I did some reading and found out mint is suppose to help keep away flea beetles, so I thought I try this out this year and plant some in pots among my eggplant. I've got my eggplant started, but I need some mint seeds.
I can either do SASBE or trade.
Also, if anyone has tried this before and can tell me if they thought if it helped in reducing flea beetles, that would be great!
CLOSED: Wanted Mint Seeds for SASBE or trade
You do know if you plant mint in your garden, it will spread like crazy? You can plant it in a coffee can with the bottom taken out to prevent this, but I don't think I'd be willing to take the chance on mint taking over my vegetable garden.
Check out this web site and scroll down to 'companion planting' info.:
http://www.cremebrulee.com/garden.htm
My dad asked for a few mint plants from a friend and stuck them in a corner of our yard where the grass was on strike. Within 2 years we had a 8x14 ft area full of mint! Dad gave up trying to pull it out and just began to mow it along with the grass:LOL: Our yard smelled so good when he mowed the grass! Well, on the bright side we always had mint for tea:)
I was hoping to avoid it from spreading like crazy by planting it in containers and planting the containers in the ground.
That would probably be best to contain the roots=) Deadhead too it you see it start to flower and try to set seed. I love mint but I think it may be a container resident for me too.
Is mint a prolific seed producer?
Seems like I remember the more "wild" type would send up flower heads probably because we couldn't seem to keep it cut back. Most culinary herbs thrive on use, so when you pinch off a few leaves off the tops of the plants it makes your plant thicker/bushier by topping it off and the top growth is where the flower heads form. I'm not sure how much seed there might be but if you want seed let one or two heads go but just gently tie a very fine mesh or nylon "bag" over the flower to help collect any seed there might be.
I was curious as to how much seed it would produce as I didn't know if the seeds would cause it to grow elsewhere in the garden. I know mint spreads big time via roots, but I didn't know if I would be fighting a loosing battle by having to deal with the seeds in the garden as well.
I'll keep in mind about pinching back the plant to keep it bushy.
I have some spearmint and a couple other things on your want list if you haven't received any offers yet.
Cindiehook, I'll take you up on your offer, as I've not received any yet. Go ahead & D-mail me with the details, and we'll go from there.
If you check the companion planting lists, there are other herbs that will repel flea beetles, including thyme, hyssop and catnip. The last two you'll have to deadhead if you don't want them to self sow, but none of them will pose a problem with spreading all over your garden.
Hart, I might also give either the thyme or catnip a try. I grow a lot of my veggies in 3' squares with up to 9 veggie plants per square. With the Eggplant I grow 4-5 and I was going to put the mint in the middle. I will have 2 of these squares, so I'll try one with the mint and the other with the thyme or catnip. I don't think either of my cats go bonkers over catnip, but this might be one way to find out.
You might be surprised. Mine could care less about dried catnip from the store but go nuts over the fresh catnip from my garden. They don't bother the plants much except to nip at it a little but if you pick some and crush it a bit to bring out the scent, they roll all over and go into catnip ecstasy. LOL
Maybe I should change the subject from "wanted mint seeds" to "wanted catnip"! ;-)
One on my cats does go outside with me when I work in the garden and likes to hang out there when I'm out there, and I'd be curious to see what she would do. Whenever it comes to doing anything "cat-like" such as playing with a cat toy, she snubs her nose at it. Lately she's found a couple of things to play with, and if you start watching her play, she'll look at you like she was caught doing something she didn't want anyone to know about. I wonder if she'd really like the catnip or not.
I have one of those real serious, never plays cats too. She was a stray and we say she had a deprived kittenhood with no toys. LOL She loves the catnip though.
They don't seem to notice the catnip in the garden except every now and then they'll nibble the tips of the leaves. I don't think the smell is strong unless it's been crumbled a bit. Actually, where they nibble is along the sidewalk so that's probably been brushed by people walking by. It's supposed to be very good for them.
I don't have any seeds but I'd be glad to save you some this summer if you like.
Sounds like Cindie has you covered... but if not, just drop me a Dmail. My spearmint ('Kentucky Colonel') is starting to pop up, as is my peppermint, and if we wait just a bit there will likely be volunteer catnip seedlings also.
Critterologist, I might take you up on your catnip seedlings, if you don't want them or would like to share. :-)
I seem to get plenty of volunteers each year, and many of them end up being pulled or moved, so although I hate to count chickens before they hatch (so to speak), I'm pretty sure I should be able to find a couple of catnip seedlings for you... if not, I probably have seed squirreled away somewhere also...
And I definitely will have some spearmint & peppermint starts for you! I got a bunch of "fancy" hybrid mints last year that are fun, but the ones I like best for flavor are still 'Kentucky Colonel' spearmint and 'Chocolate Peppermint'.
Please give me a nudge in early May, and I'll be happy to send you some goodies for postage... it won't be much, as I think all will travel fine in a BE or a little box.
Critterologist, as long as you have some catnip volunteers, I'll take you up on your offer. I think I'll pass on the other mints for now. Cyndie is getting me set up with some spearmint seeds. I'll get back to you in early May and we'll sort out the details on the catnip volunteers.
Thanks!!!