Re: CULT: moisture in rhizomes (was sure fire bloom)

Hi, thanks for the info Walter

I wasn't so much thinking about the period during transit (although that 
could play a part),
but rather why an uncovered, unplanted rhizome would make it through the 
Zone 3 winter
and a planted one would not.  The unplanted rhizome would be subject to 
a period of
dehydration, whilst the ones that are planted would not be.  Perhaps in 
order for an iris
rhizome to make it though a freezing period without damage it must have 
under a certain
% moisture content.   Of course, then the amount of rain received in the 
late summer, fall
period would make a big difference too.

I wasn't aware Schreiners do not wash their irises, I do have a lot 
better luck with
theirs than other companies that do wash them.

Sandra
SE Manitoba

wmoores@watervalley.net wrote:

>On 4/21/2003, "Sandra Barss" <barsssa@mb.sympatico.ca> wrote:
>
>  
>
>>Walter
>>
>>I think you were saying you left the rhizomes that you received from the
>>west out for about a
>>month before you planted them, if so, what happened to make you start
>>doing this?
>>
>>    
>>
>
>  
>
>>Sandra
>>SE Manitoba
>>Zone 3
>>    
>>
>
>Yes, I let them dry out for a month or more and then pot them and put them in
>the shade until late October or November when they are unpotted in their
>blooming spot.
>
>Ben Hager and others have not agreed that the West Coast rhizomes are full of
>water.  They, however, are not on the receiving end 1,500 miles to the east. 
>If sent by UPS trucks (which can take eight days and goes through the desert),
>the rhizomes may rot or mold in transit - even those that are unwashed like
>Ghio's or Schreiner's.  It is best to use USPS Priority Mail or UPS Second-day
>Air.
>
>I have asked for later delivery, but many times even though my order was
>confirmed shortly after the catalog arrived, I do not get everything I ordered
>because the source has run out. So, I hardly ask for late August or September
>delivery anymore.
>
>If planted out in the open in July or August in the southern tier, the big fat
>rhizomes sit in the sun, steam, and eventually rot.  If you are bound and
>determined to go ahead and plant, use wooden roofing shingles (now hard to
>find) and build a teepee over each newly-set plant to provide shade and hope
>you don't knock them over when you move the hoses around to water.  I got
>tired of that and tired of getting splinters in my hands.
>
>People living as far north as Canada might consider getting their rhizomes
>from sources in the East.  The rhizomes may be small, but they can also
>surprise you sometimes and bloom before a big fat Westcoaster does.
>
>Walter Moores
>Enid Lake, MS USA 7/8
>
>
>Walter Moores
>
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