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Mint rust on mint and basil?

13 years ago

I'm growing some mint and basil in pots in my apartment. They've got a grow light to supplement the meager sunlight and I try to keep them watered appropriately. I went on vacation for a week and used those glass bulbs you fill with water and stick in the ground to keep the plants hydrated. Its been about a week since I've been back and both the mint and the basil plants have little dead spots on the leaves with small black specks.

I uploaded a picture to image shack if you'd like to take a look:

http://img339.imageshack.us/i/img0159zw.jpg/

Is this mint rust attacking both the basil and the mint? Is my only option to get rid of the plants and start over?

Thanks.

Here is a link that might be useful: Pictures of affected leaves

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Comments (4)

flora_uk
13 years ago
I don't think it's rust. It looks more like spider mites to me. They thrive in warm dry conditions. Can you wash the plant off under the tap and put them outdoors for a few hours a day, maybe on a windowsill?
Daisyduckworth
13 years ago
I agree with Flora - its not rust. The following spray should help - it's an excellent all-rounder:

GARLIC SPRAY:
Soak 1/2 cup crushed garlic cloves in 1/2 cup vegetable oil for one week. Add a little liquid soap and dilute the mixture - 1 part mixture to 10 parts water. Garlic spay will kill and repel aphids, woolly aphids, bean fly, stink bugs, crickets, grasshoppers, red spider mite, sawfly larvae, scale, snails, slugs, thrips and caterpillars, mosquitoes and ticks, the adult moths of leaf-miners and mealy bugs. It is an effective fungicide when used 3-4 times a week against potato blight and damping off.
OR
Crush 100g garlic, 2 chillies and 2 onions and cover with water for 24 hours. Strain and add enough water to make up 2 litres.
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Thanks everybody for the feedback. carolb_w_fl I saw that mildew photo and my leaves aren't fuzzy, just dying on those brown spotted areas. I also haven't been spraying anything - and no changes to the soil or how I water them. coorscat, I was thinking it might be something like that. It's affecting most of my plant (the genovese one, though not as bad on the other basil types) so if I pick off the bad leaves I'll lose all the leaves. I may try to cut it all the way back to see if it will make a comeback though. I did a little more research and it looks like it might but fusarium wilt or late blight, both of which are a bummer. Anyway, if anybody has any more ideas of how to treat it/avoid it, I'll take suggestions!
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Looks like leaf hopper damage. You should see them hopping all over the place if you swish your hands over the plants. If not leaf hoppers, then thrips. I wouldn't hesitate using the leaves, after a good wash. Don't use the really spotted ones if company is coming over. ;-)
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Leafhoppers. You can see what they look like in this other thread that was just posted: http://forums.gardenweb.com/discussions/3931438/insects-on-my-herbs-please-help
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debrasue
13 years ago
I will agree with everyone else. It looks like you have an infestation of some kind.
ashley9597
13 years ago
I have the same thing on my basil and mint. I did find some aphids and tried a dish soap and water mixture that I sprayed onto my basil. The next day the leaves were all black and looked burned. I sprayed them at night once the sun went down. Did I use too much soap in the mixture(I will admit that I did not measure)? Did I do something wrong? I would appreciate any advice to get rid of these little terrors. The spray did not affect my mint.

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