Help for newly addopted irises

I am new to irises and was offered some irises that needed a new home so I went and dug them up. After dividing and cleaning and getting ready to plant I have a few questions. Most of the plants looked absolutely perfect, only a bit overgrown. It took me a few hours to clean them up and now I have a few questions. I saw maybe 5-6 little grubby worms. I am wondering if they are probably iris borers. None of the leaves or rhizomes showed any sort of holes that I would assume a "boring" (LOL I guess that is how to spell it) worm would make. I killed all that I found, I am just wondering if before I plant them all over my yard if there is any preventative measures I might use to make sure they don't come back, I assume there may be eggs that I don't see?

Also there was one batch that I kept away from everything else which seems to have aphids? Again, I am thinking of just dunking them or spraying them with the soap solution before I plant and just keep them isolated.

There were over 106 full size plants, some with babies attached still. Then there were over 30 mini plants that were smaller than 4 in but had at least a few leaves and some good roots. So, out of that many I saw maybe 5 or 6 of the grubs. Then the ones with aphids are not in that number and there are probably 30 or so of those that need to be treated.

I guess I am going to be learning a lot about irises.

Here is the grub worm.

Here are what I am assuming are aphids.

This message was edited Oct 30, 2008 9:04 AM

try again :)

I would say iris borer but I am to new to iris to know what to do about them. I know some of the more knowledgeable (sp) people will check in with all the right answers!

Grub not a typical borer--did you get the plants locally? I wouldn't think you are in borer territory. A dip in the bleach solution would be a good idea, it there were grubs there can be eggs of anything.

irisMA is right on...just soak in 90%water to 10% bleach for about 30 minutes will kill any eggs, aphids etc. If you want to be extra careful you can also dip them in insectical soap for 1/2 hour like I must to do to ship overseas.

You are NOT in borer country at all so if you got them local they are grubs but you want to protect against grubs as well.

D

irisMA,

I too, am new to Irises and since LissaD is also, would you list the ratio of water and bleach for the "dip in the bleach solution"?

Marilyn

edited to say that I was typing this before you (irisloverdee) posted. lol

Thanks!

This message was edited Oct 30, 2008 11:38 AM

This message was edited Oct 30, 2008 11:40 AM

Yep, I got them locally, so it is good to know that I am not in borer country! :) I never knew that. I can easily give them a good little bath and make sure they are healthy and good to go.

Then I have to get planting!

Thank you for your help.

irisloverdee and irisMA,

Could either one (or both) of you state where iris borer country is? What parts of the US?

What are the conditions and environments for iris borers?

How can one avoid having them if they're in 'iris borer country'?

Am I in 'iris borer country' in northern KY (we're part of the greater Cincinnati, OH area)

Thanks!

Iris borers, at least for now, do not exist west of the Mississippi, I have heard. Lots has been written on this site about iris borer and how to get rid of it. Since, I, have never had it, I don't remember much of it, but if you go through old threads you will find a lot. A Google search provides a lot of good references as well. Here is one I found:
http://www.irisgarden.org/borermain.html

Could be white grubs which are larva for a variety of beatles here it is japanese beetles
same treatment as with borers
Bayer season long grub control with Merit(R)
I would put it on every 3-5 months
Anita

Lissa D.,
Iris are rarely troubled by anything except rot here in New Mexico. The bleach bath mentioned above should take care of all of your problems. As for the borers, I would simply remove them before planting and not worry about spraying them.
The spots could be from water or spray splashing on them. To me they really didn't look like aphid spots. At any rate, aphid attacks are usually short here and don't create any long lasting problems. Not to worry.
You can recognize rot because the rhizome gets soft and mushy -- or at least parts of it does. The leaves turn yellow and die. You can save the plant by cutting off the soft part and soaking the rest in bleach. Rot is usually caused by poor drainage and poor air circulation.
The best thing to do would be to get those irises in the ground so they can start growing roots to carry them through the winter. We do get a little winter kill, especially if the iris isn't in good conditions.
I might add these iris look pretty healthy in spite of the grubs and spots. I have seen iris last lying on top the ground through an entire winter, but will do much better if planted -- the sooner the better. If you don't have beds for them, they can be planted in 1 gallon pots. The plastic ones from the nursery are fine. If you quickly pot them, you can take your time putting them in the ground. That's what I do. You will be pleased with the tough nature of iris in New Mexico, I suspect.

pajaritomt,

Thanks for the link! I'll have to read more about it when I have the time. I hope I'll find out why they're only east of the Miss. River and why they're not west of the Miss. River.

avmoran,

Since I'm an organic gardener, I guess the only way to treat the little buggers if I have them, is to hand pick them off (ugg! yuck! lol)

Marilyn

The link provided by paja will bring you up to speed with borers. You should not
see borers this late in the year regardless of where you live. They should have
gone to the egg laying moth stage by now.

The geographic location of borers stems from the fact that they are the natural pest of iris versicolor a beardless native of N. America. Marilyn: we handpick them all the time; I used to squash them with a rock, but now that I wear the rubberized gardening gloves I just squash. Watch the leaves & if they look 'chewed' you can find them before they reach the rhizome. Planting irises away from shrubs helps as the moths like to hang out around them Lucy

Thanks for the info on why iris borers are east of the Mississippi. I never knew that.

I, too, am an organic gardener, LissaD. Irises are great for organic gardeners. The worst chemical I have ever used on them is clorox to soak them in before planting. I guess that isn't organic, but it doesn't last long enough to get in your soil. Irises in New Mexico are practically disease free. You won't even see an iris borer -- no need to study up on them unless you just find it interesting. There is a definite way of finding and destroying them and you can find it pictured on the internet and in some old DG threads. It is sort of interesting but totally academic in New Mexico.

Marilyn, I've always lived either in the Bluegrass region or the foothills of the Appalachians (from Lexington to Morehead, and a few places in between), and have noted holes in rhizomes occasionally through the years through those areas. But I've never seen major issues arise from them, and have never treated for them myself (I garden organically too). So many of the bearded iris I've grown have been given to me by other gardeners, so it could be vigorous cultivars that can tolerate borers; those would be the varieties that increase enough to produce lots of "gifts". I see so many stands of bearded iris blooming beautifully at old, abandoned homes, neglected for many years. That makes me think borers must not be a major issue here.

Any of you iris experts, is my logic right there?
Neal

Lissa, I forgot to say, Congrats on a great haul! Those look great, looking forward to lots of colorful pics in spring!

LissaD, those are great looking iris. I've never seen such healthy roots! I look forward to some pictures too!

I'm in borer country and they can kill a patch before you know it.

Sally

I think that the spots might be early iris leaf spot. If they don't get bigger you don't really have to do anything about them. They won't affect the bloom but if they get too unslightly you can spray them with fungicide. Again, you don't have to treat if it's not offending you but mine get pretty bad here.
http://www.extension.umn.edu/yardandgarden/ygbriefs/p132irisleafspot.html

Thanks for telling us Doss. I don't know much about iris diseases.