Some mint i got from the supermarket i rooted and planted some in pots
outside. A little later and some of the leaves have turned a dark reddish
coloured brown.

Does this mean they are passed their best for picking and freezing? Also
how is it best to take the leaves off and still keep the plant alive for
next year please?

D. T. Green wrote:
Some mint i got from the supermarket i rooted and planted some in pots
outside. A little later and some of the leaves have turned a dark reddish
coloured brown.

Does this mean they are passed their best for picking and freezing? Also
how is it best to take the leaves off and still keep the plant alive for
next year please?

Not an answer to the question you asked I'm afraid, but do be careful
planting mint out in your garden, as it can run rampant - we have mint
in the garden that the seller had just planted before we got here, and
we have never managed to get rid of it! (We also planted black peppermint
ourselves, but in a sunken pot, and it's stayed where we want it)

"D. T. Green" wrote in
:

Some mint i got from the supermarket i rooted and planted some in pots
outside. A little later and some of the leaves have turned a dark
reddish coloured brown.

Does this mean they are passed their best for picking and freezing?
Also how is it best to take the leaves off and still keep the plant
alive for next year please?




This is an unusual year IMO, and if I were you I would keep them in pots
permanently because mint can over-run (overrun) your garden and it is
difficult to control. Even in a pot it will put roots down through the
drainage hole unless it is controlled.
I think the red foliage is due to lack of photosynthesis, which I think is
due to lack of sunlight. The mint should recover when we get more sun.

There are different varieties of mint of course, but I would be careful.

Baz

On Sat, 19 May 2012 11:08:53 +0100, "D. T. Green"
wrote:

Some mint i got from the supermarket i rooted and planted some in pots
outside. A little later and some of the leaves have turned a dark reddish
coloured brown.

Does this mean they are passed their best for picking and freezing? Also
how is it best to take the leaves off and still keep the plant alive for
next year please?


I had a huge peppermint plant until recently. It had dark reddish
leaves that tasted the same as the green ones but not as strong. As
with many mints it took over a large area of the garden.

Steve

--
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On Sat, 19 May 2012 11:08:53 +0100, "D. T. Green"
wrote:

Some mint i got from the supermarket i rooted and planted some in pots
outside. A little later and some of the leaves have turned a dark reddish
coloured brown.

Does this mean they are passed their best for picking and freezing? Also
how is it best to take the leaves off and still keep the plant alive for
next year please?

Over time I've tried all those faddy mints - apple, banana, pineapple,
green, blue, pink and whatever. They don't seem to survive but good
old cheap, common, basic, mint-tasting garden mint reliably returns
each year in its tub. Mint, though, is a hungry plant and you'll get
better results if you feed it through the growing season. And if it's
grown in a tub with drainage holes over several years, stand it in a
saucer! Chop off any roots that appear through the drainage holes.

Cheers, Jake
=======================================
Urgling from the asylum formerly known as the
dry end of Swansea Bay.

Sacha wrote in :



pinch out the middle leaves on the sprigs, encouraging it to bush out,
too.

Which We do when boiling new potatoes, if we ever do this year.

Just to let you know, Sacha, the International Kidney which you
reccommended are going far better than the Arran's, though much water has
run through these passages since. If you see what I mean.

The longer the wait the sweeter the bait.

Best wishes.
Baz