Gladiolus flowers are liked by the people all over the world. 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. Flowers having good keeping quality i.e. it can kept for eight to ten days. 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 gladiolus growing states in India.

It is winter season crop but its cultivation is possible throughout the year in mild climate. In Maharashtra because of favorable climatic condition its cultivation is becoming popular. Pune, Nasik and Mahabaleshwar are major gladiolus growing districts of Maharashtra.
 

It gives best result when grown under 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 around 7.

Mainly two type of varieties observed 1) Large type flower 2) Butterfly type flower

Ganesh, Sapana: Variety having light yellow color flowers.

Prerna, Suchitra : Variety having light pink color flower.

Tejas: Variety having purple color flowers.

Neel Rekha, Tropic Sea: Variety having blue color flowers.

Pusa Suhagan: Red color flowers.

Sansare: Variety having white color flowers.

White prosperity: The variety gets mature within 110-120 days. It has 17 florets on a single 75 cm flower spike.

Nova Lux: The variety gets mature within 110-120 days. The spike length is 79cm which produces yellow color flowers. Every single plant produces approximately 47 tubers.

Urovian: The variety gets mature within 110-120 days. It has 16 red color florets on a single 84cm flower spike.

Golden Melody: The variety gets ready in 90-100 days. It has 15 florets on a single 87cm flower spike. Every single plant produces approximately 67 tubers.It has light yellow color flowers.

Snow Princess: The variety gets ready in 80-90 days. It has 11-14 florets on a single 65cm flower spike. Every single plant produces approximately 15tubers. It produces white color flowers.

Silvia: The variety gets ready in 120 days. It has 13-15 florets on a single 75cm flower spike. Every single plant produces approximately 15 tubers. It produces golden yellow color flowers.

Sansray: The variety gets ready in 120 days. It has 15-17 florets on a single 75.5cm flower spike. Every single plant produces approximately 91 tubers. It produces white color flowers.

Suchitra: The variety gets ready in 90-95 days.It has 15-16 florets on a single 83cm flower spike. Every single plant produces approximately 85 tubers. It produces pink color flowers.

Mayur: The variety gets ready in 100-110 days. It has 14-16 florets on a single 76.6cm flower spike. Every single plant produces approximately 88 tubers. It produces purple color flowers.

Punjab Pink Elegance: The spikes of this variety are used as ornamental purposes. The variety gets ready in 86 days. Every single plant produces approximately 39 small sized tubers. It has light pink color flowers and has long spikes.

Punjab flame: The spikes of this variety are used for ornamental purposes. The variety gets ready in 114 days. Every single plant produces approximately 60 small sized tubers. It has pinkish red color flowers which are red from the centre.

Punjab Glance: The spikes of this variety are used for ornamental purposes. The variety gets ready in 78 days. Every single plant produces approximately 14 small sized tubers. It has orange color flowers and has long spikes.

Punjab Lemon Delight: It used as ornamental purposes. The variety gets ready in 80 days. Every single plant produces approximately 11 small sized tubers. It has light yellow color flowers and has long spikes.

Punjab Glad 1: The variety gets ready in 90-100 days. It has 15 florets on a single 84 cm flower spike. Every single plant produces approximately 44 tubers. It produces orange color flowers.
 

For gladiolus plantation, land should be well ploughed before sowing. To bring the soil to fine tilth, ploughing must be done. Application of FYM@20-25tonnes is mixed with the soil.

Time of sowing:
Tuber sowing should be done in the month of August to November.

Spacing:
Use row to row spacing of 30cm and the distance between tubers should be 20cm.

Sowing depth:
For good growth, sow tubers at depth of 7-10cm.

Method of sowing:
Tubers or corms are sowing direct in the soil at a proper distance in rows.
 

Seed rate:
Use 50,500-70,000 corms for per acre land.

Seed treatment:
Before sowing tubers are dipped in Bavistin solution @0.2% for half hour to protect them from soil-borne diseases.
 

Irrigation must be done depending upon climate and soil. In sandy soil it requires irrigation at the interval of 7-10 days.

Iron deficiency: Yellowing of leaves are the symptoms of iron deficiency in the Gladiolus crop. Spraying of ferrous sulphate @0.2% should be done when seedling has 3-6 leaves is done to cure iron deficiency. 

Nutrient Requirement (kg/acre)

Fertilizer Requirement (kg/acre)

Always do soil testing and apply fertilizer on basis of it.

Before seed sowing, mixed FYM or well decomposed cowdung@20 – 30tonnes/acre in the soil.

At the time of land preparation, apply Phosphorus@80kg (Single phosphate @500kg) and Potash@80kg (MOP@135kg/acre) as a basal dose.
 
Apply Nitrogen dose in three equal splits i.e. three, five and seven weeks after sowing. Apply irrigation after fertilizer application. 
 

• Disease and their control:
  

Corm rot: The symptoms are premature yellowing of leaves, stem collapsing and reddish brown color dry rot on corms.

Treatment: If infestation is observed take spray of Zineb 75WP@400gm or M-45@400gm per acre in 150 ltr of water.

Hard rot: It is caused by Septoria gladioli. The symptoms are dark brown or black color and sunken lesions are appearing on the corms.

Treatment: Dip the corms in Thiophanate methyl solution at 85-120°F temperature or in iprodione at suitable temperature for 15-30 minutes to get rid of corm rot.

Root knot nematode: It is caused by Meloidogyne incognita. The symptoms are stunted growth, wilting and yellowing of foliage and galling of roots.

Treatment: Treatment with oxamyl solution is given to the infected fields.

Mosaic virus: The symptoms are yellowing, stunted growth, mottling and ring spots are seen.

Treatment: If infestation is seen, then spraying of Acephate@600gm in 150ltr of water in per acre of land is done.

Aphids: The aphids destroy the growing young parts of the plants.

Treatment: Spraying of Rogor30 EC or Malathion 50 EC @3ml/ltr of water is done at the time of flowering to get rid from aphids.

Thrips: The thrips affect the plant by feeding themselves on sap of leaves and flowers.

Treatment: Spraying of Rogor30 EC or Malathion 50 EC @3ml/ltr of water is done at the time of flowering to get rid from thrips.

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.
 

Freshly cut flowers are stored in card board boxes. These boxes are sold to nearby markets or to flower sellers.