Mint Plants keep dying!

Frank99

I like to use Mint to make mint sauce but the plants seem to keep turning black and dying, i have tried them in pots this year but the same result.
My father used to have them along with rhubarb but non of these are growing for me in the garden which used to belong to my late father.:o

forgotmyname

Underwatering or overwatering is one reason for it turning black. With the heat last year did it dry out?

I had a small tub which sat in a bowl, i just kept the bowl topped up with water. Seems that was too wet for the mint. Mine went black also.

Do you remove the flowers?

Frank99

forgotmyname wrote: »

Underwatering or overwatering is one reason for it turning black. With the heat last year did it dry out?

I had a small tub which sat in a bowl, i just kept the bowl topped up with water. Seems that was too wet for the mint. Mine went black also.

Do you remove the flowers?

Yes i wonder if it was the heat, i did water a fair bit in last years dry weather.

forgotmyname

Watering is a black art it seems, Im forever under/over watering plants.

I started placing pots on trays and just filling the tray, the compost/soil stays nice and moist but too moist for some it seems.

I feel a project looming....

Arduino, moisture sensor, pump(s), valves...

Sense each plants moisture level and pump water to that segment for a short time with a slow drain back to a resevoir.

pogofish

Are you maybe killing them with kindness..?

The mint in my garden thrives in the most neglected/darkest/stony corners and comes back year-on year but any I've ever planted in a prepared bed has died-off quickly.

-taff

Are we talking supermarket plants or mint outside now?

Apodemus

pogofish wrote: »

Are you maybe killing them with kindness..?

The mint in my garden thrives in the most neglected/darkest/stony corners and comes back year-on year but any I've ever planted in a prepared bed has died-off quickly.

Yes, my mint is in an old Belfast sink against a north-facing garage wall - it’s in the death zone, where nothing else survives. It virtually never gets watered, gets very little exposure to rain or sun, doesn’t start to show any growth until late May or early June, but thrives from then on through to October most years.

I also tried it in an old stone wall, in full sun, where rosemary, thyme, rocket and oregano thrive, but it was too dry for the mint.

Davesnave

-taff wrote: »

Are we talking supermarket plants or mint outside now?

Either way, it's rather early for successful mint growing outdoors.



Even here in sunny Devon the plants by my back door are only just showing signs of life, and I bet they're harbouring vine weevil grubs too, which is another issue!

Pennysmakepounds

Mint is a weed of types.

Just plant some outside and leave it to it. It will quite happily flourish.


My problem is opposite, it keeps spreading to areas I don't want it to.

Farway

Pennysmakepounds wrote: »

Mint is a weed of types.

Just plant some outside and leave it to it. It will quite happily flourish.


My problem is opposite, it keeps spreading to areas I don't want it to.

Chuck some wild garlic in there and let them fight it out:D

-taff

Davesnave wrote: »

Either way, it's rather early for successful mint growing outdoors.

That's why I was asking...And snap, the mint by the back door is perking up, got new shoots everywhere, I made a planter form an engineering box, an there is ONLY mint in it, so it can't go crazy and infest the rest of the mares tail bindweed grass.....?! Of course, that's not saying some seeds haven't blown off and infiltrated already....