"Cloning" Iris

John Jones wrote:

:  Really? Just sand, no soil or other organic matter? 

Just the extremely  sandy soil that passes for "normal" around here.  The key is
good DRAINAGE.  When doing this elsewhere, I've topped off a normally prepared
bed with a couple of inches of the sandiest soil I could find.

:  How deep is the sand
:  bed. 

It's native sand as far down as we've dug to set fence posts or grub out yucca &
mesquite.  A sand topping, however, only needs to be deep enough to keep the
mother rhizome from rotting before it can start growing.  The newly formed roots
MUST be able to reach nutrients, however, as the forced, spent rhizomes are not
as strong as the bloom-size increases we normally plant.

:  Do you covewr the rhz's.

Yes.  Same depth as normal planting, about 1".  Otherwise they'd cook.

:  Do you trim the
:  roots and fans like you do on the increases or remove the increases and
:  replant the mother with as many roots intact as possible. 

"Mother" rhizomes rarely have any leaves or roots left by planting time, but I
don't trim anything.  If there's a soft spot, I rub it gently to remove decayed
matter.  Cutting it off just leaves an open wound that's an invitation to rot.
Sometimes a mother rhizome will have noticeable increase that's too small to
remove -- those are the best candidates.  Sometimes there are only a few little
bumps that foretell potential increases -- those are worth planting, too.   As
long as the mother rhizome is firm, however, there's enough of a chance it will
go ahead and produce another increase that it may be worth planting.  Just
depends on how important that particular iris is to you.

:  Watering? Less
:  sun?

Watering same as other beds.  Same shadecloth treatment used for TBs, regardless
of the type of mother rhizomes being planted.

:  Mr. Question I am today! If there is a source I can read about this in,
:  I will be glad to do that andsave you any typing.

I wrote an article on this for the AIS bulletin a few years ago, but don't have
time to look it up this morning.  Sorry 'bout that!  This has worked with both
TBs & arilbreds.  The success rate is not 100%, but it's still better than the
0% produced by throwing them away.

I've also done something similar with pots, for especially important
"bloom-outs".  This way I can pay more attention to the "patients" and not use
up valuable garden space.

1.	Fill the bottom of the pot with half sandy soil, half potting soil.  
2.	Top it off with sandy soil. 
3.	Plant the rhizome about 1/2" deep. 
4.	Watch, water, & wait.   
5.	Dump the failures and move the successes to the garden before they get
rootbound.

Sharon McAllister
73371.1745@compuserve.com
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