Mint plant leaves going yellow

[babrees]

Hi. Newbie here! First off I must say that I do not have green fingers. If any colour they would be black for death to plants! I struggle to keep plants alive! However, I really, really want to grow a few herbs.

I am in Fuerteventura, the Canary Islands. Our weather is hot and the soil is not good.

I killed my first mint plant. I suspect I did not water it enough. 4 Weeks ago my Sister in law bought me another, telling me to water it every day, which I did. However, some leaves are starting to go yellow and this morning a couple of developed a brown splodge on them.

It is in a pot and the roots are coming out of the holes in the bottom. I left off watering it yesterday because the soil still felt a bit damp and I was concerned I might be over-watering, but I did spray the leaves with water. Due to the strength of the sun here, we do keep it in the shade.

I'm not sure if the problem is because I over-watered it or possibly lack of sunshine (I just read they need sun). Or should I be putting it into a larger pot?

Sorry I just took the photos and it's still early morning and pitch black here!!

 

[Rajesh Sethi]

You are right it needs larger pot, may be a flat one with larger surface about 4-6 inch deep, they are runner plants.

They tend to grow up, and cross edge of pot, you need to prune it and direct it towards soil.

Search 'layering of plants' Propagation method.

 

[Chuck]

It is being over watered and it needs to go into a larger container. You will find that it is root bound which is why you have to water it so often. In a proper sized container you shouldn't have to water but once or twice a week. I would place the container where it gets partial shade during the hottest part of the day.

 

[roadrunner]

I agree that it's probably being over-watered and needs to be in a larger pot; however, I wonder about your comment about your soil not being good.

Do you have an area to garden? Soil is made by living organisms and they are all around, all you have to do is give them some habitat.

Also, with respect to temperature, that depends on they type of plant or mint you have; I have a native mint plant in my area that does not like the heat, but it grows every year, starting in the late summer and flowers in the very early spring, then dies back, then the process repeats itself. So maybe you need to find a plant that can live in the heat and other plants that like it in other times of years. What kind of mint do you have?

Here's a couple of good videos, showing just how easy it is to create soil

 

[babrees]

Thanks folks. Sorry, LOTS of questions!

What sort of container should I get? I have the one in this photo below, which I guess is about 12" high. Or should I get a long shallow container? Would I need to completely fill it with a bag of soil/compost or could I mix it with the lesser quality of our garden?

If this one survives I will probably buy another plant as I love mint and will use an awful lot of it.

Thank you for the videos roadrunner, but I admit I had to laugh. Fuerteventura, where I live, is a volcanic desert island. The only things that really grow here are cacti. We don't get leaves off trees, except the huge big tough palm trees Very little grows here

 

[Beverly]

Adding home made compost to your existing soil will do wonders.

 

[Chuck]

Thanks folks. Sorry, LOTS of questions!

What sort of container should I get? I have the one in this photo below, which I guess is about 12" high. Or should I get a long shallow container? Would I need to completely fill it with a bag of soil/compost or could I mix it with the lesser quality of our garden?

If this one survives I will probably buy another plant as I love mint and will use an awful lot of it.

Thank you for the videos roadrunner, but I admit I had to laugh. Fuerteventura, where I live, is a volcanic desert island. The only things that really grow here are cacti. We don't get leaves off trees, except the huge big tough palm trees Very little grows here
View attachment 28489View attachment 28490

You want a deep container with holes in the bottom for drainage. I looked at the pictures online where you live and I saw many plants that you could compost and make your own soil with. But it would be easier to just buy a bag of good potting mix.. Put about 4 inches of the mix into the bottom of your container and then place the mint plant into it and fill it up the rest of the way with more mix. You can mix some of your native soil with the potting mix.

 

[babrees]

Thank you so much for your help. The pot we have doesn't have any holes in the bottom, so I'll nip to the shop tomorrow and get one that does.

Not sure what plants here you could compost, but I'm certainly no gardener! The soil in our garden is sandy and extremely stony, but is also rock hard and impossible (for us) to dig. Being a disabled senior citizen I will be buying a bag

Somebody I know here is a great gardener and grows all sorts of things, including veg (not easy here!) but when I asked them about herbs they said they gave up as could never grow them!

 

[Vishu1708]

Thank you so much for your help. The pot we have doesn't have any holes in the bottom, so I'll nip to the shop tomorrow and get one that does.

Not sure what plants here you could compost, but I'm certainly no gardener! The soil in our garden is sandy and extremely stony, but is also rock hard and impossible (for us) to dig. Being a disabled senior citizen I will be buying a bag

Somebody I know here is a great gardener and grows all sorts of things, including veg (not easy here!) but when I asked them about herbs they said they gave up as could never grow them!

Mints start dying when their pots get root bound...... so shifting the plant to new pot is good idea......
Kitchen waste like fruit and veggie peels, egg shells, used tea leaves etc make excellent compost (no milk or meat though)

 

[roadrunner]

Thank you for the videos roadrunner, but I admit I had to laugh. Fuerteventura, where I live, is a volcanic desert island. The only things that really grow here are cacti. We don't get leaves off trees, except the huge big tough palm trees Very little grows here
View attachment 28489View attachment 28490

Life is everywhere, even when you can't see it. All you gotta do is chop up some stuff and add water and things will come alive and the chain of life will form, i.e. you will create habitat. Mulch isn't just leaves or wood chips, it can be anything and tough palm leaves and even chopped up cacti are just fine -- I throw them in my mulch all the time. And you can also throw in your kitchen scraps, instead of throwing it away for waste.

Just a few examples of the flora on your island http://www.fuerteventura.com/Flora/index.asp


Curious, what does your yard look like?