I leave some of the mother attached if there is enough left that isn't affected by the rot. Good luck with the surgery!

liz. i will leave as much of the mother as i can.

The mother is a source of energy for the increases so try to save as much intact as you can. Where you have already removed soft material and sprinkled Comet - leave this open to the air so that it dries and scabs over.

thx leslie. tomorrow im going to unearth everything, scrape, and maybe do more surgery, dip in clorox h2o, sprinkle with comet, let air dry for a day out of soil, then replant in new soil. hope for good results.

As I have been out doing my fall cleaning in the garden, I did keep thinking about remembering to share this one thing cause it has really helped me. I have a tendency to want to overmother my Irises and it was coming at a cost. I like to get all the brown leaves off as the irises start going into dormancy. This in and of itself is not bad. However, the way I was doing it was and I believe I lost multiple Irises due to my bad habit. I know most folks probably know this advice but there is always a new one out there who may not so I think it is worth repeating. I am pretty sure I got this advice off this forum but haven't heard it said in awhile so here goes...
My bad habit was that I would yank those brown leaves off instead of cutting them off with sizzors. Doing this in the Fall, when temperatures were dropping left some with injuries and rot would creep in. Last year I started cutting off brown leaves (and not too close to the base) instead of yanking them off and I have had such better success. I live in an area that is quite warm and dry so rot is not usually prevelent to start with unless I injure them or the dog steps on them and injures them but the yanking at the base seemed like a sure-fire way to start that rot even in this dry climate. Therefore, I definately recommend the sizzor method to remove those brown leaves.

Elsa, if you post what was lost maybe we can get you some replacements. I think it's worth a try.

iciris said:Elsa, if you post what was lost maybe we can get you some replacements. I think it's worth a try.

Thanks so much iciris. Since I have only been growing irises for 6 years and "crazily" for 3 years, my collection is pretty new so I have been able to easily find and replace what I lost. Luckily, because I live in such a dry climate, I didn't lose more before I figured out what was the main contributor. I think I only lost a handful over several years. In the future though, as iris in my garden become rarer and harder to replace, if I have a loss I can't easily replace, I will absolutely reach out.

P.S. I don't mind helping others out even if the irises are easy to replace when they lose large amounts cause I know that adds up and we don't always have control, such as bad weather, an outbreak of disease, etc;

I am one of the people who has never heard about the bad affect of pulling off brown leaves. I have always done it carefully when the leaves are ready to come off easily. I have never any problems with rot, which is probably due to the climate I live in.

If they come off *easily*, there doesn't seem to be a problem, here. Bacterial rot is "funny", in that it seems to need the right combination of temperature, moisture, and , of course, a "wound" of some kind , in order to enter the plant. There's millions of little "creepy-crawlies" out there, and they all are searching for a meal!

Yes, agree, if the leaves comes off very easily it does not seem to cause injury but I had issues with not being content with just pulling the ones that would come off easily.

Thanks Arlyn and Elsa. You have reminded me how important it is to be careful when removing spent leaves.