When and how is it best to do it?

Divide irises for propagation purposes

You can use your Irises in the garden Propagate also over seedlings if you do not cut off the withered inflorescences before the seeds ripen in late summer. However, after the sowing Take up to two or three years before getting on the seedlings first blossoms are formed. In comparison, the division of the rhizomes is proportionate easy-care method, during which a blooming season is possible as early as the following year.

Bring blooming irises up to speed with the division

If the irises in your garden produce few or no flowers, this can have various causes, such as:

• a Location with too little sunlight
• poor soil conditions such as waterlogging
• an aging of the rhizome

It can be assumed that the rhizome is overaging if the site conditions are otherwise good and some flowers still appear in a ring shape around a bald spot. The bloom of the irises is usually not a question of nutrients, as the very undemanding plant depends on

Garden soil only a little up no fertilization at all needs. When the flowers are ring-shaped, all rhizomes are dug up and only the outer, young parts are again at regular intervals plantedto fill the bed again in a visually appealing way.

The best time to split the irises

You can choose between different early and late hours with the irises flowering species differentiate. In any case, the time after flowering is ideal for dividing the rhizomes if there is no great summer heat and drought at the same time. So they can be new planted offshoots roots in the new autumn Location and sometimes bloom again in the following year.

The correct procedure for dividing irises

Since the shape of the rhizomes cannot be assessed well above ground, you should not simply use a branch of the irises spade stick out of the ground, as is possible with some perennials in the garden. Dig the rhizomes as gently as possible with a Digging fork so that no leaf roots break off. Then cut up the rhizome by cutting off pieces the size of a hand with a clean, sharp knife or a spade. Make sure that the cut surfaces are as straight and small as possible so that the attack surface for germs does not become too large. Sort out the oldest parts of the rhizome if you don't necessarily want to multiply your irises in numbers.

Prepare the soil before replanting

Irises do not necessarily need one because of their frugality regular fertilization. But you are doing the plants a favor if you loosen up the soil with some deposited compost as part of the division propagation and upgrade it in terms of nutrients. If possible, dig up the soil and add drainage materials such as gravel and sand to loamy soil.

Tips & Tricks

When dividing iris rhizomes, don't overdo it: choose a size for each piece where each piece has some roots and leaves. In addition, proportionally large cut or fracture surfaces also make the rhizome more susceptible to disease.