How To Recognize Iris Diseases?

2024 Author: Gavin MacAdam | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-16 13:38

Beautiful irises, just like most other garden flowers, are affected by a wide variety of diseases. And if it is not possible to cure viral ailments, then it is quite possible to get rid of fungal diseases. The most important thing is to identify them in time. And to make it easier to do, you need to familiarize yourself with the main symptoms of each ailment

Fusarium

At the very beginning of the development of this ailment in irises, the roots begin to rot, and inside them a harmful fungus develops - growing, the pathogen clogs the conducting vessels of beautiful flowers with its mycelium. And on the lower parts of the rhizomes, brownish rotten areas can be seen. Gradually, the roots begin to die off, and the rhizomes begin to dry out. In the event that rot begins to progress during the growing season, the leaves with peduncles will begin to turn yellow and dry out quickly, and a grayish-white mushroom bloom can be seen on the surface of the infected rhizomes.

Soft rot of rhizomes

This attack manifests itself on irises in the browning of the leaves and their gradual drying, starting from the tips. Infected bundles of leaves bend over, and the leaves are very easy to pull out of them. After some time, all the beams fall to the ground. And the infected stem bases begin to emit an extremely unpleasant odor. Slowly, rot begins to spread to the inner parts of the rhizomes, leading to their complete destruction - diseased rhizomes quickly turn into a foul-smelling mushy whitish mass. Plants eventually die, while the shells of their rhizomes remain intact.

Gray rot

This disease can be caused by two different types of fungus. In the first case, the tips of the leaves and stems are affected. This happens especially often at high humidity. The leaves first become discolored, and after a while they turn brownish and quickly rot, at the same time becoming covered with a grayish bloom of fungal sporulation.

And in the second case, dry rot of rhizomes appears on the irises. On the rhizomes attacked by the disease, you can see black folded tubercles-heaps, which are completely composed of fungal sclerotia. Rot without much difficulty can cover the bases of the leaves - in the places of lesion, in this case, a gray bloom of fungal sporulation appears. To a large extent, the development of this infection is favored by an excess of nitrogen in the soil, high humidity, as well as freezing and mechanical damage to the rhizomes.

Ramulariasis

On the leaves of irises, small brownish, and sometimes blackish, rounded specks begin to appear, the central parts of which gradually fade. And on necrotic areas, a weak mushroom bloom of yellowish shades begins to form.

Leaf septoria

The leaves of beautiful plants are covered with pale gray spots framed with brownish edges. All specks are round and relatively small in size, and after some time are covered with little black pycnidia.

Ascochitis of leaves

When affected by this ailment, brownish spots without borders appear on the leaves of irises, covered with a myriad of dotted black pycnidia.

Rust

On the leaves of irises attacked by a malicious scourge, one can notice the appearance of small dark brownish specks, densely covered with powdery mushroom spores. Most often, these spots are located along the leaf veins. The result of rust damage is drying of the leaves.

Mosaic

The leaves of irises are covered with bizarre patterns in the form of yellow stripes or nets, resembling a mosaic in appearance. The growth of beautiful flowers slows down significantly, the flowers on them are underdeveloped, and the peduncles are noticeably shortened. As for the flower petals, they almost always become variegated.