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Gladioli in pots

Dirty HarryDirty Harry Posts: 1,048
in Plants
My neighbour kindly gave me 20 bulbs he got for free and I'm looking to put some in a terracotta pot I have.

I made a bulb lasagne in the autumn in a couple of pots and put pansies in the top of the pots to provide colour until the tulips etc. appeared.

Is this something that can also be done with gladioli or are they a bit big to allow having annuals above? Can't seem to find anywhere suggesting having gladioli planted with anything else in such a way.
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  • Kitty 2Kitty 2 Posts: 5,150
    I've grown gladioli in pots before but have never bothered 'overplanting' them. I pack em in so there's never too much space left when the leaves come up.
    Ten bulbs in an (approx) 30cm pot.

    How large are the pots? If theres space around the edges you might get away with a few annual lobelia plugs to trail down the sides.
  • Dirty HarryDirty Harry Posts: 1,048
    The spare pot I have is a little over 30cm. Don't think I'll bother with the annuals if it's ok to put that many bulbs in.

    How deeply did you plant them?

    Damn, just as I was writing this I've gone and had a look at the bulbs, they've gone a bit mouldy. Still worth attempting?


  • Kitty 2Kitty 2 Posts: 5,150
    Planting depth ? At a rough guess I'd say I probably half filled the pot with compost, laid out the bulbs and covered over with about 5/6" more compost.

    If the bulbs are still firm I wouldn't fret too much about a bit of mould. It's the soft ones you want to avoid.

    My style of gardening is quite laid back, as you can probably tell 😉. I tend to just bung it in and see if it grows. You've nothing to lose with free bulbs, pot them up and see what you get 😀.

  • Dirty HarryDirty Harry Posts: 1,048
    Stuck 10 in the pot and spacing looked about right. They're butterfly gladioli so a lot shorter than most, should make a brilliant display. 

    I had 20 bulbs, they were all firm but a few were a nasty yellow colour so I've chucked them. Will find something to do with the remaining few.

    Cheers for the advice, I'll post a picture when they're (hopefully) blooming.


  • JoeXJoeX Posts: 1,783
    10 in a 30cm pot?  I may have vastly under planted then...

    I thought you had to space them out 20-30cm!
  • Dirty HarryDirty Harry Posts: 1,048
    As promised...


  • Janie BJanie B Posts: 963
    They look lovely! My gladioli in pots are all leaves and not a hint of a flower...


    Lincolnshire
  • Dirty HarryDirty Harry Posts: 1,048
    edited August 2018
    Mine seemed to take a while for flowers to appear, that's just over 3 months in the photo going by my previous posts.

    How long have yours been planted for?
  • fidgetbonesfidgetbones Posts: 17,618
    Gladioli take 70 to 90 days to flower from planting, depending on the type. I planted three rows of different types on the same day.  One row is in bud, the others not showing yet.
  • cjblackstockcjblackstock Posts: 3
    I never thought of growing glads in pots but it's a brilliant idea. They have to be dug up before frost where I live and I can't be bothered so just don't plant them. It would be so much easier to get them out of a pot. I'll try it next spring. Do you think I could overwinter them in the pot if I move it to the same place I'd store the bulbs (if I dug them up)?
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