CULT: rot, alfalfa pellets, soil biology, IMMORTALITY

I found the discussion about slime mold absolutely fascinating,
especially the part about them eating bacteria.  I had never seen this
white ground covering stuff in my iris plantings until shortly after
that discussion (after I had watered my new plantings).  It is
everywhere there are disintegrating alfalfa pellets, especially in the
partial shade where it is cooler and more moist.  Some of you may
remember discussions I had with Clarence last year about IMMORTALITY -
it had been very fussy about getting started in my garden (took 5
separate tries) and even then was very prone to rot.  Lloyd Zurbrigg
(Immortality's daddy) said he had heard it was fussy in some gardens,
but didn't know what the key to keeping it happy was.  Then I learned
the miracle of alfalfa pellets and have been happily scattering them
everywhere - all of a sudden, no more rot on Immortality (absolutely
zero since the first pellets over a year ago)(hopefully these aren't
famous last words).

Others have posted that alfalfa pellets contributed to the worst rot
outbreak ever, so once again, it all depends on what kind of soil,
climate, watering, etc etc etc.  But I can't help but think some kind of
bacterial predator (slime mold?) or something in the soil food chain
really likes those alfalfa pellets in my garden.  So for cultivars that
are on the edge, it really seems to make a difference here.  The
addition of the pellets seemed to push others that were teetering on the
edge of death into the great beyond (bye bye Magharee).

Linda Mann
lmann@icx.net east Tennessee USA
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