Re: Spring Rot?

Bo Cordes wrote of spring rot:

>>> It seems to appear in the crown of the rhizome--where the
fan
joins.  I believe that it could also be frost damage, even
though I am located in Zone 4.5 I trimmed all my iris fans to
4-6 inches last fall before the snow flew. There was a lot of
leaf spot in my garden, and I did not want the virus to have a
chance to overwinter. <<<

Hello Bo,

I am in Zone 3 and I never trim bearded iris...some do around
here but I tend to be too sloppy with my trimming and find that
I do a lot of tearing of the stalk which seems to say, "Hello
rot, have a seat on one of my newest $40 or $50 rhizomes". (Rot
seems to leave the $5 bargain TBs alone...) 

>>> Do I have some strange bacteria in my soil that hasn't been
there before? <<<

Dunno but I always have at least a small bit of rot in the
spring but it is not the smelly kind. Mine is from the moisture
of the melting snow and the incessant rain in April-May.

>>> I put bleach solution on, as well as Comet. . . does this
really work? <<<

Comet works the best for me...true, you do shake some of the
powder on the soil around the rhizome which I have told myself
is good for the garden. Besides, I am not good at painting
anything. :-)

>>> now we have 6 inches of fresh snow. . . it looks like it'll
be here for at least a week! <<<

I hear you....we still have snow....I also tell myself that this
is good for the garden, too. 
 
>>> I hope someone can help me. :-} <<<

If your irises are covered with snow and you have 'Cometted'
them, you have done what is advised in very cold climates. I
would really doubt that you had any signs of bud formation in
your rhizomes 'but' you are another zone warmer than us. We are
still frozen..and muddy in the dogs' area of the property.
Lovely spring = half snow/ half mud. Ain't it grand?

Cheers,

Ellen





=====
Ellen Gallagher  <ellengalla@yahoo.com> / Berlin, New Hampshire / USDA Zone 3a
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Siberian-Species Iris Convention 2003, June 12-15 
http://members.rogers.com/iris2003/
http://members.rogers.com/iris2003/newbb.html (clothing)
http://www.irisregister.com/  (AIS checklist data)
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

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