Re: Re: CULT: iris health

Great info, Linda. Our soil here is clay as well, aside fr an occasional sandy gravel pocket. We do have a river at the south end of the property, plus a pond full of fish, so it may not be a viable option for me, alas. All the land eventually drains towards the south. 

El
----- Original Message ----- From: "Linda Mann" <lmann@lock-net.com> 
To: <iris@hort.net>
Sent: Friday, July 13, 2007 4:53 PM
Subject: [iris] Re: CULT: iris health
Ok, if it's interesting to at least one other person, it's worth the trouble <g> Thanks for the feedback, Eleanor.
I did some more digging - I'm pretty sure the produce she uses is Baquacil. It's a quaternary ammonium compound known as PHMB, made up of C, N, O, & H (no metals or halides).
I always worry about the breakdown products and how biodegradable things are. Baquacil apparently is very toxic to fish, but also binds to clay and biodegrades (I think) fairly readily. So near as I can tell, pouring a swimming pool concentration of it on a potted plant shouldn't hurt non-target things. As long as there isn't surface runoff into a creek.
She has been pouring it out on the lawn for years (decades) with no ill effect. Just started growing irises a year or two ago. 

I found this on the web - sorry, I forgot to copy the link:
==============
PHMB

USES:
Terrestrial non-food microbiostat and preservative: For use on ornamental flowering plants (cuttings or stored).
Target Pests: Slime-forming bacteria, deterioration/spoilage bacteria, animal pathogenic bacteria (G-and G+ vegetative), pseudomonas spp, animal pathogenic fungi, mold/mildew, algae 
===========

--
Linda Mann east Tennessee USA zone 7/8
East Tennessee Iris Society <http://www.DiscoverET.org/etis>
American Iris Society web site <http://www.irises.org>
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