I Hated to do it, but i cut back all my Foliage!

i feel sick! the daylilies were so lush and growing. but, i couldnt seem to get the rust under control with all that foliage! so, today i bit the bullet and just started cutting. was really hard to do.... but, the rust has taken over. i just couldnt see going through bloom season with the foliage looking that bad. now i am trying to remember how long it takes to grow back! many of the fans were huge, too! like 4 inches across at the base! aaarg! i hate rust! just had to vent to other folks that know how i feel! lol

tracie

I know how you feel. My first season with rust I cut back everything. Usually in about 3 weeks you won't even know you cut them.

My very first season I got rust and I cut everything back. I did that a couple of times. That was 3 seasons ago. Luckily, winter took care of the rust for the last 2 years. No such luck this year!

Tracie

You have my sympathies. I might get it again this year. Our winter was much milder than the last two have been.

Hey, Tink and others, do you need to spray for rust after you cut the foilage and remove it? Will rust return from the spores if you don't spray? We hope not to get rust this year, but we want to know how to deal with it.
Thanks in advance,
David

i will spray as soon as i get it all cut back and i will keep them on a spraying schedule after that. i had no rust last spring, but it came in on several new purchases in the late spring. it really took off, but with our terrible summer, i didnt want to spray and possibly stress the plants even more. i was also hoping the winter would help! the foliage that i cut yesterday filled 4 large black bags and i only cut back 4 on my raised beds! i am still feeling sick.... all that gorgeous new growth! does anyone know if the regrowth will be smaller fans than what they were before?

tracie

Tracie, the regrowth should be the same size as the orginial fan. I have never cut the foliage back and had the fans shrink.

David, my personal opinion is I would spray after cutting the foliage. Some people don't spray after cutting and have said just the cutting helped. Rust can return from spores even if you do spray just because the spores can blow around with the wind and they may be lurking in areas that didn't get sprayed or blow in from elsewhere. Another thing to remember is, the rust lives INSIDE the green tissue so as long as their is any green that dayliliy could still be infected so spraying after cutting is a good idea.

Sorry you had to cut the foliage off Tracie, I hope you get the rust under control.

tink, that is good to know! well, i have been out of town for a couple of days and when i returned today, the new growth on many of the cut dls was up to 2 inches! amazing how fast they can grow!

tracie

I sprayed mine with bleach & I hope that will keep the rust away, Is there anything better than bleach. (I have never had rust here in Iowa). YET.

Hopefully you will never see rust. A lot of people in states with cold winters will aquire any new purchases in the fall so if any have rust the winter will hopefully kill it.
I wish bleach was all it took to battle rust or keep it away since it's a whole lot cheaper than fungicides.