I don't believe that I could grow anything in that soil, Mohamed; it looks like mucky stuff from the garden. Actually, a soil can behave perfectly well in the garden, but transform into a muck when used in a container.

A successful potting mix will be quite coarse textured.

@rhizo

The plant actually came with that soil .. i haven't changed the soil

I have to agree: the soil is likely the issue. To me it looks like it's been dug out of the ground and put up in a pot. As you say, there were bits of grass growing in there. Potted mint will grow best in a loamy potting mix. That looks like a clayish sand mixed with some compost – fine for in the ground, but in a pot it won't allow enough air to get to the roots.

One common problem I think with growing mint in arid climates is that the stems can dry out. Changing the soil type will help, but I would also recommend a light mulch to protect the roots near the surface. I mulch mine with sphagnum moss, but pea straw or any mulch should do fine.

There does look like a bit of insect damage, but it should be able to cope better with that when it's healthier.

@Sophie

I've felt the same thing .. like the water don't reach the inside of the soil .. anyway yesterday i tried to remove the plant from the pot and I've noticed that most of the roots are gone as i already mentioned they used to be alot surrounding the whole soil the first time .. now most of them are gone and some are dead i guess there is only some in the middle reaching the end .. and the soil wasn't consistent as it used to be .. but the soil was wet ...

Anyway i could change the soil .. I just not sure how specially when the plant seems that weak .. do i add the soil it's in to a different soil or do i have to remove that soil entirely .. I'm trying to search online for a video guide ..

should i add mulch only at the surface or do i mix it with the new soil if i got one ?

Mint is super resilient; yours looks like it should easily be able to take a transplant.

You can shake most of the soil off of the roots and plant the empty roots into completely new soil. It may take a little while for new growth to appear, but keep in mind that a lot of the growth will be happening under the surface of the soil. Eventually, new shoots will emerge from the ground and the stems that are already there will start to die off.

It should have little trouble coming healthy again – just keep an eye on
under-/over-watering after the transplant. The plant won't take up as
much water while it's adapting to the new soil, but you definitely don't
want it to dry out either.

Theoretically, all you really need is a piece of rhizome with a few
roots attached. If you have that, you don't even need the leaves at all. Plant the rhizome under the surface (a few centimetres down) and you will get a whole new plant. If you have several healthy
rhizomes under the soil, you can break them up into several smaller pots
and increase the number of plants you have.

Cuttings with leaves also root in water really easily. Do it whichever way you want, or try a few different methods.

Mulch only the surface. If you mix it with the soil, it will draw nutrients from the soil in order to break down ("nitrogen drawdown"). On the surface, it breaks down very slowly and releases nutrients. But if it's an organic mulch you need to keep it away from the stems; if the mulch is wet it can rot the stems. Because yours is a rhizomous plant now (with lots of different stems instead of a single central stem), it actually might be less hassle to use a gravel or pebble mulch because that won't stay wet and will still lock the moisture into the soil.

Thank you alot, Sophie.

I'm gonna try this today and see how will it work out. But i was wondering how could someone tell if a soil is good or not for a pot ? I always thought that if the soil was good for planting it would be good in a pot .. but apparently that isn't the case ..

Anyway i'm gonna move the whole plant into another soil and i hope that won't be hard or tricky

if i found more than one rhizomes .. it won't be connected right ?

i just plant each one in a different pot or in the same pot next to each other and it won't be a problem right ?

On the soil: I don't really know for sure. I just buy commercial potting mix, but there are videos on YouTube that show you how to make up a good potting mix yourself. I think it mostly has to do with aeration, drainage and moisture retention. Potting mixes are really light, and allow a lot of air to pass through; whereas garden soil is usually quite dense and a bit heavier, depending on the composition of course.

The rhizomes will all be connected by the roots. It's one plant at this point. If you want to break them up into several plants, you'll have to pull the rhizomes apart – and at that point it's generally best to plant each in separate pots, because otherwise you'll have multiple plants competing for the same resources. But whether you break them up? It's up to you; it doesn't really make any difference. Just depends on how many plants you want.

Good luck! :)

Hi, Sophie.

I think i did it .. it felt like doing a surgery :D

how long will it take to see if it actually worked ? there was a long root (which looked like a tree branch for some reason) that one i put it underground with the rest of the stems above the ground .. i put the plant in a pot as a whole ..

and while getting it out of the original soil a root got cut

so i put it in another pot

here how it looked

That's a rhizomes right ?

So how long should i wait before i give up and buy another plant ? :/

About the soil .. there isn't any commercial potting mix being sold here as far as i know .. I got the new soil from a friend who had a plant in it and he stopped caring about .. i'm not sure where was the old soil from because a friend got me the pot when i said i'm interested in growing some plants ..

Anyway thanks so much for your help .. and sorry if i wasn't clear in explaining something as english isn't my native

Yes, that's a rhizome. A whole new plant should grow from that, as long as you don't bury it too deep (a few centimetres is good) and keep the soil moist but not wet.

It's difficult to say how long. But it probably won't be much longer than a week before you start to see new growth above ground. If it takes a little longer, just know that it will probably still be growing underground, getting its roots sorted out. It's really difficult to kill mint so don't give up!
That soil on your hand looks really clayish, so as long as the new soil is not like that it should be okay.

Happy to help, Mohamed. I hope everything works out great. :)

I'm pretty sure that depends a lot on what that random soil is, though. The
qualities of soil with respect to container culture vary enormously
depending on the composition. If you just get soil out of your backyard
and put it in a pot, the results are going to depend greatly on what type of soil is in your backyard, no matter how much compost you throw in with it.

Mohamed's
old soil looks very clayish, so a lack of nutrients is not likely to be
the problem. If you put clay soil in a pot, it's going to compact
quickly, become waterlogged, and set like cement around the roots. Which
are then inclined to rot, since the water and the lack of oxygen will
cause anaerobic microbes to thrive. And all the compost you add is not
going to help the plant.

So I agree, you don't need commercial
potting mix. As I said, you can make up a good potting mix yourself. But
I'm sure even ancient gardeners knew what made a good growing medium
for their potted plants, and didn't just pick soil at random. Roots need
proper aeration and proper drainage, and a pot is very different to the
ground.

I can’t keep mint in my aprt I live in a cold climate tried everything then it dies on me my other houseplants are doing great

Well, mint (assuming you mean a common mint like spearmint or peppermint) is not a houseplant and will not do well being treated as one. If you have a balcony, try a large tub and leave it outside.