Re: Bleach water

I could care less about the cost of the bleach, believe me!  When you pay up to $50 per rhizome, a bottle of bleach is nothing. 
 
Even though you may have used a strong solution in the past with no ill effects on your rhizomes (that you know of), that doesn't mean that you won't one day have ill effects. I believe bleaching may be a contributor to pineappling, being that it is so caustic. Since going to 5%, my pineappling had dropped drastically, which may or may not be the reason.
 
However, the main reason is that 5% is all that is needed. Very little bleach is necessary and it goes a long way toward killing germs.  Matter of fact, for sanitizing dishes, you only need just a teaspoon of bleach per sink-full of water. 
 
As far as the time of the soak is concerned, a timer set for 30 minutes tells me when they are done.  That is just about the right amount of time for this percentage for me.  It may be different for others, but I like it when the rhizome achieves that clean look. 
 
I don't know if hardness of the water would make a difference, for my water is very soft being that it goes through a filter. Harder water may require more % of bleach, I do not know for sure.  However, for me, anything more than 5% is overkill really. 
 
My best advice, try it on a few rhizomes and see what you think.  I have tried it and have liked it, which is why I remain with it.  Since getting into irises, I have found that many of the things that have been relayed to me as fact have been quite wrong, so I keep an open mind and I try it for myself.  (One of the things I was told as fact is that you cannot grow SDB's in the desert!  Well, I have tried it and found that to be wrong.  Matter of fact, they rebloom here too!) 
 
Patrick Orr
Phoenix, AZ  Zone 9
USA
 
 
 
 
--- Original Message -----
From: j*@usjoneses.com
To: i*@yahoogroups.com
Sent: Sunday, August 22, 2004 10:06 PM
Subject: Re: [iris-photos] Bleach water

If you are using Clorox as your bleach, be aware that several years ago
the manufacturer cut the amount of the active chlorine ingredient by
50% and added some other oxygenator.

So you should be doubling what you use to use. I have used up to 50%
solutions as a presoak and full strength on a rz in the ground that had
rot and never had any problems with the rz reacting negatively to the
bleach. I have no confidence in the 5% solutions. Why take a chance
just to save a few pennies.

John

On Aug 22, 2004, at 12:46 PM, Patrick Orr wrote:

> 20 parts water to 1 part bleach soak for a half hour works well too,
> and is less caustic. I used to do 10 percent bleach, but after a
> friend turned me on to a 5 percent 30 minute soak, I am sticking with
> that.
>
> Patrick Orr
> Phoenix, AZ Zone 9
> USA
> ----- Original Message -----
>  From: len suchy
> To: i*@yahoogroups.com
> Sent: Sunday, August 22, 2004 12:04 PM
> Subject: Re: [iris-photos] Bleach water
>
> I use 10 parts of water and 1 part bleach. This has worked for me in
> the
> past. Len
>
>
>
> 
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