Rooting a Gladiolus Stalk?

Q: I cut a Gladiolus from the stalk trying to dig it up. If I stick the stalk in the ground without the bulb, will it root?

Hardiness Zone: 8a

Joanne from Abbeville, GA

A: Joanne,

Gladioli cannot be propagated by rooting the stalk. They are commonly grown from corms, which are enlarged, bulb-like underground stems. After planting corms in the spring, as the leaves of the stalk emerge, a new corm forms on the top of the original corm, which if left alone, would eventually shrivel up and fade away. Smaller corms may also form around this new corm. These can be taken off in the fall when the main corms are dug up for winter storage. These smaller corms can be planted the following spring and dug up again in the fall the same way you would larger corms. They will usually bloom when planted again the second year.

You can also propagate gladioli by sectioning-cutting each corm into sections. Each section you cut should contain a bud and be allowed to "cure" for several days in order to form a protective skin. They can then be planted in potting mix (as deep as they are large), watered and kept in a humid, warm room (70 degrees F)until shoots emerge.

Gladioli can be started from seed, but you may not end up with offspring similar to the parent plant. It also usually takes a couple of years of planting, digging up and replanting corms until you see flowers.

Ellen