What to do if there is a partially rotted iris rhizome? I have one with about 1/2 of it that is soft. That would be rot, right?

Hi Barbalee.

This link has a lot of info on Iris rot and remedy. If I encounter a soft or mushy rhizome, I lift the whole plant, cut off the soft area (cut back to a clean firm place making only one cut to prevent spreading the bacteria) and treat with at 10% bleach solution. (9 parts water to 1 equal part bleach), Make sure to clean the knife or pruners to prevent spreading the infection.

http://www.dvis-ais.org/iris-r...

http://www.irises.org/About_Ir...

Thank you, Jean!

You are most welcome. I hope this helps clear up the problem.

Thanks for the acorn...I do hope the info was worth the gift. (GRIN)

As long as you have some unaffected parts of the rhizome, by all means cut the diseased part and distinfect in 10% bleach and dry. I've had some that I had to cut by two thirds and yet they recovered in the same season to produce flowers.

Awesome, Islandview! This one is done blooming, so I think treating it will allow it to bloom next year. Thanks!

If it's the "spent" mother rhizome that is rotting, I think I'd remove the whole thing.....just save the increases, and pitch the rest. I can only assume it's the bacterial rot that you are talking about.........it has a VERY bad odor....and, if so, the bleach water will kill the bacteria. If it is one of the "fungal" type rots ........the odor is almost "sweet smelling, or slightly "yeasty" ( like bread dough) the bleach won't be nearly as effective.

Oh, Arlyn! You saved me from myself! Yeah, duh...this is the mama, so she wouldn't bloom again anyway! What WAS I thinking??? Duh! Thank you...you saved me from my own stupidity as a newbie!

And because she was in a pot, I can chuck all the dirt and sterilize the pot (yup, bad odor but not sweetish).

In that case, I'd cut the 'babies" off, give them a good 'swish" in some bleach water....and then lay them aside ...in the shade.....for a day, to let the 'open wound" dry a bit, and then replant. New "dirt" would be a good idea, too !

Thank you, thank you again...all of you! And you got it on the final card, Arlyn!

Bear in mind, this is what I have been doing. I am not saying try it, it just has been working for me.
In the beginning of this season when rot would show up, I would only cut out minimum of mother rhizome and treat with bleach. Unfortunately in most cases, rot continued and took the increases with it. I then got more radical. At the very first sign of a softening rhizome, I cut the entire mother rhizome out, treat with bleach and leave the empty space there to dry and get air. About 3 weeks after that I fill the empty space with new dirt. Using this method all but 1 recovered.
Also, if there is any sign of rot on the increase I dig the entire plant up and destroy it. I also dig an area of about 1 foot around where the plant was and discard that dirt.
The reason for all this is a 25% total loss rate last Fall and this Spring starting with similar rot rates.
Also, as a sidebar, I am doing everything I can to increase worm count. Worms make healthy soil.

Blessings

That sounds like a great way to handle it, John. Because my one rotter was in a pot, I cut out the mama and repotted the increase in a new pot with new soil. I'll know soon if the rot continues, and if it does, I'll destroy the whole thing. Your method sounds like what I'll do if it happens in the garden bed. Crossing my fingers that it won't happen!

I sure hope it works out for you. Remember if you decide to destroy a planting, make sure you don't put it in your compost pile. I have a distruction pile in the furthest corner of my back yard away from everything.

Blessings

My personal garden practice is to never put any part of an iris in a compost pile that may go back into the iris garden.

I put the mama rhizome (the one with rot) and the pot dirt directly into the dumpster. Poor baby was taken to the city dump today. To all, !!

Bonnie, when I've cut stalks and dried up leaves, I've put those in the compost pile. Is that a bad idea?

It is just my garden practice not to add any parts of irises, no matter how healthy they seem, to a compost mix that will go back on the irises. I toss all parts of discarded irises down into a ravine where they can go back to soil but not to my iris bed.

Good to know, Bonnie!

Same here, I stopped composting any parts from iris cleanup. Didn't like the smell of stalks as they decomposed. Compost piles should be close to odorless. Melon rinds, on the other hand, make great compost. Draws the worms. As you can tell, I'm a huge fan of worms.

Blessings

I am too, John. I went so far as to order some worms this year to begin this gardening adventure! I guess I'm lucky that I only had one iris bloom and therefore only one stalk to put into the compost pile...never did smell it!