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Post by bluelacedredhead on Apr 6, 2009 16:54:00 GMT -5
     A friend gave me a pot of Applemint last summer. I put it in a rather large pot, instead of the herb garden, knowing that we were moving. It thrived all summer and fall. It even survived the move in -27C temperatures. So why then, this week, has it decided to keel over and play dead?? I have one new sprout hanging on for dear life... I thought perhaps I had overwatered it and caused root rot, but after removing the plant and all of the soil from the pot, I don't think so. It was not overly moist; just right I would say. But it did have a huge root system. Could it be the victim of strangulation by being potbound??? I've disposed of the original root ball. I divided the extremely large, coil of a root. Then I took the only living slip and one other sortasemi live one, and transplanted them with fresh potting medium into a clean pot. The other chunks of root returned with some additional potting mix to the bigger container. Everything got lightly moistened and put back in the seed starting 'greenhouse'. Any suggestions for me? Have I missed something here that should have screamed "what are you doing to me? "..... I also received a chunk of Chocolate Mint in the mail today and promptly planted it as well. If it survived the weekend in a cold postal warehouse, I'd hate to think that I killed it afterthefact....
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Post by canadamike on Apr 6, 2009 18:01:25 GMT -5
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Post by bluelacedredhead on Apr 6, 2009 21:18:43 GMT -5
I am good, thanks Michel. I await the season's opening of several greenhouses in the area as well as the Farmer's Market in the village. I've begun to make local contacts for trades (first one arrived today). And I'm registered for a gardening seminar covering the pesticide/insecticide/chemical fertilizer ban. I need a few herbs, but they are ones that are best grown from plants, not seeds. And I want a particular variety of Eggplant, but that will give me an excuse to tour the greenhouses in search of that variety  |
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Post by grunt on Apr 7, 2009 3:06:04 GMT -5
If you think it's bad killing mint, what do you call someone who can kill thriving comfrey?
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Post by bluelacedredhead on Apr 7, 2009 6:17:37 GMT -5
Really Grunt? Did you do that? Or is this a Redheaded trait?? Oy Veh.
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Post by ottawagardener on Apr 7, 2009 7:50:12 GMT -5
I had a friend who killed comfrey last year though I think it was in a dry bed under her eavestrough and I didn't get a sense that it was already thriving...
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Post by bluelacedredhead on Apr 7, 2009 8:33:18 GMT -5
Watch Telsing, this year it will come back with a Vengeance! I brought home a chunk from a plant sale in C.P. I too place it under the eaves. I thought it slow growing for I had a massive stand of comfrey in our previous home. So, I dug it up and moved it about half a meter..... Not only did it like it's new location, but it liked the old one too...If the couple who bought the farm don't keep it under control, it will probably arrive at your house before Christmas, lol Yet, I must add that a house down here that we viewed with the realtor had a stand of comfrey all around their garden fence. It wasn't very tall though?  Whether they harvested it regularly and kept it small or whether the soil was lacking in something that comfrey requires, I don't know. If I can't find comfrey anyplace else for my garden, I might go back to that house and see if I can buy some or trade for something that he doesn't have in his garden. Then I'll see how it does in this yard.. |
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Post by bunkie on Apr 7, 2009 8:39:19 GMT -5
been there, done that with the potted mint blue! you're definitely not alone! ;D
as far as the comfrey being possibly 'controlled', i thought i read somewhere around here that there were two types of comfrey, Common and Russian (maybe?), and one didn't wander and stayed in a manageable clump while the other one travelled far and wide.
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Post by bluelacedredhead on Apr 7, 2009 9:13:13 GMT -5
aaaaaaahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh, you might be right on the comfrey variety Bunkie. I never thought of that.
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Post by canadamike on Apr 7, 2009 12:46:01 GMT -5
one of the russians is more restraqined, I don't remember which number...
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Post by ottawagardener on Apr 7, 2009 15:24:41 GMT -5
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Post by grunt on Apr 8, 2009 2:51:05 GMT -5
Yes, Wendy, I did. A friend on another lightstation, had a dozen or so plants growing where he wanted to put his garden, and not knowing the indestructible nature of the beast, tried to till it out of existence - - - which of course did not work. I asked him for a few of the resulting thousand or so new plants, because I wanted to start a green manure tea plantation on the hillside above the garden. I must have been too kind to them, and shocked them to death with the treatment (or perhaps the fish tea was just a tad too hot?), because all 20 of them died before summers end.
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Post by fulenn on Apr 8, 2009 7:10:27 GMT -5
I can kill almost anything, even weeds, which, it turns out, is a good thing.  If fact, now that I've read this post, I'll be taking my chocolate mint out of it's pot and putting it in the ground... Fulenn |
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Post by bluelacedredhead on Apr 8, 2009 7:46:20 GMT -5
Telsing, That is a lovely plant but the price is um, well, Pricey, lol. The Red comfrey with red flowers which tolerates shade might be a better choice for me, but I do so love the blue flowers of the common and Russian varieties? And yeah Grunt, I think you killed them with kindness. That's unfortunate. Your plan was a good one. Why don't you attempt it again? Fulenn, you're in Central TX, I don't see why it wouldn't overwinter there? Go for it. Update: My applemint has all keeled over.  I hope the other pot with the roots produces something. I can buy more mint, but it was a gift from a Friend. |
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Post by sandbar on Apr 10, 2009 10:48:13 GMT -5
Fulenn, be aware that Chocolate Mint is very invasive. I keep mine in a pot.
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Whether they harvested it regularly and kept it small or whether the soil was lacking in something that comfrey requires, I don't know. If I can't find comfrey anyplace else for my garden, I might go back to that house and see if I can buy some or trade for something that he doesn't have in his garden. Then I'll see how it does in this yard..
If fact, now that I've read this post, I'll be taking my chocolate mint out of it's pot and putting it in the ground...
I hope the other pot with the roots produces something. I can buy more mint, but it was a gift from a Friend.