Scabby mints again

[Marb67]

Well, here I go again trying to grow various mints Apple, Peppermint, Spearmint and Catmint and yet again they are going scrappy, scabby looking with mottled leaves. Some kind of bug that eats it inside out. In fact may garden seems to be cursed with every type of leaf miner under the sun. I have tried cutting the leaves back, put in decent compost and kept appropriately watered but the still look pathetic.

[mrsbusy]

I sympathise - my bog standard mint is the same - can't say something is eating it but it is not happy.
I tipped it out of it's pot the other day - it's in a really big pot with compost which looks ok. There were few roots in the pot.
I'm going to try small pots and put some top soil in with the compost.

[Plot70]

I have got some mint growing in clay soil and it is fine and in flower.

[peanut]

I have mint in my garden and in pots. I find the mint in pots gets the hump and goes straggly regularly, I just don't think it likes to be contained, I seem to be forever splitting it and potting it on, only to repeat over and over again. Mint in the garden, left to do it's own thing is fine.

[Bren In Pots]

I've got one of my mints growing in a butlers sink its got plenty of space and so long as I cut a quarter of it to the ground in turn it keeps on producing all summer.

[Marb67]

I have mint in my garden and in pots. I find the mint in pots gets the hump and goes straggly regularly, I just don't think it likes to be contained, I seem to be forever splitting it and potting it on, only to repeat over and over again. Mint in the garden, left to do it's own thing is fine.

Yes but you are told not to plant it out in the garden as it spreads. Iv'e seen mint growing in kitchen gardens etc in pots, containers and they seem to be doing well. It just seems I can't grow it well.

[peanut]

Yes but you are told not to plant it out in the garden as it spreads. Iv'e seen mint growing in kitchen gardens etc in pots, containers and they seem to be doing well. It just seems I can't grow it well.

It does spread yes, but I don't mind that and it's easy enough to pull up. Mine does ok in pots, but I do have to cut it back and divide it to keep on getting new growth as it fills up the pots quite quickly.
Your mint doesn't look bad at all, yes it's got a few holes and is a bit patchy in parts, just split it up and pot on. I put up with holes and nibbles, life's too short to stress over annoying bug attacks!

[Nicos]

I can’t seem to grow it either marb.
A friend of mine was incredibly successful with hers - it was planted between a gravel path and a garden slab. The roots were very happy underneath the slab as they were continuously damp but the plant was in full sun. The soil was pretty poor tbh.

I’m going to do the same once we rebuild our patio…there will be a designated mint area which will echo my friend’s plants’ environment.
I’ve seen it growing between garden slabs here!
I guess it’s down to stresses as well as bugs and rust etc.

Out of interest…
Have you tried placing your pots in different spots in your garden? …and different potting composts?

[mrsbusy]

Interesting to read the comments - thank you for those. I do have a space I could plant the roots (not in pots) so I will give that a go inspired by everyone's comments. In desperation I got a supermarket pot of mint which I potted on last night and the roots looked quite different to the other straggly pot. The new pot had lots of fine roots as well as thick ones. The old pot only had thick white roots....

[Marb67]

I can’t seem to grow it either marb.
A friend of mine was incredibly successful with hers - it was planted between a gravel path and a garden slab. The roots were very happy underneath the slab as they were continuously damp but the plant was in full sun. The soil was pretty poor tbh.

I’m going to do the same once we rebuild our patio…there will be a designated mint area which will echo my friend’s plants’ environment.
I’ve seen it growing between garden slabs here!
I guess it’s down to stresses as well as bugs and rust etc.

Out of interest…
Have you tried placing your pots in different spots in your garden? …and different potting composts?

Yes I have tried everything (compost/containers/location/ pots)

[ameno]

Mint doesn't like to dry out. I've never had an success growing in pots; it always grows weakly and then gets rust around this time of year.
It does much better in the ground. Despite its reputation for spreading, it's not that hard to keep under control. Just tear out the excess each winter; the rhizomes are all fairly close to the surface.

[nick the grief]

Our mint is in a pot and has been for about 5 years in fact I did think about taking some cuttings and ditching what in the pot and replacing it all. I've never grown it in anything other than a pot and always a clay pot ( apart from when I grew it in a sink ) and in used compost not fresh ... I usually use the John Innes that was used for Chrysanths.

I always grow it hard and it seems to grow ok for me occasionally I will sink the pots in the bed but ensure the top of the pot is well above the surface to stop it escaping ... Its worse than bindweed !

[Marb67]

Our mint is in a pot and has been for about 5 years in fact I did think about taking some cuttings and ditching what in the pot and replacing it all. I've never grown it in anything other than a pot and always a clay pot ( apart from when I grew it in a sink ) and in used compost not fresh ... I usually use the John Innes that was used for Chrysanths.

I always grow it hard and it seems to grow ok for me occasionally I will sink the pots in the bed but ensure the top of the pot is well above the surface to stop it escaping ... Its worse than bindweed !

Mine are in clay pot but doing badly. Even having one pot in a large dish kept watered so it doesn't dry out doesn't help.

[mothhawk]

My mints, in 8" clay pots, never did well until I started tipping them out every spring and replanting just a few roots back in the pots. They grow much more vigorously and are able to shrug off pests much better. (I've done that ever since I noticed that Mr Don on GW seems to repot his every year)

[Jungle Jane]

Good point MH,I should’ve split mine & repotted I did nothing just left it in the same 12” pot for about five or six years,it was fine for years,looked quite crowded though & it hasn’t grown at all this year it’s just brown bits of sticks,it usually grows some leaves but there’s none.