gladioli
Hawkeye 2
Posts: 2
My gladioli were growing beautifully but as the flower head was appearing they developed holes and eventually fell of before they could open, the leaves were like lace with all the holes eaten into them. Now the grubs have shown themselves. I have cut them right down, washed the soil of the roots also I have lots of baby bulbs with roots and have washed those also.
The question is what is the best way to winter the large bulbs and also the baby ones and how can I treat the soil to get rid of these grubs. This my first time with gladioli .
Marie
0
Posts
Can you describe the grubs and where you found them on the plant?
Digging up the bulbs just as they are coming into flower may not have been the best course of action (too late now) as the bulbs need their leaves to help build up a food store in the bulb in order to produce a flower next year. Let's see if we can identify the pest as a matter of interest...otherwise you'd probably have more success with fresh bulbs next year.
If the grubs were in the roots it could well be vine weevil....it is also possible that 2 different bugs attacked your gladioli - 1 on the leaves another 1 on the roots!
The main pest of Gladiolus is G. thrips. Were the grubs small and yellow?
They were more like caterpillars green in colour, I looked over the plants when the leaves started to look like lace but could find nothing. Then when the flower buds started to be attacked the destruction was very rapid, then they showed themselves.When I pulled the leaves down from the stem there were lots of what seemed like eggs.
It sounds like caterpillar larave and eggs. I would not have cut them down. Over wintering depends on local conditions. It rarely gets to below 0 where I live and (excluding last Dec), winter is not too wet, so Gladioli can be left in well draining soil. If not I lift them then place in a box wrapped in newspaper till March and re pot.
My leaves were eaten like lace but the flowers were ok.
I still don't know what caused it.