Mint problems
fat_boy_slim_11
Posts: 7
Hello all.
So last year i had a giant pot of spearmint that did very well.
Id heard that the leaves will die back over winter and then the plant would start growing again come spring.
Problem is we have had a very mild winter down in the south-east of England and my mint never did die back.
My garden gets literally 0 hours of direct sunlight during winter because the sun is lower in the sky and my house blocks all of it off. ( as spring is soon approaching they now get 2 hours of sun a day)
So this mint plant went all through winter with no direct sunlight at all and the leaves have started to turn black.
So im just wondering should i cut everything back to the soil line and wait for it to regrow when spring is in full swing or should i just leave it and hope for the best.
Thanks.
Posts
A strong mint plant (root) is pretty hard to kill. I hack lumps out of mine and they always spring back but they are in the ground not in pots. If you're not sure how strong its root is, you could half right down and if that begins to shoot healthily in a few weeks, cut the other half so its always got some leaves.
Last edited: 02 March 2017 10:05:35
“It's still magic even if you know how it's done.”
When you say half right down do you mean cut back half of all the mint plants growing above the soil?
Im fairly new to gardening sorry.
Usually with mint you can see 'runners' - like stems that are lying flat on the surface of the soil. If you gently pull one, it doesn't come away - that's because it's grown roots into the soil. And then you have the old stems and shoots which are loose (and probably quite floppy at the moment). Don't touch the surface runners for now (unless they are climbing out over the sides of the pot - in which case cut them back to the edge of the pot rim or you'll have mint everywhere by next year).
Picture the top of the pot as a circle, draw a mental line across the middle. On one side cut all the loose stems down to a leaf bud - like a nobble on the stem - that's very near the soil. On the other side of the line leave all the stems as they are.
As they begin to shoot again, you'll see which side does best - and then you'll know exactly what to do next year.
“It's still magic even if you know how it's done.”