Re-bloom? Or spontaneous combustion from the temps out there?

I think it's just confused, it's the first time it's bloomed. It was one of the bonuses from last years PNW sale.

Joan!!!! William!!!!

joan and william to this bunch on the iris forum.

I solved that pesky rebloom problem. I just dug them all up.


Sigh. Now I have to replant them.

Irises all gone. I've removed 5 wheelbarrow loads of dirt. Then I put the boards all around the inside of the raised bed. That protects the rubber liner from the tines of my rototiller. I break it up with the shovel and rototill it well and then add fertilizer and compost.



Here's my Mantis tiller mixing the compost and fertilizer into the soil


After it's all done, I mix some of the soil that I removed with compost and fertilizer and fill the bed to the top.
This year I have been compacting the beds some after I am done and before I plant.

Looks good Carl. I need to do that with a couple of my older beds. I think they could benefit from some soil additions.

That's looking good Carl! Don't do too much in this heat!

UndertheSun said:That's looking good Carl! Don't do too much in this heat!

Yup, I agree too - you could visit us here where it is a bit cooler, and do the same thing here in more comfort.

Do you like your little Mantis tiller? It doesn't look like you've got any rocks in that soil.. in fact it looks like really beautiful soil.

Sherry, I love my Mantis. This is my second Mantis. I bought my first one back in the late seventies, early eighties. I worked it to death but it took many years. The Mantis saves me time and backbreaking labor.

When I had just regular raised beds without the liner the Mantis was the way to go. I would break the soil up some with a shovel and then rototill the far side of the bed, dragging the Mantis backwards (the correct way to use it) towards the center of the bed. When I got to the end of the bed, then I would change sides and do the other side. Over the years I found that the most efficient way was to drag the rototiller at an angle /////// down the bed and back the other side and then the opposite angle \\\\\\\ , then straight IIIIII. The pattern would look like this:

First pass ///////////// Second pass\\\\\\\\\\\\ Third pass IIIIIIIIIIIIII
///////////// \\\\\\\\\\\\\ IIIIIIIIIIIIII

Of course, they would overlap in the middle but I don't know how to show that using the keyboard.

I also use my Mantis to mix my own potting soil. It's really great at mixing.

Over the years the rocks have be taken out. Ocasionally a rock will jam the tines (easily fixed) but it has to be just the right size. Most rocks are kicked to the surface by the tiller. I also sieve the soil that I took out of the bed before I mix it with the compost and fertilizer. This breaks up any large clumps and screens out any trash that came in with the previous batch of compost. That gives me a nice layer of soil to plant in.

My sister bought a Mantis. She didn't like it. She had trouble starting it. I have had some starting issues over the years, but it's mostly due to old gas. I did recently replace the carburator on mine after 20 plus years and now it starts easily. Mantis used to make an electric version.

I think most of the small drag type tillers are a good option with raised beds. That's how I have used mine all these years.

Joan and William. The more the merrier.

Thanks Carl! I've been thinking about a Mantis for years, and now a regular rototiller is just too big. If you hadn't told me how you did it, I probably would have done something similar.... I like being thorough... except for the sifting of the soil... My days of doing that are over.

I had a surprise when I went out to check a tag on an iris and found this in bloom... 'Milk in My Coffee' (Blyth 2015)

It's beautiful, Sherry - love the colours!

Nice one Sherry, I got that one as a bonus this year.

How beautiful, Sherry!!

Lovely.

Another beauty in bloom Sherry!

I had a Mantis tiller years ago too. I broke it after using it in my rock hard dry clay soil. If I used it in Spring while the ground was still moist, it worked ok. The problem in starting them is the same problem that plagues all 2 stroke engines. Most people leave the old oil/gas mixture in tank when they put it away. You should empty it and run it until it's dry. Or do what I do...before I put any 2 stroke garden equipment away, I'll empty the gas and fill it with a little ethanol free gas and run it. That will clean up the carburetor and help prolong the life of your carb. gaskets too. You could just use ethanol free gas (as I do in my chainsaw), but it gets rather expensive for bigger jobs.

The trick, here, is finding "regular" gas anymore . I need to replace carburetor parts on my JD about 2-3 times a season !

My local Quick trip has ethanol free gas all the time. It's all I ever use in any of my small engines.