Hello! I've been growing a spearmint plant for about 6 months now. I grew my spearmint bush from a small few stems I bought from a shop. It's been doing great and has fully grown, however, I've noticed that it has recently developed small white spots on some of the leaves.
Also, it doesn't seem to be growing at all because the leaves are tiny! On top of that, the stems have turned a very dark brown/black colour, and scraggly, as if the plant is dying.
If anyone could give me some suggestions as to what might be the cause of all this, and any advice on how to recover from this, then I would be very grateful! Thanks a lot.
P.s. I water the plant regularly without over saturating the soil, and make sure it gets plenty of light.
Dying spearmint plant?
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Re: Dying spearmint plant?
I'm not really knowledgeable about whiteflies, I believe it must be too arid here for them. The immature whiteflies are often referred to as "scale-like." You can do a google image search to see if that is what is on your plant.
Pests that attach themselves to a plant are probably best just removed by hand.
When I saw the title, I thought about the only mint I have that isn't terribly robust. I believe it is almost entirely a location problem. It receives very, very little sunlight and seems to have trouble with cold winter temperatures and surviving from one year to the next.
Then, I see your photo and I'm again reminded of those plants, this time by the color of the stems. Do you suppose that it is Chocolate Mint and the stem color is normal?
Steve
Pests that attach themselves to a plant are probably best just removed by hand.
When I saw the title, I thought about the only mint I have that isn't terribly robust. I believe it is almost entirely a location problem. It receives very, very little sunlight and seems to have trouble with cold winter temperatures and surviving from one year to the next.
Then, I see your photo and I'm again reminded of those plants, this time by the color of the stems. Do you suppose that it is Chocolate Mint and the stem color is normal?
Steve
We are each other's harvest; we are each other's business; we are each other's magnitude and bond. ~ Gwendolyn Brooks
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ButterflyLady29
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Re: Dying spearmint plant?
My opinion is that you're babying it too much. Let the top of the soil dry before watering it again. What size pot do you have that one in? Mints need a lot of room to spread, a lot of room. A pot that holds 10 gallons of soil is a good size pot for mint.
Re: Dying spearmint plant?
Mint likes to be clipped often to keep it from getting leggy and woody. Six months is enough time for the roots to wind around the pot and start choking the plant. I usually divide my plant when it looks full. If you pull the plant out of the pot and see the roots winding around the pot it is time to divide it. You only need the roots so you can cut off most of the leaves when you replant and that usually takes care of the pest problem.
Happy gardening in Hawaii. Gardens are where people grow.
Re: Dying spearmint plant?
Thank you all! I think it was a case of over watering. I've moved the plant inside and gave it a tidy up by clipping it down and I'm going to give the roots a check soon.