Re: Kentucky rot vs Tennessee rot

In a message dated 97-02-18 11:40:49 EST, you write:

>I do have more experience with southern middle Tennessee (USDA Zone 7). 
>We also had red clay soil there, but it was topped by a 2-3 inches of a
>rich black dirt.  EVERYTHING grew well.  We did have some minor rot
>problems, mainly because I neglected the beds -- I did not regularly
>rotate beds and solarize, I never used a fungicide, was a little sloppy
>about weeding, and sometimes let the beds get overcrowded before
>dividing.  When I divided clumps, I would cut off any rot spots, but did
>not dip in a bleach solution.  The worst result I usually got from rot
>was thinning of a clump.  I can only think of a couple of times in 20
>years that I lost an entire clump to rot. Lynn Woosley
>Marietta, GA, USA

Let's hope it's the same for you in Georgia.  Do you have good clay soil
there also?  My garden is black gravelly loam, creek bed soil.  I met a woman
at the Lebanon TN show who won Queen of Show regularly.  She told me she had
two iris gardens, one small one with rich, black, gravelly creek soil and the
other with clay.  She said she had  bad problems with rot in the 'black dirt'
but not on the clay.  I figure all the native organic matter and excessive
drainage just aggravates everything.  (me and the rototiller included).

Good to hear from you Lynn.  Keep us 'posted'.

Were many of those iris you had in Tennessee older varieties?

Linda Mann east Tennessee USA lmann76543@aol.com
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