Re: CAT: Wish lists Re: Cult - chemicals

From: James Brooks <hirundo@tricon.net>

At 04:22 PM 3/23/99 EST, you wrote:
>From: DWiris@aol.com
>
>Dear James,
>
>Do don't memtion iris borers.  Don't you have any?  It is a constant battle
>for us and dishwater won't help.  

Dear Dorothy -

I guess that's why they call Tennessee a border state. The borer supposedly
goes as far south as Nashville, and I'm at about 1,800 feet elevation and
25 miles from the Virginia state line. I have had some borer infestation,
which was why I spent the past two weeks cleaning up every dead leaf and
cutting the frost damages tips off and making a bonfire of the result,
hopefully before the borers left the dead foliage and went into the soil.
From what I've read, this is when they are most vulnerable. 
The soap spray kills bugs on contact because they respirate through stoma
in their abdomen, and the soap film covers this causing respiratory arrest
(suffocation). The borer, safely inside the rhizome or leaf is not affected
by this technique. Any spray that would actually penetrate the iris must be
extremely potent. Please use extra caution with it. 
Even when spraying the herbicide surflan I cover all exposed skin (jacket,
gloves and rubber boots), but don't use a mask or face shield because I
spray when there is no wind and keep the wand near the ground so I can work
close without spattering on the fans. 

It's also important to keep the nozzle parralel to the ground so your spray
pattern falls evenly. You can see it if you bend the wand a bit. 
Was out putting down Surflan last night until I couldn't hardly see the
ground in the face of a rain forecast. Loved to hear the rain coming down
in the night. 

I mention all this for the benefit of other newbies like myself on the
list, and do not for one moment pretend to instruct the distinguished lady
hybridizer who has introduced several varieties which I am happily growing,
namely Pussytoes, Dusty Rhodes and Jungle Fantasy. Did you name pussytoes
after the wildflower with the same common name?

We have it so good today if we use our sprays wisely and can look at the
weather channel to study the radar maps and draw our own decisions about
what the weather is going to do in the next few hours. Talked to a couple
yesterday who remember when they could only listen to the radio on Saturday
night, and after Amos 'n Andy could only listen to one hour of the Grand
Ol' Opry for fear of running that big dry cell battery down.

 
James Brooks
Jonesborough, TN
hirundo@tricon.net
-------------------------------------------------------
Webmaster:
	http://www.Historic-Jonesborough.com
	http://www.washingtoncountytn.com
	http:jonesborough.tricon.net
-------------------------------------------------------
Persimmon Katz
       http://kpt1.tricon.net/Personal/hirundo/
   ^~^
 { o o }
 >  "  <  html wizard and snow stalker
=======================================================
    

------------------------------------------------------------------------
To unsubscribe from this mailing list, or to change your subscription
to digest, go to the ONElist web site, at http://www.onelist.com and
select the Member Center link from the menu bar on the left.
Other Mailing lists | Author Index | Date Index | Subject Index | Thread Index