How do gladiolus reproduce?

Answer 1

The gladiolus is an annual blooming plant that grows from an underground, bulbous structure called a corm. Each winter, the plant sheds its leaves and stems, then produces new ones in the spring from the corm as it comes out of winter. Corms serve the same purpose as a seed or bulb does. A corm is a structure with no actual layers. Corms tend to be smaller than ¾ in diameter; and those sized corms do not usually produce a flower. But the corms that are 1 and ¼ in diameter are found to be the normal size for flowering. If you want to insure that the corm you plant will grow flowers, it is recommended that you plant full and thick corms. Corms are round and fat. When planting corms they need to be planted six to eight inches apart from each other. They also they need to be inserted five inches into the ground and planted with the pointed side up. Gladiolus can reproduce by cross pollination between unisexual or imperfect flowers.