Lemon Balm

[SFloridaGardener]

Is there something wrong with my lemon balm plant? I recently brought it home from HD and put it in a pot with thyme. Looked great for about a week but now has dark discoloration on the leaves. I planned to use this in cooking and tea but am concerned with ingesting possible leaf diseases.

[Lindsaylew82]

Couple things!

It looks environmental to me. Sun burn, inadequate watering, or not enough root space. But I think it's mainly just sun burn.

How was the plant hardened off?

There's nothing wrong with those leaves as far as ingestion. They won't hurt you, they just ain't purdy! A little bit of shade for the next week or two will help to harden the plant off. You'll want to slowly increase the amount of full sun it will get on a daily basis until it's getting what it will get in its permanent seasonal home!

I'm also curious about what size pot that is, and what all you have planted in there. Looks a little crowded, but I can't really see the pot. We may need to talk about dividing the plants up, or going bigger.

[applestar]

Yeah... I think that's a sage and will take up more space than thyme....

[rainbowgardener]

Yeah, sage and lemon balm are both very big plants and will need their own pots.

But lemon balm and other mints are very prone to getting those discolored spots. Probably is fungal, but it never seems to slow them down or get very bad, so I just don't worry about it. You can't be a gardener, especially an organic one, and worry about every little spot!

[EthanAten]

I agree. My grandma has this plant thats very touchy and when she doesn't water it or if it gets too much sun it gets little holes and turns dark around em. Just some small adjustments and I'd imagine its fine!

[SFloridaGardener]

Okay thanks! They are definitely getting a lot of sun. Unfortunately it's not a very shaded area but I'll try and moved them back to the shade for a little while. The pots are quiet small - table top pots for decorating so I could separate them some into more pots. Thanks for the tips!

[ButterflyLady29]

Use at least 5 gallon pots. My lemon balm escaped it's pot and now grows very well in a dappled shade garden.

Thyme? Are you sure? The leaves look a little big to be a thyme plant. Looks more like sage to me. My sage is in a 12 gallon pot.