Re: TB: Rot Question

I think my problem may have been that I took the "don't bury your rhizomes too deeply" advice too far. I think I may have left them too exposed considering my climate. Next year, I will try to find a better balance (and mulch a little more heavily than I did last fall).

I spent two weeks in Taipei late January (about the same latitude as Miami), and I'd check the local Boston weather forecast every few days. There were days where the temps in Taipei & Boston were quite close. So much for my escape from cold weather.

-Matt

DWiris@aol.com wrote:
In a message dated 4/3/2006 9:31:12 AM Eastern Standard Time, apetala2@yahoo.com writes:

All my irises (both those w/ symptoms and w/o) started
to grow early this February because of the mild winter
weather. Then, we had very cold, below normal weather
for the rest of February and much of March. I suspect
that may have to do with the problem, but I am not
sure. I have irises w/ symptoms and w/o in the same
beds, so it's not an obviously location-centric
problem.



It sounds like the sharp weather variations caused the rot. I am surprised you had that much growth in February. Here in northern Ohio we had the same temperature swings, but didn't really see active growth. We have found one iris that apparently tried to send up a bloom stalk in late fall which rotted. The rest of the plant seems OK after we clean out the blasted stalk. If your varieties were newly planted in 2005, they may not have become well established before winter. Also, some varieties are just more suseptable to rot, especially those originated in hot, dry climates. Some type of winter mulch, such as evergreen branches, helps minimize the affects of temperature swings.
Dorothy Willott

---------------------------------------------------------------------
To sign-off this list, send email to majordomo@hort.net with the
message text UNSUBSCRIBE IRIS
---------------------------------------------------------------------
To sign-off this list, send email to majordomo@hort.net with the
message text UNSUBSCRIBE IRIS
Other Mailing lists | Author Index | Date Index | Subject Index | Thread Index