Re: CULT: Bed Restoration Queries?? LONG
- Subject: Re: [iris-talk] CULT: Bed Restoration Queries?? LONG
- From: R* a* 8*
- Date: Sat, 29 Jun 2002 12:06:31 -0600
----- Original Message -----
From: "albee703" <alhbee@aol.com>
Subject: [iris-talk] CULT: Bed Restoration Queries??
> I have an iris bed with a bad history of leaf spot and bacterial leaf
spot....let it lie fallow for a year....The average PH of the yard is 7.3.
>
I want to lay down a plastic barrier.
> Currently, I have black plastic covering the new fallow bed. It has
> been on for a week. I checked the temp the other day and it was at
> 137 degrees under the plastic.
>
> What is better, clear plastic or black plastic? I also killed some grass
by leaving clear plastic on the lawn near the these beds. In my mind dead
lawn
> says go with clear. >
all suggestions are very welcome. Thanks in advance.
> Al Bullock
> Z7 No Va
Al, I will give you my 2 cents worth and that is all it's really worth ok?
Remember that delete key! I will comment to some of your message, some
(moss) I can't. I hope you can find some information or experience you can
use.
My best guess is that you need to treat the rhizomes and causes. If you are
sure of what you are dealing with, use a recommended treatment. After
several years of testing and grief we still couldn't isolate it exactly.
Cleary's 3336 would slow it down a bit in Spring, but it would reoccur with
any cool wet weather. Bayleton was recommended but I could only find that
active ingredient (real quickly and at the local farm store) in a Green
Light Fungaway product. I think it worked wonderfully. I also had a lot of
aphids the last few years. I sprayed a lime sulphur dormant spray this
winter and had superb results with aphid control. I really think that
whatever you are dealing with, it is vectored by insects more than anything
else. I am going to use a Daconil spray to rotate with the Fungaway at least
s few times. I have already seen fantastic results. The Captan spray,
Subdue, triclosan, Murphys Oil, standing on one foot rubbing my tummy with
one hand and patting my head with the other, etc, etc remedies just did not
work for me. I think Comet may have helped a bit just because of the drying
action near the damage. I routinely soak and dip stuff in 10% bleach just
because.
RE, solarization. I like to use the clear because some seeds need light to
germinate and then be cooked quicker. Did you check the soil temp down a few
inches deep? Even if the soil is completely clean, if you plant those same
rhizomes back, you will have it again in one or two years.
I don't think a soil PH of 7.3 would be bad for iris at all. Mine is about 7
or 7.1. I find that some of my iris do better in beds that don't have quite
as much peat and soilless mix. I do tend to excess at times! I am mixing
more topsoil in than I was a few years ago. I've privately wondered if the
Peat could absorb and hold the chemicals and then burn rhizomes or roots a
little.
Outside of good cultural practices that it took me a few years to learn,
especially about rebloomers, I feel I did make one bad mistake. When I
planted my rhizomes in rows, I went in between the rows with 3 foot wide
heavy weed guard, the UV treated stuff you lay on top the ground in and
around greenhouses. It looked so nice and clean and straight etc. I'm
guessing that weed guard would get hot under our bright winter sun and
start the iris to warming or something, and then freeze hard again and
really do some injury to the plant. That first winter of freeze and thaw and
freeze and thaw probably set a very ripe stage for disease. Now, if I do use
that somewhere, I cover it with an organic material so it doesn't heat the
ground up so much. But I am learning thanks to my family's patience and the
good nature and sharing of the nice, nice people on this list. I hope John
doesn't change a thing!
Sorry, I rambled waaaay too long, but it IS my favorite subject....well
almost. Good Luck! Let us know how it goes.
Char Randall
Melba, ID 83641
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