gladioli is observed during budding. Moreover, if for phosphorus this increase is small, then the increase in the consumption of potassium and nitrogen occurs very sharply with a further not so sharp decline.

Lack of potassium after flowering gladioli affects the quality of corms, which are poorly stored and give poorly developing plants the next year.

The need for phosphorus almost does not change during the growing season, only slightly increasing during budding and flowering. Lack of phosphorus inhibits growth and flowering. After flowering, joint feeding of gladiolus plants with phosphorus and potassium fertilizers contribute to a better outflow of nutrients from the leaves into the new corm.

It is possible to provide gladioli with nutrients in the required amount only with the addition of soil compounds with mineral and organic fertilizers.

On the packages of mineral fertilizers purchased in specialized stores, indicate the amount of nutrients included in them in percent, usually by the active ingredient: nitrogen - N, phosphorus oxide - P ₂ 0 ₅, potassium oxide - K ₂ 0.

What mineral fertilizers can be used for gladioli

A wide variety of fertilizers are used in agriculture. We will consider only those that an amateur florist can buy in a store (table 1).

Table 1: Types of mineral fertilizers containing one nutrient (indicated by the active substance)

Nitrogen	Phosphoric	Potash
Urea (N - 46%)	Double superphosphate (P ₂ 0 ₅ - 45%)	Potassium sulfate (potassium sulfate, K ₂ 0 - 46-52%)
Ammonium sulfate (N - 21%)	Superphosphate (P ₂ 0 ₅ - 14-20%)	Potassium chloride (potassium chloride, K ₂ 0 - 57-60%)
Sodium nitrate (N - 16%)	Bone meal (P ₂ 0 ₅ - 15-30%)	Potassium carbonate (potassium carbonate, potash, K ₂ 0 - 57-64)

In addition to mineral fertilizers containing one nutrient, there are complex and complete fertilizers that contain two or three basic nutrients. For gladioli, the following fertilizers are usually used: complex - potassium nitrate (N - 13%, K ₂ 0 - 46%), potassium magnesium (K ₂ 0 - 28-30%, Mg - 8-10%); complete - nitrophosphate (N - 11%, P ₂ 0 ₅ - 10%, K ₂ 0 - 11%), nitroammophos (N - 13-17%, P ₂ 0 ₅ - 17-19%, K ₂ 0 - 17- 19%).

There are other types of fertilizers that can be used when growing gladioli after preliminary testing. The industry also produces liquid complex fertilizers that can be given in top dressing.

The most important microfertilizers for the culture of gladiolus include ammonium molybdate, copper sulfate (copper sulfate), zinc sulfate, manganese sulfate, cobalt nitrate, boric acid, and sometimes potassium permanganate, which also serves as a potassium fertilizer, but is more often used as a disinfectant.

Microfertilizers must be handled very carefully, as their overdose can lead to the death of plants. The basic rule when introducing them is not to prepare feeding solutions of any compound with a concentration of more than 2 g per 10 liters of water.

What are organic fertilizers

Among the organic fertilizers, peat, compost, rotted manure and chicken droppings are the most accessible for amateur flower growers. Fresh manure cannot be used for gladioli, since it serves as a source of causative agents of fungal and bacterial diseases. Organic fertilizers contain all the main nutrients (tables 2 and 3).

Table 2: Content of basic nutrients (percentage of dry matter) in organic fertilizers

Manure type (droppings)	N	P ₂ 0 ₅	_K2O
Sheep	0.83	0.23	0.67
Horse	0.58	0.28	0.55
Bovine	0.34	0.16	0.40
Pork	0.45	0.19	0.60
Bird droppings	0.6-1.6	0.5-	1.5 0.6-0.9

Table 3: Content of the main nutrients (percentage of dry matter) in peat

Peat type	N	P2O5	K ₂ 0
Horse / Lowland	0.8-1.4 / 1.5-3.4	0.05-0.14 / 0.25-0.60	0.03-0.10 / 0.10-0.20

How and when to apply fertilizers?

Fertilizers for gladioli are given at different times in different ways. There are methods of pre-planting fertilization, pre-planting and post-plant fertilization. The latter is subdivided into root and foliar feeding.

For digging the soil in the fall, organic, phosphorus and potash fertilizers are applied. Fertilizer doses depend on the soil and growing conditions of gladioli. For example, in the fall, one or two buckets of organic fertilizers and 30-40 g of superphosphate and potassium sulfate can be given per 1 m. In the spring, no later than two weeks before planting, 20-30 g of urea is introduced per 1 m. Supplemental fertilizer in spring and autumn is embedded in the soil during digging; seedling - at the same time as planting, it is poured into the holes and grooves 3-4 cm below the level of placement of corms.

Root and foliar feeding of gladioli are needed in order to enhance plant nutrition with certain elements at certain periods. Doses of fertilizing are set based on the characteristics of the site, soil analysis, and the appearance of gladioli. At the same time, factors such as the composition of the soil, its acidity, the presence of nutrients necessary for plants, the microclimate and location of the site, the height of groundwater are taken into account. Pre-planting and pre-planting fertilization is considered auxiliary. Root feeding of gladioli is strictly timed to a certain stage of plant development. Liquid dressings are preferable, since nutrients are immediately supplied to the area of the root system.

The amount of fertilizers applied per season in top dressing is calculated not only from soil analysis data, but also based on the density of planting gladioli, doses of pre-planting and pre-planting fertilizers. Fertilizers are usually dissolved in 10 liters of water and consumed per 1 m.

It is difficult to perform sufficiently accurate calculations, since at the depth of the roots of gladioli (0.2-0.5 m), the composition of nutrients constantly changes due to rain or, conversely, drying out, as well as their binding to soil compounds. Therefore, when developing his feeding system, the florist uses data known from the literature, correcting it based on personal observations and experience over several years. As such an initial starting point, you can take the feeding system developed by V. N. Bylov and N. I. Raikov (table 4).

Table 4: Doses of fertilizers for feeding gladioli during the growing season, in grams of nutrient per 1 m²

Plant development stage	N	R	K	Ca	Mg
Developed two or three sheets	thirty	thirty	thirty	ten	20
"Four to five sheets	fifteen	thirty	60	ten	20
"Seven to eight sheets	fifteen	60	60	ten	20
Budding period	-	thirty	60	-	-
15 days after cutting the peduncles	-	-	60	-	-

Experienced flower growers divide the fertilizing doses indicated in the table in half and apply fertilizers more often in smaller doses. This takes more time, but allows the soil to maintain the required nutrient content more evenly. Thus, ten additional dressings are given in three summer months.

During the growing season, fertilizing is effective not only with macro-, but also with microelements. Trace elements contribute to the formation of more vigorous plants with large flowers. It is especially important to feed them at the stage of three to four leaves, when the peduncle of the gladiolus is formed. On the recommendation of A. N. Gromov, for 10 liters of water take 2 g of boric acid and potassium permanganate, 0.5 g of cobalt nitrate, 1 g of copper sulfate, 1 g of zinc sulfate and 5 g of magnesium sulfate. It must be remembered that an unreasonable increase in the doses of microelements causes the oppression of plants or even their death.

Thus, when growing gladioli, you have to constantly count the leaves, timing the feeding to a certain number of them. It is easier to do this work if large corms are planted separately from small ones, and small ones are planted separately from the baby. Experienced growers who have collected a large collection of gladioli also share the planting of early and late varieties. All this makes feeding more effective, since the nutrition of the baby and young corms differs from the nutrition of an adult corm - young planting material requires one and a half to two times more intensive nutrition.

Foliar dressing also provides macro- and microelements. They allow you to very quickly intervene in the development of plants. So, with poor development of the leaves of gladioli and their light green color, foliar feeding with urea is given. During flowering, foliar dressing with phosphorus and potassium fertilizers works well, of course, with the exclusion of the possibility of the solution getting on the flowers.

Feeding gladioli with microelements is very effective. A good result is obtained by the fertilization recommended by A. N. Gromov with micronutrients in the phase of development of two or three leaves, especially if the weather is hot. To accelerate flowering during the development of the sixth leaf, he offers foliar feeding of the following composition: 2 g of boric acid and 1.5-2 g of potassium permanganate, dissolved in 10 liters of water. Baltic flower growers believe that spraying with solutions of trace elements two or three times during the growing season not only increases the number of flowers in gladioli, but also contributes to the formation of larger corms. A. Zorgevits proposes to spray gladiolus plants with a solution containing the following trace elements, in grams per 10 liters of water:

Boric acid - 1.3
Copper sulfate - 1.6
Manganese sulfate - 1
Zinc sulfate - 0.3
Cobalt nitrate - 0.1
Ammonium molybdate - 1
Potassium permanganate - 1.5

Questions - Answers

Question 1. How to calculate the mass of fertilizer required for feeding gladioli, if the required amount of the nutrient is known?

Answer. Suppose you need to feed the plants with nitrogen, phosphorus or potassium at the rate of 30 g of each element per 1 m. The grower has the following fertilizers on the farm: nitrogen - phosphoric urea - potassium superphosphate - potassium sulfate. According to table 1, we find the content of the nutrient in these fertilizers. For the calculation, we will take the first figure, since it is better not to feed than to overfeed. Therefore, we assume that 100 g of each fertilizer contains 46 g of nitrogen, 20 g of phosphorus and 52 g of potassium, respectively. Then the amount of fertilizers for feeding in each case, 30 g of the active substance can be determined by the formula:

urea 100 g x 30 g: 46 g - 65 g;
superphosphate 100 g x 30 g: 20 g - 150 g;
potassium sulfate 100 g x 30 g: 52 g - 58 g

It is inconvenient to weigh fertilizers every time. It is better to use a yardstick. For example, you can use a tablespoon, especially since you do not have to touch the fertilizer with your hands. (Of course, such a spoon can no longer be used for cooking.) One tablespoon contains 25-30 g of loose substance. In our example, counting according to the upper limit, for 1 m you need to use up two tablespoons of urea, five - superphosphate and two tablespoons of potassium sulfate when feeding.

Question 2. Is it possible to feed gladioli with mullein?

Answer. The mullein can be fed to gladioli plants, as it contains all the basic nutrients. However, it is used not in a concentrated form, but in an infusion in the ratio of one part of mullein to 10-15 parts of water. It is better for beginner growers to use only mineral fertilizers at first. Only after the development of crops can organic crops be used, remembering that mullein, especially fresh, serves as a source of pathogens of many plant diseases. For feeding, manure extract is most often prepared. To do this, a bag of harsh cloth with manure is suspended in a barrel of water at the rate of one part of manure to four to five parts of water. Insist five to seven days. The finished hood is diluted three to four times and fed, spending up to 10 liters of solution per 1 m.

Question 3. How much phosphorus and potassium is contained in potassium phosphate?

Answer. Potassium phosphate, or potassium phosphate, is not a fertilizer, but many growers buy this substance at a chemical reagent store and use it on their site. Mono- and disubstituted potassium phosphate is often used. To determine the amount of phosphorus and potassium in them, it is necessary to know the chemical formula of the substance and the atomic weights of the elements included in it. The chemical formula of monosubstituted potassium phosphate is KH2P04. The atomic masses of its constituent elements: K -39, H - 1, P -31, O-16. Consequently, the mass of monosubstituted potassium phosphate in units of atomic (now molecular) mass will be:

39 + 1 × 2 + 31 + 16 × 4 = 136

If you take the amount of this substance in grams, numerically equal to the molecular weight, you can calculate how much potassium (X) is in it,%:

136g KN2R04 - 100%
39 g K - X%
X = 39 x 100: 136 = 29%.

Accordingly, the phosphorus content will be,%:

31 x 100: 136 = 23%

The formula for disubstituted potassium phosphate is K2HP04.

The sum of its molecular weight

39 x 2 + 1 + 31 + 16 x 4 = 174

We calculate the percentage of potassium per amount of disubstituted phosphate by weight in grams, numerically equal to its molecular weight, that is, 174 grams:

(39 x 2) x 100%: 174 = 45%

Similarly, we calculate the phosphorus content:

31 x 100%: 174 = 18%

When using the listed compounds for fertilization, it must be remembered that monosubstituted potassium phosphate has an acidic reaction of the medium, and disubstituted - alkaline.