Re: anti-borer tactics
- To: i*@Rt66.com
- Subject: Re: anti-borer tactics
- From: C*@aol.com
- Date: Sun, 19 May 1996 20:51:22 -0400
In a message dated 96-05-17 14:51:02 EDT, you write:
>Another possible anti-borer ploy occurred to me while weeding yesterday: How
>about a 'decoy' spot in the garden, where one or two spare irises (ones you
>can
>stand to sacrifice) are growing; you leave the dead iris foliage on that
>spot,
>while keeping the real iris bed(s) scrupulously clean. The theory is that
the
>borer moth would be attracted to the decoy, and in late winter/early spring
>the
>whole Borer Motel would be gathered up and disposed of, irises and all (a
>variant on Clarence's late-winter cleanup approach). Has anyone tried this
>or
>heard of it?
>
>
Nell, I would doubt the efficacy of your clever "decoy" idea because the
mother moth does not lay her eggs on just one iris...she flies from clump to
clump (A trick of nature to assure survival I suspect). I once got the idea
of planting lots of Iris versicolor around the edges of my garden....the idea
being to attract the borer to the iris that they thrived on for thousands of
years. But I fear I would just attract more and more borers to my
garden...and I seriously doubt they would neglect other irises just because
there were lots of versicolor. My question is this: What is: What attracts
the borer to an iris to the exclusion of other plants? Is there a scent? Is
their an iridescece? If some one could answer this, we could build an iris
borer trap. Any ideas? Clarence Mahan in VA
