CULT: raised beds vs rows, compost

From: linda Mann <lmann@mailhub.icx.net>

Took me a few years to catch on, but nearly everybody who successfully
grows irises in this general area (east Tennessee) grows them in
rototilled rows.  The high rainfall packs the soil so quickly, that
rototilling seems to work best to keep drainage high, as well as control
weeds.  I use a tractor to till between rows, which results in slightly
raised rows, then (horrors) use Roundup between rows.  Rot here is
highly cultivar specific & either results from late winter/early spring
drastic freezes after warm spells or heavy rain after prolonged drought
& heat.  Sometimes a puny rhizome of any type will also rot.

Compost, tilled in, or adjacent to plants, hot or cold, fresh or old
doesn't seem to have much effect on rot here, probably because of the
excessive drainage of gravelly soil.

I do use a lot of alfalfa pellets now and have had less damage from rot
after rainfall.  We had some discussion a year or so ago about the white
'fuzz' that sometimes appears on decomposing alfalfa pellets.  Bill
Shear (I think) guessed we were describing slime mold, which gobbles up
bacteria.

Organic matter, especially high levels of compost, tends to cool the
soil as well as keeping it wet.  Maybe farther north, the cooler soil
would enhance rot?

Linda Mann east Tennessee USA
who gets best growth and bloom by filling in between rows of irises with
FRESH horse manure, and adding mineral fertilizer, alfalfa, and
dolomite.  I do not recommend this to anybody, but it works here.


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