Growing from Bulblets.
Success with the gladiolus depends more upon the use and management of
bulblets than upon any other one thing. Let us suppose the case of a
person who grows bulbs in his garden for flowers, and saves only the
bulbs, allowing the bulblets to go to waste as of no value,--and this is
exactly what many people do. What is the result? The bulbs that are
saved have bloomed, nearly all of them at least, and consequently they
are somewhat flattened in vertical diameter, which is more or less of a
falling off from the ideal round or conical shape. These are planted and
bloomed the next season, and only the bulbs are saved, as before. This
process is repeated year after year, the bulbs becoming gradually
thinner and less vigorous, the spikes diminishing in height and the
flowers in size, until, by and by, the grower comes to the conclusion
that his bulbs have "run out."
Now follows the experience of one who saves the bulblets, or a portion
of them. He plants them, and they make bulbs, mostly too small to bloom.
The next year these are planted, and in turn make larger bulbs, of
blooming size, perfect in form, and capable of yielding spikes of
flowers that will be an honor to the varieties from which they were
grown.
The first example shows why bulbs deteriorate when only bulbs are saved,
and the second, how to keep them up to a high standard of vigor by
renewing them from time to time with bulblets.
As success with bulbs depends largely upon the use and management of
bulblets, so success with bulblets depends, to a great extent, upon the
care given them while out of the ground. This has been dwelt upon in a
former chapter, and may be still further emphasized to good advantage.
Bulblets may easily be kept too dry, and herein lies the principal
danger. They should not be stored where artificial heat can reach them
nor where they are exposed to drafts of air. The effect of drying, as
previously explained, is to harden the coverings, and render it
difficult for the sprouts to make their way out. It is best never to let
them get dry from the time they are taken up till they are planted.
There is but little risk of keeping them too damp, and yet this is
possible, as, for instance, when the receptacles in which they are
stored are allowed to stand on a wet cellar bottom. In such a case a
large part of them will grow before they can be planted, and so be lost.
On account of the necessary dampness to which they are exposed through
the winter, they should be planted early, four or five weeks before
corn planting time, if weather and condition of soil permit. The
bulblets of some varieties sprout early and at a low temperature, and an
active effort should be made to get them into the ground before this
comes to pass. The soil may be too cold to start the majority into
growth, but the shells will still be softening and getting ready to grow
as soon as there is sufficient warmth.
The growing of bulbs from bulblets is such an important part of the
business that it seems best to describe the process in detail, even at
the risk of some repetition. The ground used for this purpose should be
level, or as nearly so as possible, to guard against washing, and the
soil should be made very fine. The rows should be made straight, of
uniform depth, about two inches, and rather broad, so as to give a good
width of bottom surface. If horse labor is to be employed in the
cultivating, the rows will need to be from thirty to thirty-six inches
apart; if a wheel hoe is to be used, eighteen inches will be ample, and
when land is precious the space may be diminished to fifteen inches, or
even twelve, though the latter is too narrow for convenience. The
bulblets should be screened through sieves of different meshes, so as to
have each size by itself, in order that the growth may be uniform.
Sow them very thick in the row, from one hundred to three hundred to the
foot, and have the bulbs average half an inch in diameter. They seem to
do best when very thick in the row, perhaps because there is such a mass
of stem that they can lift up the covering of earth and come through
with ease. Whenever I have sown them thin, with a view to obtaining
larger bulbs, I have been disappointed. They seem to exhaust their
energy in pushing their way out of the shells and up through the soil,
and their subsequent growth is not strong enough to be satisfactory. As
a rule, it is the object of the grower simply to change the bulblets
into bulbs, without special regard to size, but even if the latter were
the chief consideration, the end would probably be better attained by
close sowing. What they lose by crowding each other seems to be more
than made up by their mutual help in overcoming the obstacles which they
encounter in starting.
After the bulblets are sown, cover them slightly with the foot, treading
the earth directly over the rows. Next, sow a complete fertilizer, at
the rate of a thousand pounds to the acre, along the rows in the tracks
made by the foot and then draw the soil from both sides over the
fertilizer, making quite a ridge above each row. In small areas this
work may be done with the hoe, but in large ones it is better to use the
cultivator with the wings attached, as in covering bulbs. As soon as the
weeds start on the ridges, they should be lightly stirred with a steel
rake. A fine harrow or weeder may be used on large plantations, if
preferred. This stirring destroys the weeds over the rows before the
bulblets are fairly sprouted. A little later, when the shoots are nearly
ready to come through the ground, go over the rows again with the steel
rake, and level them down. This kills the second growth of weeds, makes
the surface clean for the young plants, and does away with the first
weeding, which is a costly item. It is important that this second
stirring be done at the right time. If too early, weeds will come up in
the rows with the bulblets; if too late, some of the young, tender
shoots may be injured.
If there is reason to think the bulblets too dry at planting time, they
may be put into sacks and soaked in water a day or two. In fact, however
well they may have been kept through the winter, it is not a bad plan to
soak them before planting. This gives the shells a more thorough
moistening than they could get in storage or in the ground, and this
cuts short the time required to soften them, and accelerates the coming
up by just so much. Some growers spread them on the cellar floor, wet
them, and cover with burlap. They are stirred every day, and kept moist
until they begin to sprout, when they are planted.
A bed of bulblets should receive the most thorough and careful
cultivation from the time the little shoots appear until the crop is
ready to be harvested. The surface should be stirred often to keep down
the weeds and encourage a steady and vigorous growth. Inasmuch as the
product is a valuable one, it pays to give it every advantage. The work
of harvesting is described at length under the head of "Digging and
Curing."
There is one curious fact connected with bulblets, which is worth
mentioning. Although they need the most judicious care when out of the
ground, if best results are to be attained, their vitality and tenacity
of life are such that they may be left around, exposed to all kinds of
weather, and treated with perfect neglect, and yet, when they come in
contact with the earth some of them will grow. I recall an instance of a
barrel of bulblets that stood in a shed through two winters and one
summer, and when the second spring came they were poured out on the
ground, and probably twenty per cent of them sprouted.
(See further Notes Pages 95-100)