Viewing post #1975452 by tveguy3

ngoodman, nice to see another Wisconsinite join the group. Iris borers lay their eggs in the fall on the iris foliage. If you want to go chemical free, as some do, it's good to always keep the dead leaves pulled off the plants early in the spring, as many of the eggs may be on them. The spent leaves should be burned or put in a bag and taken to the landfill. Don't compost them as they may hatch and come back to haunt you. Some people actually burn their iris beds in the spring, not everyone can do that depending on your situation. It also is possible to see the affected leaves chewed on by the borer, and you can sometimes squash the little bugger inside of the leaf. This of course is not something I can do with over 600 plants. If you are not averse to using chemicals, you can treat your iris beds in the early spring with Bayer Grub killer, the stuff that's made for lawns. Sprinkle it around each plant in the spring before we have a stretch of 5 to 7 days without frost. That's when they hatch. This systemic gets into the plants and as the baby borer starts munching on them they get the poison. It's not too late to do the treatment now if you choose. As for soaking in bleach, besides being very labor intensive, that may kill lots of things, including helpful bacteria that the plant needs to produce food. People have varying views on doing that. Regarding the use of fertilizers, it is a good practice to have your soil tested before you add anything. Just random addition of fertilizers may or may not give your plants what they need including your soil's PH levels. Our ground water supply is already over saturated with nitrates and phosphates, so adding them where they are not needed only exacerbates that issue. That soil test can be done cheaply through your county agents office. Hope this is helpful, and that you have a good year gardening.