Plants dying :(

[FrozenPea123]

Hey! I'm new to the forum and I've been having problems with some of my plants. I live up in Northern Canada, and I have an indoor garden, with a metal halide grow light. Some of my plants are withering, and look sick. I water them all every second day, but with the withered ones, I'm going to start watering every day starting today to see if that helps.
I also have containers of water on the floor to keep the humidity up.

The chocolate mint I just got a few days ago looks very withered:

The catnip I just bought seems to come back to life during the night after the light turns off, but starts to look more and more sick as the day goes on:

I've had this rosemary for a while, but it just started curling a few days ago, when I bought the catnip and choco mint from the store.

I just got this tarragon, and transfered it right away. Just doesn't look all that happy...

The parsley I've had for quite some time. It actually got neglected for a few weeks, and almost completely died, but I nursed it back to health, and it seemed fine until a few days ago. It's just a little withered, and has white spots on it. Not really sure what happened there.

Any suggestions could help.
Thank you!

[applestar]

Oh dear -- a couple of thoughts:

You shouldn't water on schedule but according to individual needs. Those herbs have different water as well as light needs.

But explain how you go about watering. They should be watered thoroughly, and shouldn't need to be watered as often as every other day -- certainly not every day....

The white spots on parsley and catnip seems to be sign of sucking insects. The pot for the catnip looks way too small.

Mint looks really mangled? Do you have a pet?

[FrozenPea123]

Hey! Thanks for the quick reply!
Well, I added some water to the catnip, and the leaves look way more alive now, even in just a few hours. It seems to respond extremely fast! I'm definitely going to have to transfer some of these plants, I just haven't had time to, that's probably a big part of the problem now that I think of it.

I don't have a pet, the mint actually just came like that, but i really wanted it lol. I think the mint really needed some water too..
It's just really quite warm inside that room, so they probably need a lot more water I'm assuming.

I don't see any bugs at all.. maybe a couple fruit flies...? If there was a bug problem, wouldn't they be on more than just one plant? It only seems to be effecting the parsley.

Thanks again!

[FrozenPea123]

I have parsley, catnip, choco mint, tarragon, rosemary, lemon basil, regular basil, oregano, garlic chives, and regular chives. I've been watering them all every second day, and the light cycle is 12 and 12.

I did just notice 2 or 3 tiny little flies in there, but they were interested in the lemon basil I think..

[imafan26]

I don't know much about metal halide lights. How hot does it get under there. Have you got a thermometer. From your description it sounds like it may be getting too hot under the light for some of the plants.

[FrozenPea123]

Good quesiton, I'll go pick up a thermometer tomorrow, and some bigger pots for sure

[FrozenPea123]

Okay, you were right. I found little green bugs, and little orange bugs hiding in the dirt. I figure they're aphids. I noticed the catnip has the white spots now too....are all my plants screwed now or just those two? I'm gunna spray them with soap, water, and cooking oil. See if that'll help..any other ideas? I really hate using chemicals.

[imafan26]

A lot of those bugs will attack weak plants. Take all of the plants out of the area and sanitize it well. Wash it down with a disinfectant or a bleach solution if the area can handle that. Take the plants outside preferably and give them a good hosing. It can be done indoors but the bugs will jump off and still be inside. With potted plants I find I get much better coverage with a dip than a spray. The mint and catnip can be cutback and they need to be repotted. Mints will choke themselves if they are not divided regularly. Cutting them back will make it easier to deal with the bugs. Plants need good air circulation, a well drained soil in a pot big enough to accommodate the roots, adequate light, and a little bit of fertilizer.