CULT: grasshoppers
- Subject: CULT: grasshoppers
- From: D* E*
- Date: Wed, 3 Jul 2002 06:57:09 -0500
Hello Folks,
You should see what they can do! The floor of my iris beds look as if I've
strewn rice in a nearly solid layer. What it really is though, are most of
the iris fans converted to grasshopper droppings. They have eaten some big
fans clean down into the rhizome, so I'm seeing some bloom chances next
spring disappear. They've been bad in prior years, but I do believe this is
about the worst I've seen. It has rained nearly all night. I expect I'll
be seeing some rot in those rhizomes that have been damaged down into the
starchy tissue. For all that I don't like the look of the seedling bed that
is a big rectangle of shade cloth, sides and all, it is protecting them from
being devoured. The plants in the shade cloth box have grown and many are
touching the top of the cloth now. They appear, as best I can see through
the cloth, to have more floppy foliage than is normal so I guess they may
not be getting quite enough sunlight and are softer as a result. The color
looks okay. Those under the hose tents or cages, appear to be growing more
sturdily. But those are letting more light through, or so it appears. It's
easier to see through them anyway. I do hope the 'hoppers are gone, or at
last back to reasonable numbers, by the time the seedlings outgrow the
cages.
The arilbreds have been slower to go into dormancy this year due to more
regular rain and cooler weather I guess. The dormancy is good as far as the
grasshoppers go, but I haven't had this much rain on them in their dormant
stage before. I hope it doesn't prove to be lethal for those that have gone
totally or nearly dormant. I've known it was going to happen sooner or
later, so I guess I'll find out next fall when it's time for them to start
actively growing again.
Donald Eaves
donald@eastland.net
Texas Zone 7b, USA
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