Things You'll Need:
- Shovel
- Garden gloves
- Water-based fertilizer
- Ten percent bleach mixed with water for borers
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Step 1
Allow irises room to growOvercrowded irises will produce small blooms on weak stems. To prevent overcrowding, divide and transplant iris in mid to late summer.
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Step 2
Check your iris for borers. Look for a brown streak on the iris leaf. Place your thumb on the brown streak and apply pressure by doing this you are crushing the borers larvae. Pinch the entire brown streak.
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Step 3
Examine the rhizome; if the brown streak travels down the entire leaf, the borers may have reached the rhizome.
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Step 4
Borer damageDig up the iris and look for holes in the rhizome. If the damage is minor, you can cut away the borer damage. Then rinse the rhizome in ten percent bleach, and water solution. This solution will remove the remaining larvae and flush the borer out of the rhizome.
Remove infected rhizome from the garden. Throw away a rhizome that is soft to the touch. -
Step 5
Healthy irisesPrevent additional borer infection by transplanting all healthy irises to a new garden. Healthy rhizomes will produce many buds and big blooms.
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Step 6
Feed Iris for increase in bloomsFertilize your irises with a water-based solution. I use a fertilizer that attaches to the end of my hose. Feed your irises once a week starting three weeks prior to bloom season. Continue feeding throughout iris color show.
Comments
goodselfme said
on 9/4/2009 Tx for the iris tips 5*
organicgardener said
on 7/1/2009 Great tips. I think misting my leaves with Spray N Grow really helped increase their blooms.
makaksa said
on 6/28/2009 Great info on increasing iris blooms.
vallain said
on 6/10/2009 I love iris, so thanks for these tips. Mine was getting too much shade to bloom last year, so I moved it.
exercisescience said
on 6/7/2009 Great article for the Spring. Irises are so beautiful.