Re: Japanese Iris and virgin soil

At 05:38 AM 8/17/96 -0600, you wrote:
>In a message dated 96-08-16 23:38:35 EDT, you write:
>
>> He is also the one who told
>>me that a man in Tokyo has been able to use the same soil by "cooking" it at
>>high temperatures.  Hope this helps.  Clarence Mahan in VA
>>
>>
>Clarence:
>
>I wonder if you could achieve this by laying clear plastic over the offending
>soil for a week or so?  Sure 'cooks' my irises... found some in my car one
>day - gift from Jim Burke - they had parboiled in their plastic bag!
>
>Seriously, though... would this cook the soil?

Neener-neener, Irisborer...I have more weeds than you do and mine are bigger
than yours, with a stand of thistles and great drifts of hedge morning
glory!     
Re cooking soil...
A couple of us made postings on this very subject awhile back.  The method
is called soil solarization, is very popular with organic gardeners here and
it does work.  Clear plastic is spread over tilled and dampened soil and it
takes ten days to two weeks to achieve "deep cleaning".  A few days will
kill many weed seed and pathogens.  Many of the organic gardeners here claim
that excess solarization kills too many of the good beasties in soil and
destroys its tilth.  They use it just for a few days on a prepared bed
mainly for weed control.  Because I recalled that one of our group wrote
something up on this for a region or club newsletter, I just searched my
iris files, but could not find the postings.  Will keep trying...

I do not know if it is reliable enough to be able to replant Japanese iris
back in the same spot, plus there is the problem of holding them while you
cook your soil.  Has anyone ever grown them in a large container such as a
half-barrel?  I was thinking of trying this both with Japanese and some
Arils.  The soil could be tailored to their needs, replaced when needed and
they can be covered during our winter deluges.  Picky lilies grow well in
these containers and in some big tree pots that I rescued from a recycling
center here.  Another good large container is an old stock watering trough
that leaks, also from the "trash".

At least weeding is therapeutic and builds character!

Louise H. Parsons  <parsont@peak.org>
listowner, Alpine-L,the Electronic Rock Garden Society
Corvallis, OR  USA USDA zone 7 , Emerald NARGS, AIS, SIGNA, SPCNI, 
"The sleep of reason breeds monsters" Goya 
http://www.peak.org/~parsont/rockgard/

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