Re: Spider Mites on Mints ?

>    Dear Richard,   I am in Zone 9 California - southern Sierra Nevada
>foothills at 1000 foot elevation - hot, dry and windy too.  Earlier in
>the year the mints were in part shade and we had an unusually wet spring,
>but  the sun rose in the sky and put the mints in full sun.  The mites are
>so  bad I may scrap all four pots and get new potting soil and plants and
>then watch  them more closely this time.  I have had so many projects
>going this year  and with harvesting my lavender, I haven't had time to
>keep an  eye on my plants as much as I usually do.   Linda Starr
>Springville Lavender Gardens Zone 9 California

I don't know of any mints that grow in full sun - especially in California!
(There is a field mint: Mentha arvensis (?) which grows in dry, mixed grass
pasture, but IIRC it hasn't much odor.)  I've lived in the foothills (Yuba
Co.) at a higher elevation than yours, and summer sun and temp's are often
extreme.
Mint may be easy for Richard in N. Carolina with its high humidity, and
coastal California may favor mints in sun, but your particular efforts
speak for themselves.  Mints, at least those I'm familiar with, develop a
very large root system as well and would do better in a wooden half-barrel
I should think.  Keep them constantly moist with only filtered or early
morning sun.  If you have any compost or rotted wood duff add that.
Sterilized potting soil or special pampering is not necessary.

Maria
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