The Plant Thread

[pinkkittywinks]

From what I have seen others have found in Walmart (I'm part of a Succulent group on FB) you can find some pretty cool stuff there.

I actually picked up all my mints while on holiday; the pineapple  mint came from a farmers market I went to, the apple mint from a gift shop at a historic site (the site had a medicinal garden so I think it was a nod to the plants in there) and the chocolate  from a stately home (it had magnificent gardens and most of the plants in the gift shop were propagated by the gardeners).

I didn't know about the different mints until I spoke to a gardener at the stately home. We were admiring the plants in the glass house and he came over and showed us what they were, all different types of mint. They even had a strawberry mint, which smelled divine so when I saw mints for sale, I started looking at what it said on the label

I've looked online and you can get all the different "flavours" from specialist shops. So ordering on line can be a good option

Love pkw xxx

[Artemesia's Garden]

PKW your holiday sounds amazing! Also how funny that there are emticons for all the mints!

[Ponyfan]

That's a wonderful story pinkkittywinks. 

I'm pretty sure I started looking at the plants near the end of Walmart's stocking season.   The first few times I looked there were a lot of plants to choose from.  When I picked up Mint 2 Walmart was already putting the live plants on clearance.   I'm going to start looking earlier in the spring when they start to put out plants again.  I might also check out different stores to see what they have.  BC's basil is making me think about getting a basil plant of my own.


It rained a lot yesterday so I'm sure the mints don't need me to water them today. I want to see how they look after the rain.  I wanted to do that yesterday, but it was too damp outside. 


Edit: Here are pics of the mint plants after the rain.

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Mint 1

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Mint 2

Can anyone tell me why some of Mint 2's leaves look like this?  Is it just because they're older than the newer ones?

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Ponyfan

[BlackCurtains]

I highly recommend the basil!

I don't know what's up with those leaves. Sorry I can't help.

Speaking of basil and leaves, when I picked Ben up to take him to the sink a bunch of leaves fell off him. Could it be delayed reaction from being repotted? Or maybe it's normal for the big leaves to fall off after a while.

I need to get a watering can or something so I can water Ben at the window. He's getting heavy.

[Taffeta]

I don't know about basil and leaves. I know my poinsettia is ruthless with her leaves and drops any that don't get enough sun in order to grow new ones with a better angle towards the window. Not sure if basil does that, but it may also be a watering issue.

[Ponyfan]

BC, I use a plastic pitcher to water the mint plants. 


The mints are looking pretty good after all of the rain.   I've noticed a few more brown spots on the leaves though.


Ponyfan

[pinkkittywinks]

I had a bit too much fun with the emoticons

I'm glad you appreciated my story too.

Your mints look pretty much like mine do atm Ponyfan, I think it is just age or some damage that has occurred to the leaves, it doesn't look like disease or pests to me.

It could e the shock of being potted on? I recall seeing basil do that sort of thing before? A few years ago I grew herbs (coriander, parsley, chives, basil) on my kitchen window sill and basil was one, I'm sure it dropped some of it's leaves but I can't recall why it might have done so.

Love pkw xxx

[BlackCurtains]

BC, I use a plastic pitcher to water the mint plants. 

...why didn't I think of that? I have a pitcher. I bought it to make iced coffee but I never get around to making any You saved me 10 bucks! Thank you

[Ponyfan]

Thank you pinkkittywinks.    I'm happy the mints look healthy.  I'm trying really hard to keep them alive and well.  I found a fly or something on Mint 2 this morning but I'm hoping he was just visiting and looking for a dry spot as the backyard is muddy right now.  I didn't see him after I dumped the rainwater from Mint 2's saucer. 

Here's this week's pic of the plants.

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Mint 1

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Mint 2

BC, I'm glad I helped.


Ponyfan

[pinkkittywinks]

That's good you emptied the saucer, you don't want them sitting in the wet, they can get rot that way or drown. Mints tend to be pretty hardy though so I wouldn't worry too much. That is good you had a visitor to your mint, even if it was a fly, plants do attract wildlife to them. Some "flies" are predators and will eat other insects that can be pests.

I went out to get some supplies for a plant project and came home with a "String of Beads" plant, it is perfect for my project, it was sat in water though so I am going to have to dry it out a bit.

Love pkw xxx

[Ponyfan]

I noticed a leaf on Mint 2 with several black spots, black around the edges and something lurking underneath that looked like some kind of white, fat   worm.   I picked that leaf off since it looked like it was in bad shape.  I'm hoping that maybe that leaf got a little waterlogged from all of the rain. It was near the bottom of the plant.  I didn't notice any of the others looking like that.

I think some of the runners aren't as healthy anymore. They're growing but the ends seem dry and one of them looked like the newer leaves had turned brown and died.  I know I probably need to repot Mint 2 soon


Ponyfan

[Beth3346]

i finally got around to trimming and pulling some weeds. it's tiring. i need to do a little every day but i let it go a little too long. hopefully now that it's cooler i can go out when i need a break from work.

[Taffeta]

I use old mineral water bottles to water/feed the indoor plants (and sometimes the outside ones depending on the situation).

[pinkkittywinks]

Eeeep good job looking under the leaf and removing the worm!

I should take some pictures of my mints for you to see Ponyfan, yours look healthier than mine atm.

Love pkw xxx

[BlackCurtains]

Ben looks like he got even bigger overnight o.O

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I really saturated the soil with water last time and let him sit in the sink and drain. Basil sure loves water. The catnip is still growing too. My cat just isn't interested in it as much as dried catnip, which is a bummer. I won't grow it again if this one dies. It needs a frost to germinate and it won't be getting one here. I do intend to get more cat grass though. She likes that.