My English mint, which I planted about two weeks ago (in a pot), has developed spots on its leaves, both the underside and topside. Is this rust, which I think I heard they are prone to? Is there anything I can do to save it? I am new to herbs, so any help would be greatly appreciated!
Lucia
spots on English mint - have I killed it already?
Do you have a photo? Sometimes spots (yellow spots, especially) can be due to damage from sucking insects like mites or aphids, so check the underside of the leaves closely. If it's rust... hmmm.... is that a fungus issue? Maybe something that could be controlled with the Ortho Garden Disease Control (formerly called Daconil) spray people use for tomato blights?
Sorry, I don't have a photo! There are definitely no yellow spots, and no pests that I can see. Just the rust-colored spots. . .aargh! Always heard that mints were easy to grow, in fact so invasive that they need to be contained or they will take over one's garden. How discouraging if I have lost this one already. However, will look into your suggestion about Ortho Garden Disease Control. Thanks!
You might try posting over in the garden pests and diseases forum... maybe somebody will have experience/knowledge about dealing with rust on mints...
I googled and found a couple of sites that might be of use. http://plant-disease.ippc.orst.edu/disease.cfm?recordid=832.00000
http://www.extension.umn.edu/projects/yardandgarden/diagnostics/mintrust.html (good leaf photo)
If you're sure your plant has rust, it sounds (unfortunately) as though your best course might be to trash the plant and the potting mix it's growing in (don't put in the compost heap, throw it entirely away) and sanitize the pot... in the long run, that may be better than taking a chance of getting this fungus established in your garden (assuming it was introduced with the plant and not present in your yard already).
Thank you so much for the website info! I'll look into them and do a little research. If I do have to get rid of my plant/potting mix, what is the best way to sanitize the pot? Would like to use it for my Moroccan mint (my next victim ha) if the English mint doesn't make it!
I'd guess that a strong bleach solution (10%) would do the trick... I'm sorry not to have a more promising suggestion... If you do decide to treat it with something, I'd try to keep it isolated during treatment, especially from any other mints.
Red clay pots and most ceramic ones can be baked in your oven on low heat to sanitize them.
A bleach solution is an excellent idea, we use that at the nursery if we have to use a fungicide, it's safe for anything edible. English mint diesn't ever look as good as Orange mint or chocolate, in my opinion anyway. It always looks scraggly to me.
Liz
Thank you for the tips! The English mint was a goner so I got rid of plant /soil and sterilized the pot with the bleach solution. Will now try my hand at some Moroccan mint I have, hopefully with more success!
Good luck!
I haven't grown either English or Moroccan mint... I'll bet the latter would be delicious in tabbouleh (sp?) or other mideastern dishes... Although I love the fragrance and taste (just for nibbling) of my various mints, I have to admit that the only one I use regularly in the kitchen is 'Kentucky Colonel' Spearmint... the others just don't seem "right" for most dishes.
Lucia, I live about 20 min. from you, and I have chocolate mint if you'd like some. (Just email me, & come and get some. I also have orange & pineapple & other varieties of mint & herbs). This chocolate mint seems to be resistant to whatever it is in the soil around here, that blights so many of our plants. The symptoms you describe affect most of the herbs I have, that originated from out of this area. The local herbs seem to have more resistance to this plant blight. Most of my herbs purchased elsewhere and planted here, thrive at first, then the leaves turn brown and dry, from the outside edges to the inner edges, and get spots. Then the leaves die and the plant dies or appears to. The plants that throw out new leaf growth or suckers from the bottom after this die-off, recover nicely, and develope resistance, which increases with each year's growth. I'm thinking it's a virus, but I'm not sure, may have to check with my local Ag. Dept.
Hello cyra! Might take you up on the offer of chocolate mint -- that is so kind of you! Both my English mint and my Moroccan mint came from Mountain Valley Growers, right over in Squaw Valley, CA, so would have thought they would be somewhat resistant to area problems. After what you said about yours that die off then come back stronger, sort of wish I had stuck it out with the English mint! Really thought it was mint rust though from which they don't recover (at least that is my understanding). Curiuos to see if the Moroccan mint does any better!
I hope I didn't give you a bum steer about the mint rust, if that's what it was... if you see it again, you might think about taking a sample in to your local agricultural extension office to have the problem identified for certain.
Hi critterologist! In hindsight I thought the same thing about taking it to my extension office. Still pretty sure it was rust, and your info was much appreciated! Being a newbie at herb gardening (well, gardening in general) I expect to go by trial and error in some situations and have a few losses. All part of learning! Lucia
Yeah, the mint rust just didn't sound like anything to fool with... Hopefully, that's the last you'll see of the problem!
There is definitely something up, that affects most of my plants here. I'm not sure if it's soil- borne or spread by insects munching on plants and transferring it, is all. Fortunately, my mints are one of the plants resistant to whatever it is, -after last year's die-off, they all bounced back and are thriving. Right now the lemon, orange, chocolate and pineapple mints are in full bloom, and setting seed. I will sow the tiny seeds, in local weed infested alleys, but I won't plant any, since I'm sure all my varieties have cross-pollinated each other, and none of the resulting seed would be true to the parent plants, anyway. But I love mints, and believe in spreading the wealth...
And Lucia, if you care for cuttings from any of these mints to over-winter in your kitchen window, just email me and you can drop by on a Sunday with a glass jar for cuttings. Once they develope roots, in water, you can plant them up. You might want to do this before late fall/winter sets in though, cause mints die back to the ground in winter, here. (Or, you can always wait 'til next spring, to get some cuttings, I'm working 12 hour shifts right now, and things are pretty hectic most days but Sundays, around here).