Garden Pests and Diseases: Please help id problem with mint!, 0 by green76thumb

green76thumb wrote:
Yes, the plants are fertilized and they vary from about 4-12 inches below the lights. I have, per 2' x 4' shelf 6 4' fluorescent bulbs. The newer ones are 6500k T8 (32 watt).

The ginger mint is a variegated variety-although it was all green when I got it, a couple of months ago. I divided it and put one in the basement and one in the den. Just recently I noticed how the variegation was showing up on the one in the basement-and its cuttings. Then I started noticing a lot of black spots on the leaves. I checked out the one upstairs (that I posted pics. of) and found lots of spots on it too. Around that time its leaves started to become variegated. Maybe it's just a coincidence, or maybe not.

The one in the basement started going downhill before the other. I found a number of stems shriveled and dead. Also, the newer foliage is smaller and sparser.

It is cooler in the basement, and things stay wetter longer, but I do have 2 fans circulating the air really well.

I bagged some of the leaves from that one. I'm almost certain what I have is thrips (and fungus gnats). What I don't know, is if the thrips have introduced or spread a disease. It looks like the neem killed a lot of thrips though, because I only saw a couple in the bag.

I'll post the pictures I took of the leaves in the bag-sorry they didn't turn out better.