Re: Increase from pieces
- To: Multiple recipients of list <i*@rt66.com>
- Subject: Re: Increase from pieces
- From: "* A* M* <w*@Ra.MsState.Edu>
- Date: Tue, 21 Apr 1998 11:15:38 -0600 (MDT)
>
> >Does this mean a piece of a rhizome will eventually make new iris
> >plants? Would I dare, for example, purchase the $40 Honey Mustard TB
> >rhizome and slice it into several pieces for several plants sufficient to
> >make a statement? Is this method as sure as, or any faster than, the
> >natural seasonal increase? thanks for any comment. Sharon
>
> I have never tried this deliberately with a TB, but I suspect that it would
> work. The problem would be the much greater chance of the pieces rotting
> with TBs. I would allow the cuts to dry and then dust them with cleanser
> (like Comet) before planting. I think the piece would have to be
> completely buried also as my experience with other irises suggests the new
> buds break more readily if they don't see any light. Could this be done
> with a bloomed-out TB rhizome? I bet it would work since bits of old
> rhizome sprout when we leave them in a tilled-up bed.
>
>
> I wonder if any commercial growers use this method.
>
>
> Bill Shear
Yes! When I first started growing irises back in the 1960's and
hadn't been introduced to AIS, Schreiners, or Cooleys, I ordered some iris
rhizomes from Gurney's in SD. Each rhizome and fan had been cut down the
middle, leaving a half fan and half rhizome with side increases. They
lived!
Periodically, I still get a flyer from Gurney's, but since I place
them in the same category as Springhill, Yawl*Mart, etc., I do not order
from them. I do not know if they continue this practice or not of getting
two plants from one.
Walter Moores
Enid Lake, MS 7/8 (70 miles from Memphis)
