Tonight, as I was walking in the door from a trip downtown, I decided to check my plants (oh, and water them). Some of them still look great (basil, parsley, rosemary). The chive plant is still browning here & there; I'll be removing the dried fronds tomorrow. Sage: no change. Oregano: definitely on its way out.
The mint. Oh, the poor thing.
Earlier this week, when I was watering it, I'd noticed that it had sprouted some new growth after I'd cut some top nodes a few weeks prior. The new growth was unaffected by the yellow spotting that the rest of it seemed to have. I thought that was a good sign, since I had already separated the oregano from the mint.
Today, however, I noticed that there seemed to be almost burn marks through much of the old growth & the yellowing was spreading. I flipped over a leaf & found rust. That was one of the hypothetical creatures that could have attacked the oregano to begin with, but its leaves were so small that I couldn't really tell.
The mint was infested.
I just spent about ten, maybe fifteen minutes practically denuding the plant. I left only the new growth. The stalks look like miniature palm trees. Even some of the new growth had to be removed.
If the plant comes back after this, I'll be amazed. But, I figure, sometimes you have to amputate in order to save the patient.
![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}