I am the mint killing champion of the world.
Looks like it may be time to throw it into some ceramic pots and hang from a tree.
We have basil, turmeric, galanagal, rosemary, onions, tomatoes, chilies and about 73 million cucumbers growing but mint just does not want to happen here.
I do not have a cheese tree but my fridge just seems to fill up with it. Currently have blue vein, double brie, camembert, also a number of cream cheeses (garlic and chives, melon and mango, jalepeno plus also something named black forest).
No mint in there however.
The meat section is coming along fine with 10 kilo of lamb chops, cacciatore sausage, garlic German mettwurst and a whole heap of pork ribs. There are chicken breasts and some sausage named double smoked kransky. Goodness me there is even black pudding
There are 5 crates of Kilkenny, 3 crates of Stark, two different types of cider, about 35 bottles of wine plus the usual 10 crates of Bintang.
Sadly there is no damn mint.
I even have the Bacardi to make a mojito but once again no bloody mint.
Wow - I got tired just reading your Inventory
There are some of my favourites in your list
I have almost finished packing my bag and I will be there early this afternoon for a couple of weeks :icon_wink:
The mint definitely needs shade, as well as some sun and lots of water - they need sun to maintain their 'greenness'
Even mine, if no water that day, they look tired and dried out
Give 'em a big drink and they're back again
It's just the common everyday mint and it's really nice on watermelon or just take off 4 big leaves and chew them there and then
When I saw the reaction to a larger pot I was surprised
It was the gardener's idea but I don't think ceramic pots make any difference?
They started growing big leaves and I was very happy
When you see the mint with small leaves, something is wrong
I was going to start with mint seeds as well, that I got at Bunnings
I was going to put them above ground, along the eastern large stone fence that is 1.85M high
The logic there was it will be in shade the first half of the day because the sun won't shine directly onto it until after 12 noon, or thereabouts
And, there are some trees west of that fence and if the sun is too much then I can shift them along the fence until I find the 'sweet' place for them
It is pretty hardy stuff (like the human liver!) and can take mistreatment so you'd have time to fiddle about with location
But I haven't progressed the seeds idea because these ones are going great
Perhaps you have a spot that will have the shade - maybe under a tree somewhere or along a breezeway? Start thinking like that and have another go
Right now, it is ten to eight Sunday morning, one of them has sun and the other two are still in shade
Later: it is now 15 minutes later and the sunlight onto that one is now 'dappled' because of the angle of the sun
Further on: another 15 minutes and the dappled light has diminished to the plant getting only 10-12% of light on it with the rest in shade
I guess if you took a photo every 15 minutes of the one spot you'd be able to see the light and where it hits - start at 7am and go until 6pm - a long task but worth it and think of the number of beers you can consume while doing that job!
Also, there is the winter and the summer solstice 'effect' that will impact any plants that are sensitive to sunlight but that's another story
In the next couple of hours I will water them - I just take a 2 litre pot from the kitchen (the type you'd boil eggs in, for example) and there is a tap right next to the Japanese Tree - they will take a litre each
I did sprinkle a pack of Gardeners Delight tomato seeds into a pot and about 30+ came up
It's important to give them the real sun and wind from the very outset
I had some tomatoes that had spent too much time in the kulkas so I said to the gardener to plant the seeds and see what happens
He did but did that in a place that is shaded all day
When I moved them to a better spot, they fell over and died because a) they had developed too much length in the stem for their young age, craning for the sunlight and b) had not felt the sun or the wind yet and it was a bit of a king hit for them
They need wind to help develop strength, much the same as a human limb needing exercise to develop strong muscles for support
Coriander - that would be a lot more tricky than mint, IMO
In Darwin, a guy whose folks sell produce at the markets (Rapid Creek) from their acreage in Humpty Doo confided growing coriander is very difficult especially when the heavy rains are about - the heavy rain destroys the coriander so you'd need an over head guard against that
I have half a greenhouse built (I call it the 'growing house', angled for the matahari, and I am still deciding how to finish it
A guru mate came here in July and gave me his $0.02c worth and totally re-oriented my thinking about whether to use glass (am not going to do that now)
I am going to build a timber framework and fill it with bug-proof netting and give it a clear perspex roof
The use of that small building (7M long * 3M wide * 2.5M high) will be to experiment with various food items knowing the bugs will not eat them
Coriander is a very delicate/fragile plant - the leaves are very soft whereas mint leaves have the central 'part' that lends support for both halves of the leaf, thus giving the leaf itself a better environment for growth and to get strong
I also put a packet of Sweet Thai Basil seeds into a pot - maybe a hundred tiny black seeds and many have come up but they're only 2cm tall at the moment - slow growing
I got a packet of Jap Pumkin seeds - 13 seeds - and we planted them at the base of 3 jeruk puruts - 4 out of 4 came up with the first tree, 2 out 4 with the second and 4 out of 5 with the 3rd tree
Amazing
The 3 trees are within 2 metres of each other in a line but the third group is doing twice as well as the other 2 groups
I also have about ten clove trees - ranging from 20cm to 90cm in height
5 excellent mature dwarf coconut trees and 3 huge tall ones with the much bigger nuts
A stand of normal bananas and a stand of red bananas - pisang merah
A huge Rose Apple tree that is fruiting right now
A lime tree but it almost died and then suckers shot out from the base and no fruit
My guru mate said the tree was probably grafted and the 'top' part that gave the fruit has died and the suckers came from the 'bottom' more sturdy part and I might never get any fruit again but I like to squeeze the leaves and sniff the aroma and it looks nice as a tree
And 7 kaffir limes - great leaves for cooking
Kaffir limes like full sun because we planted some on the east side and some on the west side
The west side is doing a lot better than the east side
I also have a huge tree that drops a sweet fruit with a big nut inside and it's black and stains the ground and the local kids jump on the front fence and nick the fruit when it's in season
About eight BIG mango trees but the fruit is nowhere near as nice as a Bowen Special, etc
I have got a pack of Beefsteak tomato seeds for later on and a pack of Grosse Lisse tomato seeds as well - I had success with Grosse Lisse about 20 years ago but the fruit used to split open in the sun