RE: CULT:Pot culture yet again

These are my accumulation of varieties I have purchased over the last several years from various major growers. I was enamored with plicatas, so I have a lot of those. My intent when I started this hobby was to plant rebloomers, but that was back in my formative days when the impact of zones on rebloom potential was still very naive. Also the impact of extra care and good weather fortunes on this capability. I eventually wanted to get into hybridizing of consistent rebloomers in my Harpers Ferry zone 6 area. I fortunately have the Spoons only 45 minutes away, and things that rebloom for them "should" rebloom for me, other things being equal. Now I'm at the point that I want to get my act together, find out what reblooms and what doesn't, and adjust my population accordingly. It is going to be a BIG heartbreak to part with some really pretty oncers, but their only contribution would be as a potential parent. Is it worthwhile use of pots to keep pretty oncers who are good parents, or should I only collect rebloomers who have the genetic potential, even if it is in sunny California?

George
At 09:47 PM 9/4/2005, you wrote:
Hi George,
Are you potting rhizomes from a sale or something
similar?  Or are these seedlings?
Char, New Berlin, WI

-----Original Message-----
From: owner-iris@hort.net
[o*@hort.net] On Behalf Of George
Schubert
Sent: Sunday, September 04, 2005 7:55 PM
To: iris@hort.net
Subject: [iris] Pot culture yet again


The recent thread by Linda regarding dirty perlite
caught my attention,
especially the 90% perlite part.  Sure enough when
I initiated a pot
culture thread several months ago, when Baccto was
mentioned, Betty's
response mentioned the 85-90% perlite, which
didn't catch my eye that
pass.  The Miracle-Gro and Sta-Green stuff that
Lowe's carry does indeed
have perlite, but more like 5% if that.  That
unfortunately is the stuff I
have recently used to pot up about 90 containers,
with another 200 yet to
go.  SO, time to do some damage control, as I can
just see these rhizomes
rotting over the next several months in this high
peat content.  In that
all my potting has been done within the last
several weeks, with some fans
getting a bit longer but no increases showing yet,
do you all think it
would be prudent to repot everything, mixing the
current mix with 85-90%
regular horticultural perlite, which should be
more readily available than
Baccto, I think and hope.  The plants might not
appreciate the repotting,
but better now than die of rot.  Has anyone mixed
their own Baccto, of
sorts, with let us say Sta-Green and perlite, in
1:9 ratio?

Let me review what I think are the pros and cons
of pot culture, as opposed
to garden dirt, hopefully with amendments.

Pros: (1) more effective weed control (my personal
perceived main benefit);
(2) more resistant to seasonal precipitation
swings; (3) more resistant to
rot (with proper soil); (4) more likely to
stimulate rebloom if genetically
predisposed; (5) more increases; (6) with the weed
control, maybe better
borer resistance, with or without Merit.

Cons: (1) initial investment in pots (but should
be reusable for several
cycles?); (2) cost of potting soil ( but maybe
recyclable with care to
nutrients); (3) more attention needed to
nutrients; (4) more frequent
division required.

Comments please.

Thanks,
George

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