Evening star., 1944-04-30

In the form Of disease or insect pest,
the gladiolus thrip, q tiny sap-suck
The thrips enter the flower buds just
the substance from the petals so
naturally. The petals hang limp
and lose a good portion of their
color.
The gladiolus thrip changed the
growing of "glads," but now that we
know how to control this pest many
gardeners are again growing them,
since they make such fine cutting
flower and a long season Of bloom
can be insured by spacing the plant
ings according to the needs. Meas
ures have been worked out which
effectively control the thrips and
thus no one need be deprived of
the excellent flowers.
Most gardeners rout the thrips by
treating the corns during the win
ter with napthalene flakes. This is
a simple method and consists of
placing the corms in a tight box or
bag with small quantity Il ounce
to so corTns) of the napthalene
fakes. The corms are thus exposed
to the fumes from the fakes for a
month or more before being re-
moved to cool, airy storage place.
The napthalene flakes are mex
pensive and easily handled. This
treatment, however, should only be
used after the corms are cleaned In
the fall or early winter. Spring
treatment may injure the tender
new shoots. sl" 4
Care Should be Used.
For those who have not given
their corms the napthalene treat
ment the use Of bichloride of mer-
curry or one Of its derivatives (usual-
ly sold under a trade name) as a.
spring treatment Is recommended.
This material is deadly poison and
great care should be used. The
corms are soaked in the solution for
several hours, plant shortly after re-
moving from the solution.
After the glads are growing in the
garden it is possible through spray
ing to control the thrips and have
choice blooms. The spray formerly
recommended paris green-brown
sugar. seemed to injure the foliage,
although it was effective enough
against the thrips. We may of ne
cessity use it again this summer since
the tartar emetic which is now IA
vored for this purpose is not always
available. The Paris green-brown
sugar spray should be applied at
weekly intervals from the time the
foliage Is inches high until the
flower buds show color. Use one
heaping tablespoonful q ounce) of
the Paris green and 2 pounds of
brown sugar to gallons of water.
The newer and more desirable
thrip spray is the tartar emetic-
brown sugar mixture g ounces tar
tar emetic, 8 ounces of brown sugar
3 gallons of water) which does not
injure the foliage or check the
growth of the new corms. Tartar
emetic is a standard drug, also
known as "antimony and potassium
tartrate." The spraying program is
the same as for the Paris green
brown sugar.
Gladiolus may be planted at any
time from late April to early July.
most varieties taking from rs to 100
days from planting until bloom.
However, late paintings seldom ma
ture strong corms for next seasons
planting.
Gather in Morning.
Gladiolus do best in a rich, we'll
prepared soil; that is, il takes care
to produce large flowers on tall
stems. With average care in ordi-
nary garden soil the blooms are not
so large, nor is the spike as tall.
Plant the corms at least inches
deep but do not cover with more
than 2 inches of soil until after the
shoots are up.
In cutting gladiolus it is desirable
to gather them in the morning
(oefore the heat of the day. and
to cut as the first Qowest) bud
shows color. Leave at least four
leaves to feed the growing corn.
Place the cut stems in a deep con-
talner filled with cold water to
harden" SO that they will keep
well and all of the buds will open.
Most gardeners try to grow a few
corms of each of several varieties,
although all should use Picardy as
the main planting. Picardy, large
SNOWY salmon pink, one of the really
outstanding glads, is relatively in
expensive and does very we'll in this
area. Maid of Orleans seems to be
the most satisfactory of the whites.
Jonquil rather small floWered
yellow, seems to do better than most
of the others of that color. Comdr.
Koehl, dark red, is a good grower
and DR.. F. E. Bennett, a scarlet,
does we'll in some situations. Minuet
is still the outstanding lavender.
Vagabond Prince, Mother Machree
and Sword of Mahomet are three
good smokes" There are many
other good inexpensive varieties to
choose from, varieties that make a.
splendid showing in the garden as
we'll as cutting material. in colors
to suit every taste.