Re: Pot Culture
- To: Multiple recipients of list <i*@rt66.com>
- Subject: Re: Pot Culture
- From: R* T* D* <r*@sierratel.com>
- Date: Tue, 26 Aug 1997 16:11:13 -0600 (MDT)
Bill Shear wrote:
>
> I noticed that the root removal was withstood best by rhizomes from
> California, less well by those from Oregon. Could it be that the drier,
> hotter California climate put those rhizomes into a deeper dormancy from
> which they could more easily recover from "shaving," while the Oregon
> rhizomes, from a cooler, moister regime and perhaps not full dormant, may
> have resented the removal of their roots?
>
Bill,
Here at Superstition we cut off all roots of all iris that we transplant
*and* receive from other gardens, ranging in climate usually from Canada
and most parts of the USA, hot-dry-cold-wet. Every single one!
We do not shave them but use ordinary sissors to cut as close to the
rhizome as possible. We do this quickly as we are discussing many, many
thousands. When transplanting we push the rhizomes into the soil, which
is usually dry, so the soil just covers the rhizome. After they are
transplanted the ground is kept just moist while they are rooting.
Watering stops when the temps cool off in the fall and we get our rains.
We DO NOT let our plants go dormant during the summer and water deeply
once a week. We do this so we can dig to fill orders each week;
otherwise the soil would become as hard as concrete.
Rick Tasco
Superstition Iris Gardens
Central California
Zone 8
