Many people have been asking how I store and prep my glads corms for planting. Here’s how I do it. This is not necessarily textbook glad growing, but it’s been working for me. Many secrets that I have gleaned from my mentor (my father-in-law) and from others.
1. Glad corms need to be stored cool, dark and dry. They need air flow. In the fall, I lift them, dry, clean and then treat them with an anti fungal powder. I store them in milk crates in my garage with target temperatures of 2-4C for my winter storage.
2. Ahead of planting in the Spring (March 1, inside for my early blooms and May 1 for my field and garden glads), I peal and inspect all of my corms. I generally select one eye for bigger, better blooms. I cut out any extra eyes. If you want more blooms or to increase your corm stock for next year, you could leave 2-3 eyes on the corm. You’ll end up with 2-3 plants, each that should produce a bloom and a new corm for next season.
3. After the corms are pealed and inspected, I treat them again. I’ll use the anti fungal powder, or a Lysol bath (1 cup of Lysol per 5 gallons of water).
4. For my early planting (inside), I plant the corms into 4.5” fibre pots or 750mL/1L yogurt and sour cream containers (with holes). I use about 1” of potting soil, place the corm and top with soil.
5. For my field and garden glads, I plant in rows with 4” spacing between corms. For my garden beds, I plant the corms on a 6” x 6” grid. All corms get planted 4-6” deep. Deeper is actually better and helps to prevent leaning glads later in the cycle. As a guide for when to start planting, I watch the potato farmers. When the soil is warm enough to plant potatoes, it should be warm enough for glads.
Remember, this is only “how I do it”. This is not textbook glads growing. Many people have different strategies that work well for them.