Re: HYB: CULT: antibiotics & selecting seedling

>If I have paid $50 for a new introduction and I see rot starting, I am
>going to try to save my investment.

That makes sense.  I haven't and wouldn't spend that sort of money on an 
iris in my climate, though I have received a number of $50 intros as 
bonuses over the last several years.  Since I didn't actually invest any 
of my own cash in those, I felt no compelling need to coddle them through 
rot infections.  As a result, most of those new intros are now dead and 
gone.

>Irises from some areas are 
>rot-prone on first arrival at my spread.  After treatment, many  
>are saved and never show rot again.

A valid point, indeed, but I'm still not inclined to throw chemicals on 
my beds to try to prevent initially susceptible plants from succumbing to 
rot.  I used to, but my cure rate was next to nil with bleach-based 
treatments, and I'm unwilling to use antibiotics indiscriminantly for the 
reasons Ian stated earlier today.  Until and unless a surefire cure comes 
along that presents no danger to either companion or wild animals and has 
no other potentially deleterious effects on the soil and environment, my 
irises will continue to live here strictly on a "survival of the fittest" 
basis.
>
>If you had a seedling that bloomed once and was a future Dykes' winner, 
>would you just let it suffer and die because it got some rot?

I'm not a hybridizer, but if I were, I would certainly hope I would not 
indulge in extreme lifesaving measures to preserve a rot-prone seedling, 
no matter how pretty its face.  Of course, if I were a hybridizer, my 
primary objective would be to create attractive irises that are tough 
enough to survive and perform in spite of all the worst my growing 
conditions can dish out.  Treating seedlings for rot would seem 
contradictory to that goal.

Laurie


-----------------
laurief@paulbunyan.net
http://www.geocities.com/lfandjg/
USDA zone 3b, AHS zone 4 - northern MN
clay soil


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