Just ask a friend to dig up a teensy little bit for you, preferably with roots attached. Or if you've already got some mint, just take one of the runners and plant it horizontally. Keep it moist, not wet. I have never known either of these two methods to fail.

Hello. I bought Mint plants and have potted them in 2 seperate pots. Now I see sooo many (like huge number) of tiny green and brown caterpillar type insects on the stem, on the branches and underneath the leaves. I am not sure how much damage they can cause, but they are growing in heavy numbers and they leave cream dust like particles all over. FIrst I thought its dust, so blew it off, but now I keep seeing it all over.
Can someone please guide me what those insects are and how can I get rid of it. I use mint leaves daily (after warm wash) in my Tea. Appreciate your help.

Remove by hand or try to wash them off or
Spray with Bt-a naturally occurring bacteria that kills caterpillars and is safe for humans, birds, mammals, etc.

F. DeBaggio

Thanks for the response. Well I tried removing it manually with hand so many time and dint help at all. Not sure if I can wash them as the stem is so delicate that I fear it might break as I would have to take it to my kitchen and use a hose there.

I will try spraying a Bt on it, but after I spray it, will I be able to use it in my tea? Want to make sure I dont get food poisoning. How safe would it to be to use after spraying Bt?

Thanks again.

-- Xitij

If the caterpillars aren't eating the leaves then you don't need to kill them all anyway. Just wash off the harvested leaves before you use them.

Bt is perfectly safe for humans. It is a strain of bacteria that acts on caterpillars' stomachs and they stop feeding fairly quickly. They won't die right away though. As with anything you spray, follow the directions on the label exactly. Since you are already washing the leaves, you have very little to worry about.

If you keep picking/squishing caterpillars every couple of days you will catch any that hatch after your last squishing session. Don't let butterflies/moths lay eggs on the leaves by covering with a row cover material and problem solved.

I wouldn't worry about breaking the stems if you decide to wash the plants either. It would be just like harvesting stems for using in your tea. By cutting the stems instead of simply pulling off leaves, you will stimulate more growth. If they are truly weak and spindly, try growing them in more sun.

F. DeBaggio

Francesco, Thanks for your prompt response. Very helpful. Since you are a commercial herb grower, you surely have way more knowledge than I do. Not sure if you can help me with this - I have other plants besides the Mint plant, and they grow very well, but I have Aphids growing on them in like multiples of hundreds. I washed them so many times, used pesticides, used soap water, tried every possible method to get rid of them, but to no avail. They keep growing and now I see that they are destroying my plants. I already threw 2 of my money plants that were the main cause of Aphids, but somehow it go to my all other plants as well.

DO you know if any special way to get rid of them coz I tried everything I could by reading articles online and contacting people from Home Depot. Aphids are simply monsters for my plants now.

Thanks.

Aphids can be very tricky to get rid of sometimes. The black aphids are the most difficult to get rid of for me (I get green, yellow-orange, black, and brown aphids from time to time). I have some plants in the garden that always seem to get covered in aphids but show little to no damage nor seem to suffer from the infestation. I usually just squish them if they seem to be really bad-like if they are covering an entire stem. There is a school of belief that unhealthy plants attract more insects than healthy ones. I'm not aware of any hard evidence of this, but certainly a healthy plant will be better able to survive an insect attack. If an unhealthy plant is infested it is much more likely to die as a result of an attack.

I keep aphids under control on potted plants in my greenhouses by spraying with a mixture of pyrethrum and insecticidal soap. Both these insecticides are safe and approved for organic organic gardening, but you should use rubber gloves when mixing and applying this or any other product. Insecticidal soap is not the same as dish soap-it a special product specifically meant to be used on plants. I always spray in the evening so the spray doesn't dry so quickly and has more chance to come in contact with the insects. They have no residual effect once they dry so it is imperative that the spray come into contact with the insects. Spray the undersides of the leaves as well as the soil surface. Spray enough so it just starts to drip off. You may have to spray 3 times, about 3 days apart, to get the bulk of them and any eggs that hatch after spraying or any that you may have missed the previous application (aphids also give live birth and it doesn't take long for an individual to begin producing offspring under optimal conditions). Don't spray when temperatures are in the mid 80's or above or you may damage your plants. I have also found that aphids are very difficult to kill when the ambient temperature is below 40F or so ie. spraying is much more effective when it is warm but not too hot.

Other insecticides you might try are: Neem oil or an All-Season Horticultural Oil. Be sure to follow directions exactly, especially when it comes to temperature and spraying in full sun. Oils can damage plants so it is wise to test a part of the plant with the spay before using it on the whole plant, just in case. Wait a few days to see if any damage occurred. I like to keep oil sprayed plants out of full summer strength sun for a few days after spraying them, just to be safe.

Safer makes a product that has both pyrethrum and insecticidal soap in a single ready to use product. If you don't have more than 6 or 7 small plants, try finding that product. Otherwise, you'll have to purchase the two separately and mix them together on your own.

If I have only a few plants that need treatment and they are large and/or very dense, I will cut them back and/or thin the plant out before spraying. This will allow me to get into the interior of the plant with the spray from a hand spray bottle. The little sprayers usually don't have enough power to get through dense foliage. It also means I don't have to use as much spray.

F. DeBaggio

That was indeed very very helpful. I am going to get the mixture of what you mentioned and try using them on my plants. Well the good part is, the plants keep growing and shows absolutely no impact of Aphids dwelling in them. I first had the plants inside my apartment's living room, but ever since I moved them out in my Patio, they have grown double the size, despite the tons of aphids on them. I do not have much of Black aphids besides a few leaves. Most I have is just the White Aphids and they just keep growing and I could see that some part of the branches dont seem to grow as they turn jet black and die. But other than that, the plant is growing well ever since I kept it out in the sun. Not sure if they will continue to grow in windter as I reside in New Jersey !!

Thank you for all your help and sharing the knowledge. Appreciate it..

-- Xitij Shah

White aphids? Never seen white aphids. Aphids do molt and leave behind their old "skin" which is white. There are also white fly. These insects fly up when the leaves are disturbed, usually returning to the plant rather quickly. Could it be the "white aphids" are one of those two things? Can you post a picture?

F. DeBaggio

I do not have a pic as of this point as I am writing to you from my work PC. But I can definitely do it once I get home. Yes I also asked abt the same to a Plant specialist from Home Depot and they said its Aphids. I then looked it up online and it came out the same. They dont fly, they dont even move. Infact they barely move even after you push them. Have no idea what creatures they are, but they kill and destroy the new growing branch and never let the plants grow. But for some reason this specific plant I have, grows well, but I Can see the damage done to the new branches. I have black aphids too, but on some leaves only. Not sure how can I send or attach a pic in here?

Apart, I now see that my mint leaves have red rusty color on them and see that they are getting destroyed eventually. Not sure what that is, but is surely killing my mint leaves. They are red from the top part with patches that keep growing and eventually it is killing the entire leaf. Is that some bacteria or fungus on the mint leaves? Coz when I got them , there wasnt anything as such. Now, its all over. Could you guide me what I should do to prevent it from destroying all the mint leaves?

Thanks.

Do you have the mint in too small a pot? If this is affecting the leaves towards the base of the plant then it is most likely that the plant is pot bound and shedding its lower leaves. The simple cure is to replant into a larger pot. I always plant mint into a 12 inch diameter pot to start. By the end of the season the mint usually has completely filled the pot.

There are rust fungal diseases that attack mint, but in all my years of growing mint, I have never seen it.

I suspect that the white aphids, since you say the don't move, are probably the shed skin from aphids that have moved into the next stage of their life. The way I check to see if an aphids is alive, if not already obvious, is to put one on my finger on its back. If I see its legs moving, it is alive. No movement and I know it is dead.

To post pix on the forum, you need to upload them to a free photo storage site and paste the html code to the forum.

F. DeBaggio