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Post by feelahthetigress on Nov 3, 2013 16:11:04 GMT
Hey guys, I need some help! Everywhere I go on the internet, all I read about is how easy it is to grow mint plants. However, while I have some thyme and chives that are growing great, my mint is the only thing that isn't doing well. I live in Alabama in an apartment that has a north facing window AND and overhang, so it essentially gets very poor light. So, I have a grow light system set up for my plants. My other two plants are doing great, but I had a sweet mint plant and it did well at the beginning, but then the leaves started growing all small sized, and the bottom leaves slowly started to turn brown and fall off. Clearly, something had gone wrong. Well, I took a few cuttings off of it and replanted them in a new pot (they seem to be doing well) and I bought a chocolate mint for the pot as well (it's one of those long rectangular window type pots). I had to throw out the old sweet mint plant (I did notice when I took it out that it appeared to be root bound). I think it may have been dying due to it getting root bound. BUT, it happened so very quickly! I barely had it a couple months!
So, what I want to know from you all, what's the best pot size I'd need to keep a mint happy indoors, and what's the best care to give to a mint plant under the conditions I stated earlier? Any advice would be appreciated!
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Cashell
Archachatina puylaerti
Posts: 1,124
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Post by Cashell on Nov 3, 2013 17:40:01 GMT
Wish I could help, but I'm not a good farmer myself! Every time I try to grow corn, they rot. When I grow beets, turnips and radishes they bolt. When I grow kidney beans, they don't yield too much beans. When I grow strawberries, blackberries and blueberries, they don't even bother germinating. Yeah I think you get the idea... Strangely enough, I've been able to successfully grow apple and pear trees --------------- until they dry up and wither! However, that's completely my fault for not watering them. Me guilty.
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Post by feelahthetigress on Nov 3, 2013 17:56:27 GMT
Eh, I guess we're good at growing pestilent snail beasts...
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Post by muddydragon on Nov 3, 2013 18:31:31 GMT
Mint is one fast growing little......ahem... if you plant them in the garden they take over so getting pot bound quickly is very VERY easy. However usually they don't seem to object to this too much.
Was it leggy as well as small leaved in which case it's still not getting enough light.
On the other hand if it looked stunted with small leaves then it may well be suffering from too much light.
What type of soil do you use?
I'm afraid i won't be a huge help, although i grow mint i just have it in a pot outdoors and leave it to it's own devices and it does fine, infact i had problems with mint taking over in the garden!!
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Post by feelahthetigress on Nov 3, 2013 19:42:10 GMT
Mint is one fast growing little......ahem... if you plant them in the garden they take over so getting pot bound quickly is very VERY easy. However usually they don't seem to object to this too much. Was it leggy as well as small leaved in which case it's still not getting enough light. On the other hand if it looked stunted with small leaves then it may well be suffering from too much light. What type of soil do you use? I'm afraid i won't be a huge help, although i grow mint i just have it in a pot outdoors and leave it to it's own devices and it does fine, infact i had problems with mint taking over in the garden!! I wouldn't call it "stunted" but it might have been "leggy" - hard to tell. That doesn't matter much anyways, because that old bulb burned out and I bought a brand new, different grow light system just recently (it is a rectangular fixture, with four T5 22inch florescent tube bulbs in it), and I cannot tell yet if it gives off enough light. I'll have to see if my plants turn leggy. The soil I use is organic potting soil - it's actually the same soil I use in my snail tank!
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Post by vallery on Nov 15, 2013 15:40:13 GMT
I am in Toronto, I have mint growing in the south west corner of my yard and in regular soil it grows extremely well a unattended. I just leave it I don't add fertilizer or anything, the earth there is a wee bit sandy as it is on the top of a hill that goes down from my yard. My yard is pretty shady but gets some sun. Just to let you know that. Hope you have success in the future.
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Post by feelahthetigress on Nov 15, 2013 15:48:40 GMT
Hey vallery,
Thanks for your comment! Most people say the same thing: that mint is easy to grow outdoors with very little attention. Too bad I live in an apartment! Still, the mint seems to be doing well under the new system (at least from what I can tell it's really making large leaves and growing outward - almost too much; it really needs to grow upward a bit too!). Unlike the outdoors, I'll probably have to fertilize mine a bit since it's stuck in a pot with no outside nutrients available.
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Post by vallery on Nov 15, 2013 16:01:05 GMT
Maybe it is a certain strain of mint plant that naturally grows that way. I know there are many types of mint plants. You could try researching the best type to grow in pots in doors or on decks 9if you have one).
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Post by greyphoenix on Nov 15, 2013 16:01:34 GMT
I'm by no means an expert gardener. In fact most of what I've kept in soil has died. That said, I've had *much* better luck growing things in water, and a quick Google search suggests mint does well that way also, although I've never tried. I generally don't even worry about the whole adding nutrients thing - my plants thrive in pure water - but here is a link to a page explaining how to grow mint using hydroponics. Might be worth a shot if the soil method isn't working out for you... Good luck! www.gardenguides.com/115314-grow-hydroponic-mint.html
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Post by feelahthetigress on Nov 15, 2013 16:08:35 GMT
Maybe it is a certain strain of mint plant that naturally grows that way. I know there are many types of mint plants. You could try researching the best type to grow in pots in doors or on decks 9if you have one). Nah, it's sweet mint, the same species I was growing before. I think the lights I have now must have more blue wavelength in it and promote vegetative growth. As for research, I've tried. There's not much info. on growing mint under grow lights, and even less info. on which ones would do best under such a situation. The two species of mint I have are sweet mint (mentioned earlier) and chocolate mint. greyphoenix - The hydroponics idea is interesting, I'll consider it in the future if my soil growing doesn't work out.
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Post by morningcoffee on Nov 15, 2013 16:08:37 GMT
Hey vallery, Thanks for your comment! Most people say the same thing: that mint is easy to grow outdoors with very little attention. Too bad I live in an apartment! Still, the mint seems to be doing well under the new system (at least from what I can tell it's really making large leaves and growing outward - almost too much; it really needs to grow upward a bit too!). Unlike the outdoors, I'll probably have to fertilize mine a bit since it's stuck in a pot with no outside nutrients available. Mint likes a lot of room for its roots, so make sure you plant it in a large enough pot, and repot it as it grows, because it can become very very unhappy if it gets root-bound.
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Post by vallery on Nov 15, 2013 16:28:05 GMT
Yes I did read that as well morningcoffe while I have been trying to search for answers for feelathetigress and I do notice that the mint outdoors spreads quickly. I think your totally right.
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Post by feelahthetigress on Nov 18, 2013 16:38:39 GMT
Hey vallery, Thanks for your comment! Most people say the same thing: that mint is easy to grow outdoors with very little attention. Too bad I live in an apartment! Still, the mint seems to be doing well under the new system (at least from what I can tell it's really making large leaves and growing outward - almost too much; it really needs to grow upward a bit too!). Unlike the outdoors, I'll probably have to fertilize mine a bit since it's stuck in a pot with no outside nutrients available. Mint likes a lot of room for its roots, so make sure you plant it in a large enough pot, and repot it as it grows, because it can become very very unhappy if it gets root-bound. I have limited space, so I may have to keep dividing it if it gets root bound... Oh, but my chocolate mint seems to be doing well as it's growing in every direction. Even my sweet mint is doing well and producing large leaves (although it isn't nearly as big as the chocolate mint since I started it from a cutting). I've also heard that instead of dividing a plant, you can prune it and also prune back its root system to keep it in check (this may work well for mint since its a plant that can withstand a lot of stress).
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Post by vallery on Nov 25, 2013 5:57:09 GMT
Hi feelahthetigress , Are you attempting to grow any other types of herbs indoors? I brought in my thyme and sage from outside and was wondering if you have those indoors, if so do you have any tips for keeping them alive in my apartment? Thank You vallery
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Post by feelahthetigress on Nov 25, 2013 16:30:09 GMT
Hi feelahthetigress , Are you attempting to grow any other types of herbs indoors? I brought in my thyme and sage from outside and was wondering if you have those indoors, if so do you have any tips for keeping them alive in my apartment? Thank You vallery Actually yes, I'm growing several other herbs along with the mint. I've got regular thyme and lemon thyme, chives, cilantro, and a basil. The chives and cilantro are doing very well, the lemon thyme is doing great, and the regular thyme is only doing so-so. I'm not really sure that's my fault, as the plant was old and woody when I bought it so it may just be past its prime anyways. The basil isn't really dying, but it's not really growing any bigger either. Not sure what's going wrong there, but I'm thinking of replacing it with a rosemary anyways since I eat way more rosemary than I do basil and I've reached my maximum number of plants that could fit in my space. As for tips on how to grow herbs in an apartment, here's what I did. First off, research the herb online to see what it's preferences are for soil type, watering, etc. For example, I found that my thyme likes a sandier soil and a well draining pot, so I mixed a bit of sand into the potting soil and put them in pots with good drainage holes. I've also found that terra cotta pots lose moisture better than plastic (holds moisture) or glazed ceramic (in the middle between plastic and terra cotta for moisture retention). So a plant like cilantro that is prone to root rot should be placed in a terra cotta pot so that the roots dry out easier, but a plant like mint that really likes moisture should be in a plastic pot to help retain moisture (please note that all plants can get root rot, and really should be in pots with drainage, whether they like moisture or not - so don't use pots with no holes in the bottom!). I chose to place the thyme in a ceramic pot since my past experience is that it likes a medium amount of moisture. As for potting soil, I use an organic potting soil but I'm sure any decent potting soil will work (just don't buy anything that says "moisture retaining" because that's horrible stuff!). Also, you should learn when it likes to be watered and stick to that schedule (some plants like to be watered frequently and kept moist like mint, some like to dry out a bit between waterings like thyme, etc.). So, once you know what soil to use and what kind of pot to use, you are going to have to deal with light needs. Almost all herbs require a large quantity of full sunlight per day, usually 6-10 hours. That makes them harder to grow indoors than a lot of low light houseplants. If you've got a window that gets really strong sunlight you you could potentially grow them successfully using the light from the window. You'll know that your plants aren't getting enough light if they start to grow tall and spindly, with smaller leaves than you'd expect, and reach towards the light source despite attempts to prune them into a bushier more compact shape. Now, plants will naturally grow towards even a strong light source regardless 'cause that's what they do, but a spindly plant looks unwell, like this tomato: science-at-home.org/wp-content/uploads/2010/05/plant-comparison.jpg (the one on the right is spindly). I live in an apartment with a window that gets no light (it's under a ledge from the balcony on the floor above), so I have a grow light system in place. I specifically bought this one: www.amazon.com/gp/product/B002JQBQZQ/ref=oh_details_o04_s01_i00?ie=UTF8&psc=1www.amazon.com/gp/product/B002OUCMNW/ref=oh_details_o04_s00_i00?ie=UTF8&psc=1Of course, if you only intend to grow those two plants, you probably won't need such a large light. You can get away with a much smaller bulb in a lamp or something. If you do decide to research grow light bulbs, I suggest getting flourescents (they are cheap) and to get one that says it's "full spectrum daylight bulb" or "cool white" as those are the spectrums that will actually help the plants grow (soft white/warm white won't work very well at all). You also want to try for a bulb with the highest lumen output you can - stronger is better. Anyways, all grow lights are inherently weaker than the sun, so I bought a timer (it was cheap, less than $20) to turn my light on and off for me. I have it on for 16 hours a day and the plants seem to be doing well under this (you can tell it's not too much light because they are not getting leaf burn or anything like that). My last concern is fertilizer. This is an area that I don't have much experience with. I know from research that too much fertilizer is by far worse than no fertilizer at all since plants can develop root burn from over-fertilization. However, plants that are grown in pots have no access to the nutrients they'd normally have in the outdoors since they are contained. You should wait a month or two after repotting a plant before fertilizing, and in general shouldn't fertilize when a plant is under stress of any kind (unhealthy, recently repotted, recently destroyed by a cat, etc). I'm kind of lazy, so I chose to get these to use as fertilizer: www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000279304/ref=oh_details_o00_s00_i00?ie=UTF8&psc=1I haven't been using them very long at all (maybe just a week) but they don't seem to be doing any harm. I've heard that it's harder to accidentally overfertilize using the sticks vs. a liquid fertilizer, but you should probably start out with half the recommended amount if you're unsure. Plus the sticks are really easy because you don't have to use them very often since they are slow release - so you just replace them every couple months (whenever it says to on the package) and you're good to go! No mess, no liquid formulas to mix up every time - easy! Lastly, since you brought these plants in from outside you should beware of pests. In fact, any plant can have pests, even the ones you've just bought. My cilantro had red aphids on it from the garden center, but I killed them with an insecticidal soap (worked very well). So far (aside from the occasional fungus gnat - Grrr!) all my plants seem to be pest free for now. Umm....sadly that's all I know about growing plants indoors (or anywhere for that matter). I don't have much of a green thumb and I've killed lots of things over the years although I may finally have gotten the hang of it. Anyway, hope this helps!
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Post by vallery on Nov 26, 2013 4:29:53 GMT
Hi feelahthetigress , Thank you so much for all of that information. You have inspired me to start growing herbs in my apartment and I want to try more then just the Thyme and Sage that I brought in from the garden.. I do have a very large south facing window where I have house plants but I have never tried growing herbs indoors. I will let you know how it turns out for me. Thank You again . You have been so helpful vallery
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Post by feelahthetigress on Nov 26, 2013 5:11:25 GMT
Hi feelahthetigress , Thank you so much for all of that information. You have inspired me to start growing herbs in my apartment and I want to try more then just the Thyme and Sage that I brought in from the garden.. I do have a very large south facing window where I have house plants but I have never tried growing herbs indoors. I will let you know how it turns out for me. Thank You again . You have been so helpful vallery Well, it's cool that you have a good window; that should save you some money (no buying lights, etc.)! I hope it gets enough light for your needs. If you have some friends/family/neighbors you could steal some cuttings from, you could save yourself a lot of money on plants by rooting your own cuttings. I've found that the easiest herb to grow indoors is chives (although that can't be grown from a cutting) so you might want to get one of those first. Anyway, the chocolate mint is doing very well so you could try that too if you wanted! Have fun and good luck! P.S. An update on my end: I had to throw out the basil as it was infested with aphids this morning. It seems that I missed them last time, but I have thoroughly inspected my other plants, and they don't seem to be anywhere else. I won't buy from that garden center again, I think.
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Post by vallery on Nov 26, 2013 5:42:13 GMT
Hi feelahthetigress , I think I may have a neighbour I can get some clippings from, thanks for the idea. I will definitely try Chives, love them. Does the Chocolate mint actually taste like chocolate? I have only grown regular mint in my yard and basically left it neglected and it grew and spread but I haven't brought any inside. I actually had a clay pot of Swiss Chard growing on my deck that was dying right down from the cold so I brought it in and put it by the window with my house plants and surprisingly It is growing really well. I didn't think it would survive. I will definitely look out for nasty aphids. Lucky it was only your basil. Once I followed instructions, I still have the instructions if you would like them, (I plan to try again) to grow a mango tree, I had it in my south facing window which is the only window in my flat where I can grow any plants (looks like a mini jungle) I managed to germinate it and grow it to a height of 2 feet, it was beautiful the leaves are a deep red at first before they turn green, but the cat knocked it off the stand it was on and it died right after that, of shock I suppose because it didn't break. I have added a shelf by the window which is empty right now so that is where I plan to try my hand at growing some herbs. Thanks again for your help. I am excited about an indoor herb garden. vallery
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Post by feelahthetigress on Nov 26, 2013 18:47:25 GMT
Hi feelahthetigress , I think I may have a neighbour I can get some clippings from, thanks for the idea. I will definitely try Chives, love them. Does the Chocolate mint actually taste like chocolate? I have only grown regular mint in my yard and basically left it neglected and it grew and spread but I haven't brought any inside. I actually had a clay pot of Swiss Chard growing on my deck that was dying right down from the cold so I brought it in and put it by the window with my house plants and surprisingly It is growing really well. I didn't think it would survive. I will definitely look out for nasty aphids. Lucky it was only your basil. Once I followed instructions, I still have the instructions if you would like them, (I plan to try again) to grow a mango tree, I had it in my south facing window which is the only window in my flat where I can grow any plants (looks like a mini jungle) I managed to germinate it and grow it to a height of 2 feet, it was beautiful the leaves are a deep red at first before they turn green, but the cat knocked it off the stand it was on and it died right after that, of shock I suppose because it didn't break. I have added a shelf by the window which is empty right now so that is where I plan to try my hand at growing some herbs. Thanks again for your help. I am excited about an indoor herb garden. vallery I wouldn't say the chocolate mint tastes exactly like chocolate. Mostly, it tastes like mint with a tiny hint of chocolate. It's still a lovely mint, though, if you like the taste of mint. Since you have a bunch of mint in your yard already, you might as well take a cutting and try that since it's free! It's cool that your chard is doing well! As for that mango, I don't think it would've ever fruited indoors. I believe they need to be quite large before they will produce fruit (obviously too large for indoors). Too bad, really. Anyway, good luck with your indoor garden! Let me know if you have any questions that for some reason you think I'd be able to answer!
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Post by vallery on Nov 27, 2013 8:18:06 GMT
I feelahthetigress , I never expected the mango tree to grow very large or bear fruit but it was such a beautiful plant. And thank you I will probably be calling on you for some help with my indoor herbs. vallery
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Post by feelahthetigress on Nov 27, 2013 13:49:25 GMT
I feelahthetigress , I never expected the mango tree to grow very large or bear fruit but it was such a beautiful plant. And thank you I will probably be calling on you for some help with my indoor herbs. vallery Oh, well, I just assumed you were trying to get mangos out of it! I, personally, am kind of stubborn about mostly only growing things I can eat... Anyway, good luck with your gardening!
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Cashell
Archachatina puylaerti
Posts: 1,124
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Post by Cashell on Nov 27, 2013 18:35:14 GMT
I'm like that too. I only invest time into growing plants that can actually be eaten.
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Post by feelahthetigress on Nov 27, 2013 19:10:02 GMT
I'm like that too. I only invest time into growing plants that can actually be eaten. Eh, what can I say? I love eating stuff!
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Post by muddydragon on Nov 28, 2013 10:31:42 GMT
The mango sounds like it grows rather like the lychee i tried growing from seed once it had lovely pinkish bronze leaves which turned green over time, sadly i lost it but hope i could grow it again. You food only guys are so unlike me I do love growing food plants (but only outdoors or in a greenhouse, so ones that can grow in the UK) especially potatoes (if you haven't grown potatoes before do it it's like digging for treasure when you dig them up in the end!). I grew up with a garden with a huge vegetable patch and fruit cage (vicious fruit , - actually to keep the birds off as they would strip the various currant plants) and apple trees so i would love to live somewhere where i can have that again one day! but i settle for a little mini veg patch currently, but i do love growing more unusual veg, oddly coloured stuff, heritage etc. However i love non-food plants i have far too many indoors alone (never mind outdoors where i have too many trees in pots, fraser fir, ginkgos, monkeypuzzles grown from seeds to name just a few), i've got a soft spot for rescuing plants which need nursing back to health, also unusual plants too. Doing plant research in a visitor gardens for a year where the staff got various display plants cheap at the end of the visitor displays didn't help with the sheer number of plants either . most comments i get when people visit/see my house from the outside and don't already know me well go; i see you like your plants...
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Post by feelahthetigress on Nov 28, 2013 17:51:16 GMT
The mango sounds like it grows rather like the lychee i tried growing from seed once it had lovely pinkish bronze leaves which turned green over time, sadly i lost it but hope i could grow it again. You food only guys are so unlike me I do love growing food plants (but only outdoors or in a greenhouse, so ones that can grow in the UK) especially potatoes (if you haven't grown potatoes before do it it's like digging for treasure when you dig them up in the end!). I grew up with a garden with a huge vegetable patch and fruit cage (vicious fruit , - actually to keep the birds off as they would strip the various currant plants) and apple trees so i would love to live somewhere where i can have that again one day! but i settle for a little mini veg patch currently, but i do love growing more unusual veg, oddly coloured stuff, heritage etc. However i love non-food plants i have far too many indoors alone (never mind outdoors where i have too many trees in pots, fraser fir, ginkgos, monkeypuzzles grown from seeds to name just a few), i've got a soft spot for rescuing plants which need nursing back to health, also unusual plants too. Doing plant research in a visitor gardens for a year where the staff got various display plants cheap at the end of the visitor displays didn't help with the sheer number of plants either . most comments i get when people visit/see my house from the outside and don't already know me well go; i see you like your plants... Not only do I only want to spend my time growing food, but I'll only grow things where the yield seems worthwhile. For example, I'd never grow potatoes since they are so cheap in stores. Although more power to you, muddydragon, for attempting it! Honestly, I'm too lazy to grow most things that are too difficult. I may try to grow tomatoes some day when I have an outdoor space since they are relatively easy, but really I'm most interested in growing herbs because they are enormously expensive in stores fresh (and sometimes the dried versions just aren't as tasty) and they are relatively easy to grow plants. The other thing I really want someday when I have a real yard is some hardy climbing roses (much easier to care for than hybrid roses). I'd really love access to fresh rose petals for many recipes! P.S. - As an update, my mint is technically doing well, but is growing very strangely. The sweet mint is growing more outward than upward, and producing freakishly huge leaves, which is the exact opposite of it's normal growth pattern. I can only presume that the cool white bulbs I'm using are emitting lots of blue wavelength light (something that promotes bushy leaf growth) and that I need to get a few full spectrum bulbs to encourage some better upward growth. I think a mix of both full spectrum and cool white bulbs would make the perfect growth combo. I haven't quite got the money to get them yet, but I will later, so I'll let you guys know how it goes.
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