CULT: TB: No Lush Fall Growth??

Mike, you have done nothing wrong....in fact, you have done things very, very
well.  That lush growth you describe is optimum health for this time of year
in your location.  You have a long way to go to the first serious frosts.

Do NOT cut your foliage off.  Not yet.  When winter starts to look like it is
coming, clean up the beds and remove all the old foliage that is dried up
around the base.  Later, you can even go back and remove anything that looks
diseased.  You need to remove anything that potentially could cause disease in
the spring.

Early next spring, do the same again.  Clean up anything that lets go easily,
and any stray oak leaves, or whatever, any dried trash that has accumulated
over winter.

A lot of insect and disease problems can be prevented by these clean-up
procedures--which are best put in the trash, not in the compost pile unless
your compost gets very, very hot.

A general rule--especially in the south--NEVER remove healthy foliage.  Just
don't feed the irises too heavily until quite late in the fall, then be
sparing in Nitrogen.  They can use a little, but go easy.  Irises are Nitrogen
hogs.  They will gobble up anything you put on.

A good thing to do now is to put on ample amounts of lime and/or gypsum.  A
feeding that includes phospates and potash is good too.  And do that again
early next spring (February, or early March) before spring growth hits high
stride.  Irises are heavy feeders.  They will take up anything you put
on...and if the mix is to nitrogen rich, you are inviting soft rot.  Too low,
and you are inviting bloom-out, where those tiny little new fans you now see
fail to appear.

Your irises sound very healthy.  Keep on doing what you're doing!

Neil Mogensen  z 7 western NC Mountains

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