Growing Daylilies Together

How's the rust this season in your garden?
I'm in SE Pennsylavania, and I am happy to say that I have very little rust right now. Some years have been awful, but this year there are only a small handfull of daylilies showing any rust.

We have had a very hot dry summer, and we're supposed to be in 90's and no rain for yet another week. Does this account for the lack of rust this season.

Oh, BTW, I use no chemicals on the garden, so no spraying here.
I come from a long line of organic gardeners, so chemical intervention is a last line of defense for me.

So what's the "Rustometer" reading in your garden right now?

I did it all right this year, and have had no rust at all--even though we imported nearly 200 southern plants this season. What worked for me this year is I isolated the new acquisitions into the new 60 foot greenhouse. I sprayed for rust and never saw it re develop. We had a few cold nights that were scary cold early on this spring and I am sure it did a good hit on the rust and the spraying did the rest.

I will isolate all future purchases this way from now on. I kept our near 3 acre garden rust free by doing so, and I am really glad as we had a lot of scientists and other experts visit us that would have made a big deal out of it if I had rust on plants.

Now the nights are cold and soon any chance of rust surviving will be over. My winters here kill it dead and the only way to get it again is importing it out of the south the following year.

Ciao,

Mick

Last summer I had a terrible outbreak of rust late in the season but don't have a clue as to where it came from. It was in our lawn, in our flower beds, everywhere it seemed on the side of the house that gets only morning sun. This also happens to be the side of the house that the beds have the least amended soil, which means less drainage and more standing water for longer periods of time. I know that moisture,poor air circulation, and walking around in it goes a long way in spreading rust once it presents its ugly face. Thankfully, our winters here in Ohio are severe enough to eradicate it. I haven't seen any signs of it this season.

Strangely, some years I get it to some degree and other years not at all. If I get it at all, it is usually always on that side of the house and it is always late in the season, when rainfall is limited and I have to supplement water with the hose. I've not seen it on any plants that I've ever purchased since living here but then they are always planted in my beds that have the best growing condition, such as full sun and rich, loose soil that drains well. I've only treated for rust once as it seemed a waste of time and money. It didn't magically make it go away and our winters will kill it at the end of the season more thoroughly anyway.
I'm seriously thinking that one of the reasons I didn't get it this year is because I have watered less often and in the mornings instead of the evenings, giving ample time for drainage and evaporation to occur before nightfall. I've noticed less occurrence this season of white powdery mildew on some of my other perennials that seem to get it every year as well as other minor lawn diseases that we seem to get every year in certain places of our lawn. This season we have only used the sprinkler on our lawn early in the morning rather than late in the day and only twice a week (if there is no rainfall) for about a half hour or so before moving the sprinkler to another spot. Well, there WAS one morning that I forgot I had the sprinkler on and 3 hours later remembered it.

Becki

Last year I had a bit in one new bed, but the winter was colder than usual in Northern Alabama and it probably died. I have not seen rust this year at all.

I do currently have rust. I started using a new area as a daylily bed last year and I watched plant performance for that year. The bed is enclosed on three sides - - two by 'good neighbor' fences and on the third side by our house. The bed gets sun from about 10 AM until 6 PM, but some of it is dappled due to trees on the ajoining lot. Its always very hot here during the summer, so if I am going to see rust, it typically won't be in my beds until late-September or October. However, it developed in this new bed last August, so I thought that one of the new plants I planted in this area had brought it in. I moved all of the plants out of that bed about this time last year and treated the bare bed with chemicals since I have not read anything conclusive on whether the spores can remain active in soil. I turned the soil a couple of times, treating the soil each time. This spring I added a lot more organic matter to the bed and chose to plant my brand new seedlings and guess what? August rust again. And this has been one of the hottest and driest summers we've had in the 30 years I've lived in Georgia. In fact, we have had no rain at all in the last three weeks, and until today, every day has been 90+ degrees with a few at 100. According to the studies I've read on rust, spores rarely germinate at these temperatures, but tell that to my seedlings! Apparently I have created a micro-climate in that particular bed in which the rust spores thrive. I have no rust in other beds (yet!).
So, now a question with a little set up - - - I will be moving within the next 4-6 weeks and am currently beginning to prepare the beds for my daylilies at the new address (still in the same part of Georgia, so no change of climate, just more room). While I am winning the rust battle through chemicals (sorry to all you "no chemicals, no how!" people), I want to know the following:
I've seen recipes for soaking daylilies in diluted bleach and/or fungicides prior to shipment, etc. What I have not seen is how long the plants should soak, if they should then be left to dry before replanting, etc. I will be cutting the seedlings back even farther than they are now for the move. What are your suggestions for dis-infecting them so I don't take rust to the new address - - either chemical or non-chemical. If you soak, how long? . . . and in what? If you do something other than soaking them, what do you do? Please give as much detail as you can.
Thanks in advance for your comments.