Oncoseason 2010

[fermi de Sousa]

Marcus has sent me a pic to post ; he writes "could you post the pics I sent just now on SRGC Forum. I might have beaten Pat to the punch with one of her own plants!!"
cheers
fermi
on behalf of Marcus

[arillady]

Yes Marcus is ahead of me in posting - I hope to have a couple of spikes to take to a talk tomorrow. Hope they open in the warm car.
Took 4 spikes to Renmark to David Ruston on Friday - two had opened and the other two I hope were far enough advanced to open up.

[PeterT]

Does anybody have measured the Onco roots length in culture ?
And check if most of them will die in the summer or remain dormant and still alive, to elongate more next season ?

here are some pictures I took yesterday while repotting Iris petrana, it got some rain in the last 10 days while it was waiting or there would not have been quite so much root. The old roots are visable in one picture

[PeterT]

the finished result, will be waterd once or twice, with insecticide, before mid winter and the sand plunge kept slightly damp

[PeterT]

And a similar series for an Iris sari, note the roots which escaped through the bottom of the pot which sustained some top growth through the summer. the pot was shatterd in the heavy frost last winter

[PeterT]

Iris sari cleaned and ready to repot

[Luc Gilgemyn]

the finished result, will be waterd once or twice, with insecticide, before mid winter and the sand plunge kept slightly damp

Very instructive Peter ! 
... and my goodness, what a wonderful pot ! 

[PeterT]

Thanks Luc,
I hope it helps some one. I will try to post some of one that has been drier. If you look at the sari roots you can see they are branching, I think they are best potted berfore this happens.

[arillady]

Peter those roots are so so healthy and long. What is in your mix?

[PeterT]

Hi Pat, as best I can remember the mix I made up this year is as follows,
30 sacks of loam/ subsoil, 20 sacks of horticultural 6mm grit, 10 sacks of 2 - 3 mm round grit, 1/2 sack 0 - 2 mm carboniferous limestone rock dust, 5kg 4:2:8 NPK organic fertilizer, 2 kg bonemeal, 2kg calcified seaweed (NB I think the N:P:K numbers are calculated diferently in different countries) in all making about 2200 lieters of compost,  (1sack =about 30 ltrs), rhizomes are dusted with dolomitic lime and posiably bordeaux mixture (copper sulfate). Each year I wait to see if I've got my sums right when the plants start to grow. There is extra grit and gravel around the rhizomes and as top dressing.

[David Nicholson]

Peter, those really are industrial quantities, do you use a mixer? One of these days you must post some pictures of your growing set up I'm sure there is lots for us all to learn.

[ranunculus]

Peter, may I enquire where you purchase your 1/2 sack 0 - 2 mm carboniferous limestone rock dust in Derbyshire?

[PeterT]

I wish I had more room David, then I would use a mixer. As it is, i just use my own broken back! It's mixed in a corner by the back door with a shovel.
The carboniferous rock dust is from Derbyshire Aggregates, between Youlgrave and Pikehall, so is the grit and gravel.

Peter, may I enquire where you purchase your 1/2 sack 0 - 2 mm carboniferous limestone rock dust in Derbyshire?

Chem pak then Vitax produced the dolomitic dust but I can't get it now. I am being ecconomic with what I've got left so I should be glad of a source, or i shall have to take up rock crushing in my spare time

[arillady]

Interesting - wonder if there is a possibility of getting some of these ingredients in Oz.

[PeterT]

Iris kirkwoodii roots which have been kept a bit drier than the petrana and sari in previous posts. you can see the dead brown roots and the paler new roots grown at the base of the new rhizomes at end of flowering. These are about to grow side roots ( there are a couple) as soon as there is some moisture, which will also stimulate more main roots from below the growing tips