Oh No! My Peppermint!

[Aletha]

This summer I harvested my peppermint when a friend visited and wanted some. Now it's producing very small leaves and is producing very small leaves. It looks horrible and I don't know if I will get enough to supply me for this winter. What did I do wrong?

 

[Lyra]

Oh, no! That is a shame. I'm a little surprised, because mints are usually pretty easy to grow. In fact, they can be considered a weed once they take hold. They will take over.

 

[rayne]

It could be the strange weather we've had this year. Harvest what you can and then cut it way back in the early spring after the danger of frost is over. I'll bet it takes over after that.

 

[Melissast]

It probbaly had something to do with the weather. It might do better next year. I have never tried to grow peperment or any oher type of ment so I can not give you much in the way of help. I just know that a lot of crops have had problems because of the weather. I guess that mint could have this problem as well.

 

[Aletha]

Well, we have had one of the driest years since the 1930's according to the local weather man. I have had to water everything I wanted to survive this summer. My tomatoes have even had trouble growing this year. Where once I had tomatoes larger than my hand last summer, this summer I'm getting tomatoes the size of tennis balls. I hope things are better next year.

 

[Sage]

How tall was the peppermint? Were there any flowers on it? It might have been too young to harvest. I've messed up a few plants by taking a cutting too early. They usually recover, but not until the following season.