Irises: Iris rot - severe, what to do ?, 1 by irisboerer

irisboerer wrote:
Soft rot is running rampant. Don't think it is iris bores unless you see the dreaded fan hole. If you have a rhizome that you think is soft rot and you are thinking it may be a borer, splash some hydrogen peroxide on the rhizome and you will see the bug squirm. The rhizome is probably shot, but you will know what caused it. You don't have to dig it up, if it is soft rot, it will pull up easily, and you will see that all is dead, roots and all. The stink of death will be there as well. Plus, the rhizome will have no hard areas left. The roots will be limp and brown. I have pulled two rhizomes out and pitched them just last week. You want to know what caused the death only because if it is the borer you want to remove the dirt around the affected patch to remove the insect. It won't help with the soft rot. If you have a solid section of rhizome left, a 10% bleach solution will clean it up after you have removed the rotten sections and you can replant with a feeling of success.