I have just been reading an old post regarding using mint as a spray to deter bugs on plants. I have a lemon tree in a large potato tub, but it keeps getting aphids under the leaves along the seam of the leaf which takes all the goodness out of the plant until it drops its leaves.
I have tried everything including wiping each leaf with neem oil, but they always return. I will be putting it outside again once the frost has gone and was wondering if I could actually grow the mint in the pot with the lemon and would it stop the bug infestation?
Thx for reading.
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I would not grow lemon and mint in the same pot. Mint is very invasive. I once grew it in my square foot garden and had to remove it because it was spreading everywhere. I now grow it in its own pot.
I love mint and it does deter mice and other rodents, but I have never heard it for aphids. The one time I had them, I did a dip in a solution of warm water and a few drops blue Dawn (the regular--this was long before the extra strength ones were invented).
I have a bad news for the "pro mint" people : I have already seen hundreds of aphids on a mint plant outdoors. but maybe spraying essential mint oil can kill aphids because the smell of the oil is much more stronger than the nice smell of the mint leaves. Luckily mint essential oil is one of the cheapest plant essential oils. You could buy some, dilute it well and spray it on the plant. If you want to try to plant mint with your lemon tree, you will have to consider the different needs of water of the two plants. Mint needs much more water than the lemon tree, the solution would be to plant mint in a watertight pot and put this pot by the foot of the lemon tree.
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