Getting Seedlings In


 

This year's iris seedlings have reached the point where it is time to move them from the seedling trays and into the new beds. Last year, we planted them far too close. As a result, this spring it was apparent that they were so close it was going to be difficult to distinguish one plant from another. Some irises were easy enough to lift early in the spring, while we were getting rain nearly every day. Other irises will just have to wait a few more weeks to be moved. Normally, I would wait until late summer to move an iris... but this year we need the bed space. For some of the larger irises, there might be some transplant shock. I plan on moving them right before a long rain, but that's never a guarantee. One of the other things I anticipate making use of this year: Miracle-Gro Quick Start (4-12-4). I started using it on my seedlings last year as a way to help build strong roots mid-summer. 

 

One of the things we discovered last winter/early this spring is that critters, weather, wind has a tendency to move tags. No matter my intention, every plant SHOULD have had a tag. The number of tag-less irises this spring was heartbreaking. As a result, some of the iris versicolor specimens have none of the ID that should have accompanied the seedlings. So, now they are known as NOID (no ID)... until I can figure out what they "might" be. Losing the provenance of any seedling makes it almost worthless... not quite, but close. Most seedlings, you have at the very least, knowledge of the pod parent. You might not know what iris contributed the pollen, but usually you know who produced the seeds. Having a record of what got planted, and where, and with what... makes ALL the difference.

Getting iris seedlings through the hottest days of summer ahead, and then through winter is a tough endeavor. Once they come back up in the next spring, then the work begins! Keeping track of growth, habits, and eventually the first flowering (which might not happen year 1). Some seedlings die in the late spring... for lots of different reasons. Over/under watering. Other seedlings crowd out weaker growing plants. In some ways, that ends up thinning the field. 

 

iris versicolor, seed originally from SIGNA

iris ensata, seed originally from SIGNA




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