Re: Cult: Heat, Rot, Etc.

 
Hello, All
 
I've read with much interest all the posts about rhizome rot.  My
experience with it has been strange this summer also.
 
I dug 80 clumps which yielded almost 600 rhizomes for our iris club sale
the first week in September.  Since then my husband and I have been
preparing the beds for replanting.  I seriously tried to cut back on the
number of irises I care for as my joints are complaining mightily and my
house is becoming a health hazard.  I selected a dozen that I could do
without because they don't grow or bloom well here, but then through
gifts and prizes, I have acquired about 20 more.  So much for cutting
back. <G>  In digging the 80 clumps from my two year old bed, I found
rot in only two of them, Carnival Song and Heartbreak Hotel.
 
I wish my 150 guest irises were doing as well.  I spent last week
grooming and treating them.  At one time this summer close to 75% were
affected by rot.  I treated with Clorox solution and comet cleanser, and
when that didn't do much good, with the antibacterial soap.  This time,
six weeks later, I found active rot in only about a dozen.  I started
out with 158 guest irises.  I have lost eight of them by now, seven to
rot.  Most of the damage was in only one of the five rows, and it was
treated exactly like the others.  I can not imagine why that group of
irises was selected to suffer more than the rest.
 
This summer has been the hottest ever in hot southern Arizona.  It
started in April, and it isn't over yet.  We tied the old record for
days of 110 degrees and above.  At those temperatures, the irises are
essentially dying.  They can take it up to 105 F.  Above that they
really suffer.  Temperatures are now down to 105 and the humidity is up.
Wonderful September!  
 
Out of the 396 seedlings I planted this spring, I'll be lucky to have a
dozen left when cool weather arrives some time in October.  Rot has
taken almost all of them.  
 
Francelle Edwards    Glendale,  AZ   Zone 9  
 


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