How to Grow Baby Gladiola Bulbs

Choose a site that offers full sun and well-draining soil. These flowers can also tolerate part shade.

Turn over the soil with a spade to loosen it, removing rocks and debris. Do this in late spring to enjoy summer blooms, and continue planting through mid-June.

Plant the baby gladiola in clusters of five to seven plants. Space them 6 inches apart and plant them 4 inches deep. To plant, dig a hole for each corm and place it in the hole so the pointed side faces up. Push soil on top, pressing it over the plant bulb.

Water the soil to moisten it. Thereafter, give the plants 1 inch of water per week.

Cut the spikes when one or two flowers open, to enjoy a long-lasting flower bouquet.

Wait until a fall frost kills the foliage on your baby glads, if you live in a cold climate. Then dig up the corms, using a shovel to unearth the plant tissue. You should have a new corm growing on top of the old ones you planted. Cut the stem just above the corm, and cure the corms for three weeks in a warm, dry location. Gardeners in zones 7 to 9 may skip this step.

Break off the old corm and dispose of it. Store the new corms in a paper bag or cloth sack, in a dark location where temperatures average 35 to 45 degrees F. Replant the baby glads in warm weather to repeat the cycle.