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Tiny tiny white worms

posierosie_zone7a

7 years ago

Hi,

I got a SDB Iris from a very nice local nursery. It was going gang busters with new growth, but today I leaned down to get an old leaf and noticed a rhizome felt soft. I pulled it off and split it open. The interior was mealy and filled with small white/clearish worms. The worms were super tiny - barely visible.

I pulled all the rhizomes that felt the least bit soft leaving just 3 - less than half the original number. The soft rhizomes are now in the trash even with healthy looking growth but I noticed the root system was almost all gone.

My search regarding worms in rhizomes only really pulls up Iris borers. However, it's winter, there were many small ones rather than one big fat one.....doesn't quite fit the typical time period and size for these guys.

Since the roots were gone, I'm thinking the recent rain might have caused the nursery soil to become over saturated and the rot might have come first followed by an enterprising insect.

Just in case, I'm likely going to pull the rest of the offending plant plus the nursery soil and any debris. No sense in bringing trouble to the rest of the garden. Has anyone seen this type of activity in the middle of winter?

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Comments (2)

User
7 years ago
I haven't had that experience. I tend to agree with you about rot.

Was it in the ground or still in the can?
posierosie_zone7a
Original Author
7 years ago
Thanks Irisgal - I saw your answer, but not your question! They were planted in the ground, but I hadn't changed the potting soil. Most the rhizomes were visible.
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