Re: Leaf spot/insect control

In a message dated 97-02-11 09:17:39 EST, you write:

>.... how can you be sure that it is
>insect control that handles your friend's leaf spot problems?
>....   How closely are her plants spaced?
>
>Somewhere it is written that if you can keep fungal leaf spot out for two
>years, it will be gone for good unless some comes in on new plants.
>William A. Shear

This lady has a beeoootiful display of irises every year.  After grumping
around in my wretched ill-treated flower patch, I enjoy going over to stand
amongst her gorgeous, healthy blooms.  Her rows are just barely wide enough
to walk between (less than 3 ft center to center?) and they are crammed on
top of one another in the row.  Her spacing within the row is determined by
how many pieces she sells - she does all of her sales to roadside drop ins
during the bloom season.  If the clumps don't sell enough to keep them from
spreading too far between rows, she does divide and move them, and if they
get too gnarled on top of themselves and each other within the row, she will
also move some of them.  She does not have raised beds.  It wouldn't surprise
me if she picks off dead foliage, but she has never mentioned that as
important to her.  Her location is on top of a wide, upland, ancient terrace
of the Tennessee River with good loam containing clays from metamorphic rock
(granite? from the Unaka mountains), unlike most clays here which are from
sedimentary limestones, siltstones and shales. (apologies if I botch that - I
know the clay type is different, but can't quite remember the details).  Her
clay may be the same kind they have in the Oregon part of iris heaven.

In any case, I agree with you - seems illogical that Sevin would cure
bacterial and fungal diseases in this climate.  And maybe once upon a time,
she used something else to completely sterilize her entire yard and has
managed to keep from re-introducing anything bad since.  But she always tells
me that the reason her iris do so well is because she cultivates them a lot
(absolutely no weeds, ever), and doctors them with Sevin.

Linda Mann east Tennessee USA
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