white spots on herb leaves?

[buzzingtalk]

Hey everyone, I have lots of white spots/dots inside the leaves of my Oregano, Mint and Basil (which is now chopped down). Does anyone know what it is? I looked for bugs but couldn't find any signs of life, the dots are inside the leaves so you cant rub them off or they arent mould or something. I havent't eaten any of the herbs for a while as they are now quite bitter since the spots appeared...anyone have a clue what it is?

Also, my Rosmary plant, some of the 'leaves' are going a bit yellow and falling off?

There is something wrong with my herbs and I can't figure out what

[buzzingtalk]

http://i183.photobucket.com/albums/x...t/IMG_0953.jpg

Here is a pic I found on another forum of what looks like the exact same thing. I'd take a pic but I don't have a macro lens to hand but its just like in the pic above...any ideas?? Internet searches are coming up blank.

[Nicos]

gosh- has no-one replied to you???...how strange

I don't know much about herbs tbh...but I did manage to kill off one of my rosemary plants last year.
It was in a pot with the wrong sort of compost- far too moisture retentive....and basically I drowned it by watering it too much.
The first signs were the leaves going yellow- so I thought it was too dry ( wrong)...then lacking in nitrogen ...so basically I overwatered and overfed it...plus I think it was pot bound.
Shame on me
The ones abandoned in the garden are thriving!
Some of the leaves will go yellow in winter anyway.

Re your other herbs...really don't know- but my outdoor parsley goes like that before dying back for the winter.
Perhaps yours are at the end of their season??...that would account for them being bitter too.

...not much help I'm afraid!

[FionaH]

Mould maybe?

[buzzingtalk]

Nah, it can't be mould - as it is inside the leaves if you know what I mean. When I pick them, you can't rub or wash it off, it seems like the white is inside the leaves.

Some of them I had last winter too, and this didn't happen so I don't think its 'end of season.' I think my rosmary plant needs repotting though, what sort of soil does roasmary like? I'll try that as its a lovely looking plant but can always buy another one.

I have numerous books on plants etc and I can't find anything about these white spots...theres a few bits and bobs on the net but they all say exactly the same thing as this thread really, people taking guesses at what it could be but no solid answers.

Could it be them being too old now? Although that would make no sense as they are all very young (2 years at the oldest) and they can live much longer. It seemed to 'spread' too

[Mell]

are they in pots ?

[Mell]

I'm thinking maybe Molybdenum deficiency Molybdenum deficiency which leads to a problem fixing/converting nitrogen ?

If you still have mint & basil with leaf I'm guessing indoor plants in pots , are you feeding them ?

[Nicos]

Rosemary likes a light, free draining soil so the roots don't sit in the wet ( think of Mediterranean hillsides)
Maybe you can add grit and sand to it's soil??

[Mell]

Rosemary likes a light, free draining soil so the roots don't sit in the wet ( think of Mediterranean hillsides)
Maybe you can add grit and sand to it's soil??

I've only had sucess with rodemary on beds at a higher level, iw where the soil drains & I never water it !

[buzzingtalk]

They are all pot plants, and the basil died a while ago when it got too cold. The rest are outdoors in the cold and have been fine in previous years. the mint doesnt seem to be quite as affected - is it meant to die back for winter? the mint isthe youngest and its the first winter ive had it.

the others (rosmary, thyme, sage) are all entering their second winter, i havent fed them anything. the rosmary and sage got repotted just over a year ago (september 2009) when we moved house, and the thyme got repotted this spring.

[buzzingtalk]

Thanks for the answers too

I looked at Molybdenum deficinecy and it doesnt look or sound like that, i found more pics of this online and it looks completley different to what my plants look like. hmmmmm

[Mell]

They are all pot plants, and the basil died a while ago when it got too cold. The rest are outdoors in the cold and have been fine in previous years. the mint doesnt seem to be quite as affected - is it meant to die back for winter? the mint isthe youngest and its the first winter ive had it.

the others (rosmary, thyme, sage) are all entering their second winter, i havent fed them anything. the rosmary and sage got repotted just over a year ago (september 2009) when we moved house, and the thyme got repotted this spring.

Yes mint will die right back & return in the spring. Basil will not come back, I bring mine in in the winter.

Thyme, Sage & rosemary are evergreen & should be OK all year round. Oregano should die back & return.

Its hard to say, if they are outside I think the tenders are just showing end of year effects. But a nice feed in the growing season is always good, but herbs are pretty hardy. Hard for me to say as I have walking fertilizers (geese) so rarely get any nutritional problems

[buzzingtalk]

so what should you feed stuff with? i kept using my thyme right into last winter and spring but maybe that was a fluke...

[Mell]

Thyme should be Ok all year, but I find because it is a smaller plant in my case I cannot use it as much as sage & rosemary. I like the chicken poo fertilizer as a general one, you can buy pelleted.

[buzzingtalk]

thanks will check that out next time im at the garden centre. hopefully if i feed them in spring they will make a comeback