Susan, I posted this somewhere on here, but I will repost it. It's from the email robin about how NOT to get rust. I know most of us probably don't have enough room for a quarantine area, but doing the rest will help considerably. Also, if a daylily that is already planted shows signs of rust you can cut all the foilage back down to the white part and then this should help get rid of it. This isn't practical for large gardens that have a large outbreak of rust, but if just a few have it this can help stop it.
When RUST was first discovered in the U.S. (Georgia and Florida were mentioned ) WE THE PEOPLE managed to spread it all over the country.
We were told how to prevent this spreading, but most people ignored the instructions. For those who have battled Rust and do not want to repeat the war, here is what I remember of the instructions. This has worked perfectly for me, and Rust has never appeared here.
This method requires no expensive chemicals, depending on sanitation instead.
What you need:
1. a large plastic trash bag
2. clean sheets of newspaper spread around your work area to catch all debris so that no leaves or other discarded material will escape being bundled into your trash bag
3. Scissors and a sharp knife
4. Within reach: Some yarn and or string, marker, and plant labels just in case you need them
5. A bucket of water with a little Clorox in it
6. Some old towels on which to lay your plants when you have finished sanitizing them
What you will do:
1. Unpack a few plants. ALL BAGS, BOXES AN D PACKING MATERIAL WILL BE DISCARDED into your trash bag, or burned.
2. (I wear latex gloves for this part.) Starting with the cleanest plants, carefully wash them in your bucket of Clorox and water, making sure that no soil remains on the roots.
3. If a plant is carrying any Rust, most likely it will be in the form of dust on the leaves which you have now washed off. What you can't see is the spores hidden within the green leaves. Carefully remove all the daylily's outer leaves, right down to the white area. I found it safe to leave a few young central leaves which I trimmed back to no more than two inches or so. Safest is to eliminate ALL green growth.
4. I like to rinse the trimmed plants in a clean bucket of Clorox water, then lay them on the towels (out of the sun) while I finish preparing the rest of the batch.
5. Gather all the wrappings, trimmings, and any other debris which might carry Rust spores and seal them into your trash bag.
PLANTING: I like to pot all newcomers so that I can monitor their condition more easily. Planting directly into the ground is OK if that is your preferred method. What is important here is your Quarantine area. In case you missed a spore or two, all the new plants should be located away from any other daylilies, and should remain in quarantine until you can be absolutely sure that none has Rust. My quarantine area is on the east side of the house, at least 75 feet from anything except hardy shrubs, and out of the prevailing wind.
A few friends who complained that they did all this and still got Rust finally admitted that they had skipped some parts or had planted immediately out in their gardens. In your own garden, you get to choose what work you are willing to do. No one is going to arrest me for chopping down a nice Star Magnolia by our largest pond. Four years out of five its blooms were brown wads because of late freezes, and I found that truly ugly.
Those of you who speak of cutting back know what I mean about reaching the point of choosing how much work we are willing to continue doing. Ed likes crabgrass. Even when not fed or watered it stays green all summer.
BJ
Betty Jean Crichton
