Re: CULT: Yellowing leaves/ants

John I. Jones wrote:
> 
> Tammy King wrote:
> >
> >. . . 
> 
> > First, I was just out, cleaning up a bit and noticed that the leaves on most
> > of my iris are turning yellow. It's starting at the tips, and starting to
> > travel down towards the base. Could this be due to all the excess rain we've
> > had? If not, any ideas of what it may be? (I'm terrified of losing any of my
> > iris!)

And John responded:
> 
> The yellowing you are seeing is probably root rot. Don't panic here. It is
> because of the rain. The very tips of the roots are rotting because of the
> excess water. Nothing to do about it. As soon as the weather dries up a
> little, everything will be fine.
> 
> If this is a recurring problem you might want to consider more raised beds,
> although even in my 12" high beds I am getting some yellowing this year.
>

Tammy -- John may be right about the excess rainfall being the culprit. 
On the other hand, there  might be a nutrient deficiency. Last spring,
when I noticed several clumps yellowing, I poured some alfalfa soup on
them and they greened up within a week. You might want to try this on
some of your clumps. See the archives for recipes for alfalfa "tea". (I
call mine "soup" because I use a thicker mix.) Another approach, if you
are continuing to get rain, would be to sprinkle enough Rabbit Chow
around the plants to carpet the ground, and let the rain work it into
the soil. I must say I am surprised to hear of continued rainfall in
your part of California at this time of year. El Nino, go home (if you
please)!

Griff Crump, along the tidal Potomac near Mount Vernon, VA 
jgcrump@erols.com
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