'Kandy's Iris's'

Kandyfloss i have just been down the garden and the slug has been desposed off lol.... i have cleared the moss of the root ball and taken a new pic below for you to see is this ok now, am i ok to use slug pelets to keep em at bay or is there a better option? Tomato Fertiliser i will get some of this and how often should i.... water it? feed it? another dumb question how much water when watering many thanks for your help.....

 

Well done Scoob,I can now see the whole plant.it is defientley coming off of the large Rhizome in the middle.Sorry I thought that was a large mossy stone and not just moss LoL.

Right the best thing to do now is to leave it until, the Autumn and then split up the plant from the main Rhizome.This could be the reason why it is not flowering..Just enjoy the plant and then when the time comes I will be able to give you advice on how to split up the plant so that next year you get a nice show of blooms albeit on a number of plants.I always think they look better as second year plants as oppossed to first year divisions.

I have got loads done of my lot and most of them are just sitting in the pots growing on but next year will probably do really well especially if the rhizome has been sun baked.

Slug pellets are ok but if you want you can go outside in the pouring rain and pick the slugs off.If I see slugs during the day time then I pick them off but as a lot of them come out at night I have no option but to use the pellets.I have a hedgehog thta visits but up to yet he has never eaten one slug in my garden.

Don't worry too much about the watering because they can take quiet a lot of sun it is the splitting and feeding you need to concentrate on.Just follow the instructions on the bottle and pour into a watering can of the right amount of water and pour onto the base of the rhizomes where it will travel down to the roots and feed them.If you raed the bottle it should tell you about how often to feed but at the moment apart from needing to be split up they look fine.

Hope this info helps.:thumb:

 

many thanks kandyfloss.....

 

Good Luck Scoob, in getting your iris's to flower. What a lovely way to remember your gran. I'll be keeping an eye on this thread to see how they get on.

Kandy - your photos at the beginning are lovely - how are/were your flowers this year? x

Thanks for sharing all your iris know-how! My mum has just recently given me some of her purple bearded iris and I think I may have planted them a tad too deep after what you were saying about sun on rhizomes - must rectify that this weekend!

 

i bought some levington tomorite, liquid tomato fertiliser, i have read the back and it says to feed once a week, does wonders for tom`s hope your right about my iris lol, kandyfloss how often do you feed your iris? many thanks for youe time steve.

 

kandyfloss, the tomato fertiliser says to mix 20ml to 1 gallon once a week, so do i pour the hole gallon on the iris? how often do you feed your iris`s, many thanks steve....

 

Hi Steve sorry to be an age getting back to you.Looking at your clump I would give it perahaps half a watering can full this week and then if the weather carries on as it is then give the rest as the ground dries out.What I usually do is give all mine a good feed with either tomorite or chicken pellets as they are just starting to come into growth.I then mulch with either composted stuff I bring up from the allotment or I use the blended farmyard manure that I get in sacks from B&Q which helps to give them an additional feed throughout the summer as Iris's can be very greedy.

This helps them build up ready for the start of winter and helps the plants get the growth needed ready for flowering next year.Any clumps that are looking like they need splitting I usually do mine in September and pot the splits up to grow on before putting them out either in October while the ground is still warm or I leave them in the pots throughout the winter where they just tick over as rhizome before starting into growth again in the spring.:thumb:

CM mine are very slow in flowering this year.Usually by now I have loads in flower but at the moment I have only the odd one or two that are putting on a show.Even the ones over at the allotment are slow.I don't know whether it was anything to do with the spring we have just had with the two lots of snow we had in April.Up in our village we also had snow briefly last November which we havn't had for a few years.Good luck with your mums plant and if you need any help give us a shout or take some photos and I will see what I can advise

 

Wonderfull flowers, I especially like the deep blue ones.

I have some Iris bulbs to put in this year, should they flower this year or next?

Steve...

 

Hi SteveR have you got a photo or description of your Iris bulbs because unless they are in a pot with a Rhizome they are probably ones that you plant as corms which flower for one year and then die off.These ones I think are what are known as Dutch bulbs but it is too early in the morning to put my thinking cap on. They will might flower this year or might not if you are lucky because it could be a bit late for them.Not usre when you are supposed to plant them.Have you any instructions with them?

 

No instructions as such apart from soil prep, which is the same on all packets.

I bought them dirt cheap from Aldi's along with a few other types as a start to our garden (new garden see link in my signature) and these are called "Dutch Iris", tiny bulbs that are now sprouting in their pots.

I'm afraid this year we will have to go down the bedding plant route mostly for that "instant colour" and years to come replace with perrenials.

Steve...