Cookaholics Bulletin Board

Folks,

Mint should be the easiest herb in the world to grow. Most articles about it talk more about mint eradication than preserving it.

But ... I've tried to grow mint 3 times in containers in my backyard, and each time it's succumbed to what I'm pretty sure is Mint Rust. The lower leaves develop brown spots, which grow, merge, and eventually kill the leaf.

I've planted the mint in new pots, using sterile soil. But I don't seem to be able to have healthy mint. Any ideas, or should I just give up on growing mint?

Obviously, you are going about it all wrong. Mint only thrives when it can run away with your entire garden. Maybe you can trick it by planting something else in the pot with it. Give it a challenge.

Seriously though, I've never tried to grow it, but it ran rampant over our property when I was a kid. The soil was soggy and full of blue clay but covered in spearmint.

Never tried it in a pot, although I've been tempted; have had a few varieties in the ground for years and never seen the "rust" you describe. So, maybe it is the containment in a pot that is causing it. Each time you have planted it, have you used a different pot or sterilized the pot before you plant? If not, perhaps you might try a new pot and sterile soil and see if that helps.
ilene

Definitly follow JesBelle's advice; this is a plant that LOVES abuse - you are showing it way too much respect. Besides, via the layman's definition of insanity, why persist doing the same and expecting different? If you need to persue this course at least simultaneously put plants in some less than desireable places and monitor (I suggest four different locations). Monitoring is best done with gin & tonic to give the mint a goal.

I agree - it's almost a weed, but I liken it to poison ivy, iris, or jewel weed. It grows best up against a building, wall, tree, and in the shade, and kept wet in crappy soil.

We had a patch that threatened to take over the neighborhood. Mowed it hoping it would go away but to no avail. Finally killed it off (two applications) with Roundup. When it get's hold, look out! I have a pot growing in the back yard. The bottom fell out of the pot a couple of years ago but the mint keeps coming back. I don' t know which is more vigorous - dandelions or mint.

Fitzie

All,

Actually, there was mint in the yard. It also all died of whatever is killing my mint now.

Pretty much if you name any fungal plant parasite, it's in our yard.

Fuzzy, I grow mint in a large pot and have never had a problem. I buy a small plant and in a matter of a few weeks it fills the pot. It is in an area that gets part shade and is protected by the house. You say you have replaced the pot and soil, so I can't amagine the problem unless it's over watering.

Laurie

Try a spray of water with pure essential oil of Lavender and Tea Tree. Say 8 oz water and 20 drops of each oil, shake well and spritz all over the leaves, especially the lower ones. If it's fungal that might do the trick as both have antifungal properties. Beware, the plastic spritzer bottle WILL "melt" and distort from the strong compounds in the oil that will lay on top of the water when not shook up.

Also, mix some gravel into your soil mix, 30% or so - they don't need pure rich soil and most herbs like it more drained. That may also discourage fungus migrating from the soil, especially if you also use a 3/4" gravel mulch all over the top to try to put a barrier between soil and leaves.

For the first time EVER, my sage, marjoram, and mint got some sort of disease - like a black spot roses get. I first noticed it on the sage, then it was on my marjoram, then, as I was looking around to see if it was anywhere else, I noticed it around the front of my house, about 40 ft away from the herbs in the back.

I figured it was some sort of fungus, so I sprayed an organic neem oil/citrus based fungicide on all of them, along with some yucca slicker/spreader. This quickly subdued it - leaves that were totally covered with the spots, eventually dropped off, but others more or less healed, with some scarring, but they stayed on the plants. Later, I sprayed an oil/potassium bicarbonate/yucca mix - a variation on the old baking/soda oil mix, which has proven to be an effective fungicide against many diseases. This warded off the slight bits of spots I saw trying to come back, and all of it looks good now.

I'm not sure why this happened this year; we have had much wetter springs than this one, so it is not just moisture, but maybe it had to do with the early heat, combined with some spurts of moisture. Something also rotted half of my shallots, right next to the others in good condition, so wetness may have been a factor in both.

Don't I remember you saying that you can't grow tarragon, Fuzzy? Something about the fog there, and fungus as a result of the constant dampness.

Dave