Re: CULT: Moisture/Rot Question

If you put a shovelful of soil in a container with a mesh bottom and
water drips out of it, the soil is saturated with water.

If the soil stays like that all the time, or too much of the time, there
is no aeration of the soil, and TB iris roots will suffocate = "wet
feet".

Even gravel or sand can be too wet if there is no place for the water to
go (swamp).

I've found that even plants that are highly <intolerant> of poor
drainage (i.e., oriental poppies) do extremely well here in my gravelly
soil, even tho the soil in my low lying location sometimes becomes
totally saturated for one or two days following flooding rains.

Water moves through fine textured soil like silt or clay more slowly
than sand or gravel so risk of roots being suffocated is greater.
Oxygen is depleted before fresh aerated water moves in.

More or less.

Hope that helps..

--
Linda Mann east Tennessee USA zone 7/8
East Tennessee Iris Society <http://www.korrnet.org/etis>
American Iris Society web site <http://www.irises.org>
talk archives: <http://www.hort.net/lists/iris-talk/>
photos archives: <http://www.hort.net/lists/iris-photos/>
online R&I <http://www.irisregister.com>

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