Re: CULT: Iris Rot in Utah

Hello Jeff,

The frozen ground explains it.  I think we actually get around 24" -26"
annual rainfall, which can come anytime of the year.  Depending on how it
falls, I suspect our useful rainfall probably doesn't match the inches in a
given year.  Our ground, though, is seldom frozen and not usually more than
overnight when it does.  Rot can plague me, but usually it because the clay
won't drain and I haven't done a good enough job of preparing the planting
bed.

Donald
donald@eastland.net
> 
> With this weather pattern we do experience some warm weather rot, mainly
> bacterial soft rot, but it is not a major problem. Bearded iris do
require
> some irrigation in the summer, so the rhizomes are exposed to the moist
and
> warm conditions that favor this kind of rot at least periodically.
> 
> The *killer rot* here, however, is what is locally known as "winter rot",
> which is Botrytis fungal rot. This strikes in the early spring at the
time
> of the big thaw (usually late March around here), when the winter
> accumulation of snow melts rapidly while the ground is still frozen, so
> that the melt water puddles at surface(=rhizome) level. With plenty of
> moisture and temperatures between 30 and 40, botrytis has a heyday.
> What makes it more insidious is that the rot gets going before all the
snow
> cover has disappeared, so often it is too late to do anything to save the
> affected rhizomes once it is detected. This is the rot that twice did in
> poor MEMPHIS BLUES for me.
> 
> Jeff Walters in northern Utah  (USDA Zone 4, Sunset Zone 2)
> cwalters@digitalpla.net
> 
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