STAKING OF PLANTS

Wairarapa Times-Age, 30 October 1940, Page 9

STAKING OF PLANTS

GLADIOLI HINTS. Among the plants which must be staked, gladioli perhaps, present the greatest difficulty. A tall spike of bloom is weighty and may easily be ruined by a rough wind or a heavy storm just as the blooms are opening. To provide a stake to each plant individually would involve a deal of somewhat tedious labour. Unless one can be provided with touch but slender bamboo canes, the array of stakes is liable to be too conspicuous to be ornamental. Still, where gladioli are planted in groups or batches, it is difficult to devise any better method of supporting the flowers than by bamboo canes. These should be slender enough to be somewhat pliable and yet tough enough to hold the flowers without danger of collapse. When the gladioli are grown in straight, rows the most economical methods is to place a rigid stake at each end of the row. with light stakes at reasonable intervals, and then strain two rows of binder twine from stake to stake. The lower row should be about 15 inches from the ground so that the stems of the flower spikes can be secured to it, well clear of the lowest bloom. The uppermost strand should be at a height which will catch the developed spike at about two thirds of its length. A strand of raffia passed between flowers or buds, around the stem, then drawn to and tied up to the strained twine. With these two ties, all the spikes are held securely. The pliability of the strained twine will enable the stems to give slightly when wind presses either from front or back.