thanks Sheri. though I'm scared... cut off ALL of the mint, huh? wow... I suppose I'll give it a shot.

fingers crossed

Yup, ALL of it. If you're scared, read some of the posts on here about people not being able to get rid of their mint after pulling it out, mowing it, burning it, etc etc.

Cutting back the mint worked so well that I thought I would do the same with some lemon balm that was not doing so well. So I cut off all of it... and it didn't come back. :(

But the mint worked great.

Sheri

There are several caterpillar possibilities. Your description certainly fits. You can search for caterpillar pests in the early evening....take a flashlight if you need to. Examine the underside of the leaves, along the stems, etc.

Search and destroy is a good method of controlling caterpillers, as even one of the little beasts can do a lot of damage.

I managed to kill the dreaded squash beetles with buckets of soapy water. I used simple dish soap, one tsp. of soap per gallon bucket. Don't use antibacterial dish soap because it will kill the plants. I doused four large squash plants with two buckets of soapy water. I did that two days in a row. The beetles began to die within ten minues of the first dousing. It has been several days since I applied the soapy water, so far there are no more beetles in sight.

Bugs often hide on the underside of the leaves. If you are spraying soapy water, be sure to spray underneath the leaves. The soap coats the bodies of the insects, which suffocates them because insects breathe through their thorax/torso. Insects lay eggs, so repeat treatments will be necessary to kill of the new generation of insects which will hatch from the eggs.

I'm currently growing a mint plant. Not really sure what kind of mint though. How are we to know the species? Btw, my plant seems to have some brown/yellow tiny spots on some of the leaves. I don't know what it is. Whether its rust or some other pest. Can anyone tell me? Thx. appreciate ur help.:)

Using soap is risky to say the least. Neem oil is a great insecticide that is safe to use on any plant of any kind. It helps to also reduce disease issues too. The neem is mixed with water and a 'surfacent' to make it stick.