Re: REB: CULT: Sprng Cleaning
- Subject: Re: REB: CULT: Sprng Cleaning
- From: J* I* J*
- Date: Wed, 03 Mar 1999 07:55:13 -0800
From: John I Jones <jijones@ix.netcom.com>
S & C Rust wrote:
>
> From: "S & C Rust" <srust@fidnet.com>
>
> Char, cutting the stalk flush with the rhizome does not leave a wound.
> Leaving frozen (mushed) stalks on a rebloom clump is what can cause the
> whole clump to rot.
I would echo Char's comments except to say that it sort of depends on what the
definition of a "wound" is. To me, any break in the surface of the rz or
flower stalk is an entry way for bacteria etc. and I would call it a wound.
However, a nice clean slice through the base of the flower stalk is a lot less
susceptible to collecting those nasty bacterial than a munch in the rz made by
a borer (fie, fie, away with thee dreaded borer!). If you also make the cut on
stalk on a downward angle so that water will drain off it instead of
collecting on it, that is even better.
Now I don't have the winter freeze and snow problem here but I do get
occasional rot in the spring time. I make it a policy to *always* remove the
spent stalks, other wise they will eventually wither and sometimes rot.
Which brings up another aspect of this which has been discussed before, and
that is - breaking off the stalks instead cutting them. After the bloom on a
stalk is spent, if you grasp the stalk near the base and snap it off, by
bending it sharply towards the long axis of the rz, you leave a break that is
generally thought to be better than what you get when cutting the stalk. The
theory being that a break will occur at cell boundries rather than a knife
slicing through cells and leaving a field of "minature potholes" for bacteria
to collect in.
There is lots of information in the archives on folks' experience on how to
grasp and snap if you are interested. Of course you can only do this before
the stalk withers and dries too much, at which point cutting is the only alternative.
John | "There be dragons here"
| Annotation used by ancient cartographers
| to indicate the edge of the known world.
USDA zone 8/9 (coastal, bay)
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j*@ix.netcom.com
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President, Westbay Iris Society
Director, Region 14 of the AIS
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