Re: After vacation salvage

In a message dated 7/18/2007 9:00:57 AM Eastern Daylight Time,  
badams007@yahoo.com writes:

Is the  best hope for salvage to lift the rhizomes, cut them back to clean 
material,  dry them then replant ?  
Hi, Beth. I'm sorry to hear of your rot problems. Believe it or not, we are  
rather dry here upstate.  As for salvage...you can do a couple of things.  If 
the rot is confined to one part of a clump, I have had good luck with just  
cutting out the affected parts, back to firm, white rhizome, and liberally  
dusting the wounds with Comet or Ajax or some other chlorinated cleaning powder.  
The chlorine disinfects, and the powder acts as a drying agent, too. I prefer 
it  to using liquid bleach, although that can also be done, using a  
bleach/water solution. I have heard that 10% bleach is enough, but I use more  when I 
soak new rhizomes prior to planting in my garden. 
 
If the damage to a clump is extreme, and if the soil is still mushy, it  
might be better to lift what is left, clean it up good, powder it, and let it  dry 
off for a day or so. If you can replant in a drier spot, so much the better. 
 
Both of these methods have worked for me. You want to be aggressive in  
cutting away all the rot ... leaves, stalks, and rhizome. It doesn't take  much 
left behind to perpetuate the rot. Also, time is of the essence. The  sooner you 
attack the mess, the better. 
 




Is there  something I can do to clean the soil in the area from which they 
were lifted  ??  Those areas have never ever been a problem  before....



I have never done this. However, if the areas are extremely wet, it might  be 
best to lift the plants and allow the ground to dry out a bit before  
replanting. 
 
Good luck!
 
Dorothy Stiefel
Spencer, NY, USA



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