It belongs to the family Iridiaceae and it is native to South Africa.
Gladiolus is one of the most wanted flowers in the world. It is also know as “Queen of Flowers”. It is a perennial flowering plant which has sword shape leaves, funnel shaped perianth and spoon shaped branches. The flowers bloom mainly in the month of October-March. It produces wide range of flower color ranging from pink to reddish, light purple to white, or white to cream or orange to red. It is also used to cure various ailments or diseases such as common cold, diarrhoea, fungal infections, and meningitis and to get relieve from constipation. Punjab, Haryana, Andhra Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh and Maharashtra are the major growing states in India
Varieties and hybrids
Silvia, Sansray,Suchitra, Mayur, Golden melody, Snow princess, Punjab flame, Punjab glance, Punjab glad 1, Nova lux, white prosperity etc.
Climate
Gladiolus grows well in the temperature range between 25-30 degrees and good rainfall.
Soil
It requires loamy soil which has good fertility and has good drainage system. Avoid cultivation in heavy sticky and acidic soils and avoid water logging conditions in the field. It requires pH of 7.
Seed treatment
For gladiolus plantation, land should be well ploughed before sowing. To bring the soil to fine tilth, ploughing must be done. Application of FYM @ 20-25 tonnes is mixed with the soil. The cultivation of gladiolus is done by making ridges and furrows.
Season
Tuber sowing should be done in the month of September to mid-November.
Seed rate and spacing
It requires 62500-67000 corms for per acre land. Row to row spacing of 30cm and the distance between tubers should be 20cmhas to be maintained. For good growth, sow tubers at a depth of 7cm. Tubers or corms are sowing direct in the soil at a proper distance in rows.
Seed treatment
Tubers are dipped in Bavistin solution @0.2% for half hour to protect them from soil-borne diseases before sowing.
Manures and fertilizers
Before 20 days of seed sowing, mixed FYM @20tonnes/acre in the soil. At the time of land preparation apply fertilizer dose of Nitrogen @ 115kg (Urea @ 250kg), phosphorus @ 40kg (SSP @ 250kg) and potash @ 40kg (MOP @ 66kg) as a basal dose. Nitrogen dose is applied in 2 equal splits, first half dose is applied at 2-3 leaves stage and then half dose is applied at 5-6 leaf stage.
Weed Management
To obtain good yield mainly hand weeding is done which will increase the labor cost. For appropriate control of weeds, 4-5 hand weedings are necessary. For the weed control, before crop growth application of Stomp 30 EC (650ml per acre) is done.
Irrigation
Irrigation must be given depending upon the climate and soil. In sandy soil it requires irrigation at the interval of 7-10 days.
Harvesting
Harvesting is mainly done after 3-4 months i.e. 90-120 days of transplanting. Harvesting is mainly done by retaining at least 4-5 basal leaves of the plant for adequate development of corms and cormels. It gives an average yield of 40000-125000 spikes/acre and 7500-8,000 corms/acre.
Tuber harvesting: After 6-8weeks of flower harvesting, corms and cormels should be harvested. Stop irrigating the field 2-3 weeks before harvesting. After harvesting the corms are air dried. Clean the corms by removing the leaves from it. Then tubers are dipped in Bavistin solution @0.2% for half hour. After dipping they are dried for 2-3 weeks in shade. After drying they are stored in plastic bags in cold storage at 4oC.