Iris Diseases? Or....?

First, I gotta say - the pictures on this forum are incredible - I can only hope to one day grow some of the plants you all have posted here - they make my mouth water. I was looking around to see if my topic had been addressed and passed a half hour, just gaping.

Equally gorgeous in bloom are some of the plants I got from the Iris co-op last fall; I think it was from the show in Washington or Oregon? I ordered 5 or 6 different types and couldn't be more pleased with the blooms I've had so far.

The problem I'm having is on the foiliage. There are some plants that have yellow vertical streaks with brown centers,. I don't know a darn thing about Iris other than not burying them - is there anything that they're susceptible to, and if so, is it easily treated with preferably non-toxic substances? Or could it be my soil? I have rocky, clay soil and we have had a pretty wet spring here in Tennessee.

Thanks in advance for any help. Please let me know if a photo would help?

Silverado:

Hi PC! How are you doing? Still loving Tennessee?

Your SIlverado looks lovely!

A photo of the foliage would help ....

Our humid climate breeds fungal spores...I have added Messenger this year to my spray regimen. I use the Bayer Advanced Disease Control and Liquid Seven Insecticide together with the Messenger and spray once a month to keep foliage looking pretty. I've also added Milorganite fertilizer which gave everything a green boost. Foliage is looking very good and healthy right now.

A natural remedy which I've heard about but never have tried myself is to spray foliage with a mixture of baking soda, skim milk and water. Thought about trying this, but I haven't checked it out yet. My neighbor told me about this method that was recommended on one of the gardening shows she was watching.

another natural remedy related to me by Ray Schreiner is to soak willow branches in water and use that for a spray - it's got the same properties, though, of dissolving aspirin in the water and using that as a spray. Both are supposed to be antifungal.

With the unusually cold and extremely wet spring we've had, my iris patch has an epidemic of leaf spot this year. Am trying to get it under control, but not yet.

probably leaf spot, a fungus, usually cool wet weather, i don't do anything, the fans will just brown, fall off and they will get new ones.

I've had some that have started out looking fine this year and then developed brown leaves. This one is looking really bad. Do you think I should just get rid of it? We have had some cold nights but most of my others don't have this proble. Any ideas?

Susan

huh oh - that doesn't loook like leaf spot. that's got another name, lincolnitess

lincolnitess... looks like scorch. Here discussion on a previous link that may be helpful.

http://davesgarden.com/community/forums/t/845368/

Good Luck, Dan

Looks scorch-like to me, too. Check the rzs and see if they are firm. Scorch will be firm, rot will be spongy or mushy. I've had clumps do the "scorch" thing and recover spontaneously the next season ... or possibly even later in the same season. Different cultivars have different tolerances for disease. It's possible that the clump in the picture is simply a susceptible variety. You can either take the wait and see approach (my personal favorite), or you can divide the clump and replant only those rhizomes whose leaves don't appear to be affected.

If it is scorch, some folks have had success laying the affected rhizomes out in direct sun on a hot surface like pavement and leaving them there for some period of time (a week? a month? I can't remember how long). Presumably, a good "baking" aids recovery from scorch, though a number of folks who have tried it admitted that it would have been much easier to just replace the plant with a new, healthy one.

Thanks. I think I may try the wait and see approach. I'm hoping it will bloom since I dn't even know what Iris it is. May be one that's not worth saving. I dug up my Chanted in the front garden that look a lot the same and all the rhizomes seemed hard.

susan

Okay, finally got a pic:

Pagancat... looks like Iris Leaf Spot. This article should be helpful.

http://www.ext.vt.edu/pubs/plantdiseasefs/450-600/450-600.html

Good Luck... Dan

Yep - Definitely our common "leaf spot". A fungucide with Daconil works pretty well, with repeat applications every few weeks through the growing season.

Thanks to all of you for your responses - I appreciate it!

i cut off all infected foliage when it appears and destroy the debree. It reduces the problem greatly after a while. Its my cheap and chemical free way of doing things. Make sure to remove all infected foliage off the ground and the iris before winter so no spores can over winter.

Yeah, I guess I'm surprised that these have a problem - they were brand newly planted last fall, and I'm sure they weren't infected while at the show - must be the wet, cool spring, cathysplants said. But I will definitely make sure these leaves are disposed of.

MrsJ, I'm sorry - yes, I am still thrilled with being in Tennessee. Even tho the weather has wreaked havoc on my irises, I could live with these temps forever!

Take good care everyone, thanks so much for your advice!

The flower in question:

That flower is stunning! Do you know its name?

It's name (strangely enough) is 'Spouting Horn'. I had paired it with Silverado (the silver-lilac one above) and another totally dark purple one called 'Midnight Waters' - but my timing was off, Midnight hasn't bloomed yet.

Seriously, though - keep your eyes open for the Co-op again. I don't know if you can see the list that I've put below, but I got all but the Victoria Falls and Beverly Sills on that sheet for about $86. They're the irises that are entered in (I believe) the Nat'l Iris Society show that are in turn sold to raise money for the society. Excellent flowers, terrific prices.

If you are willing to use chemicals, Use a stickative with your daconil and alternate it every week to 10 days with Mancozeb Flowable and stickative. If you catch it early enough you only should have to do this about 3 treatments total.

am member American Iris Society. What is National Iris Society? never heard of it = American Iris Society is the International Registrar for all irises.

Could easily be that, bonjon - I was more interested in the irises and the pricing than anything else... I would have to look back through the posts on the co-op forum for last August or so, and that's definitely not happening tonight!

Could they be left over plants from the National convention, put on by local iris societies in the convention region, but part of AIS programs.

That's likely it!