Just a quick glimpse of this years' crop. The leaves are from a tall brown historic. Note there are almost no spots. Last year by this time they would have been almost unrecognizeable as irises. Used a bleach/soap spray first then later a couple doses of Daconil/soap.
Probably one of my better moves last year was to dig and dump all my modern irises which were terribly infected with leaf spot.
Pic of a couple rhizomes of an old purple germanica dug from a 4 inch raised bed. Filled with a mix of humus, sand and fine mulch. Modest amount of fertilizer added while mixing the batch in a wheelbarrow. These are the largest and most healthy I have dug in years. Normally, this type would be about thumb sized.
First year after planting.
Those look wonderful. Can you tell me about the soap and Daconil mixture? I used Daconil but was not told about the soap that would allow for better coating. The Daconil just looked to me like it was being repelled by the smooth leaves as I treated them. What kind of soap and what mixture of soap to water or Daconil solution?
Thank you for any info,
K
The soap is my wife's Dawn super concentrate but I am sure the brand makes no difference. I mix 1 ounce soap and 1 ounce Daconil per gallon or 2+2 for my 2 gallon sprayer. The soap should be pre-mixed with a quart or so of water so it can be poured into the sprayer after it is nearly filled otherwise when you try to fill the sprayer with a hose while mixing the Daconil thoroughly it all turns to suds and overflows. Pour the pre-mixed soap into the sprayer and shake it back and forth a few times and everything will be mixed.
You are right as far as the spray just running off certain types of leaves. Roses are worse than the irises since their leaves have a waxy coating. The soap works great. We have had 85 to 95 degree direct sun and, after three applications , the roses have no burnt leaves. In fact, they look green and shiny. I am spraying roses and certain other plants with Sevin to kill JBs. The mix is the same for Sevin.
I also use the soap mixed with about a cup of bleach per gallon to spray for aphids on my honeysuckles because I do not want to put any toxic sprays on them since hummers like them.
I recommend the soap for any spray job since it acts as a binder for the spray to stick to the leaves. There is a special product for that use but soap works well and is cheap.
They say for some reason Dawn and ivory work best as a sticker spreader.
Nice looking irises Jerry!
Thank you for the all the tips!
Could you use the "real" spreader sticker?
Oh, of course. Just trying to save you some money :)
