Tuesday, August 12, 2008

Catnip: good news, bad news, good news

Dear Shayne,

First, the good news... we have buds!
In good news...

See those pretty little flowers? In a short time, I'll hack them off and dry them out and the cats will go nuts over them. Yay!

Now, some bad news... see my plant?
My catnip plant is turning black. :(

Do you see what color the leaves are? They're kind of... black. Look more closely:
Close-up of the blackening catnip

I searched and searched the internet for an answer to this problem and I finally decided I had overwatered it. No real reason, except that everyone says the things like sun (it's got sun) and I certainly haven't underwatered it. So I stopped watering it for a few days.

Yesterday, it was drooping and seemed to be gasping for water and saying, "Need... drink... now!" (At this point, I could use a drink myself.) So I gave it some water and it perked right up. But the leaves are still black.

So I was at the library today (yes, that old-fashioned, pre-internet wonder of a thing) and I thought, "Hrm... wonder if any of these here books might have the answer to my problem..."

And the good news? I think one did! I didn't see my exact problem listed, but I saw a similar issue, which was attributed to "too much nitrogen." Turns out that the fertilizer I've been using is very nitrogen rich. Sooo... I'll stop using that and see if my plant returns to being green.

I've always joked about having a "black thumb." Now my plant is turning black and I have fears that it's actually true. Any gardeners out there want to chime in with opinions on this problem? Please do!

love,
kelly

8 comments:

Shayne said...

Dude, those leaves are purple, not black! Does that make it any better? :) Seriously, I'm glad you found helpful info to save the 'nip!

Anonymous said...

Just found your nice blog! Will be checking back often from now on!

kelly said...

Shayne -- You know, Bill was also trying to say they weren't "technically 'black.'" But in the scheme of leaf colors, that is black/getting black. For a leaf.

berryberr -- Welcome to our little blog!

Castro Valley Farmers Market said...

I have loved the catnip coming of age... it's even fun waiting for the buds to get blogged!

The leaves are really beautiful!

Liz Harrell said...

Black thumb and black leaves. That's too funny.

Glad you figured out the problem, it's more work than I ever would have done. :)

Winifred said...

Completely off topic, but I came across this and thought of you Kelly. It is a knitted cozy pattern for an orange!

http://veganlunchbox.blogspot.com/

I'm curious to hear what you think.

kelly said...

Winifred -- Thanks for the link!

I take my lunch to work every day and I've often thought that pears could use a little cozy -- when they're soft enough to be tasty, they're also soft enough to get bruised.

I'm not sure that an orange needs one, does it? I think they're one of the hardier fruits with that rind. But it is super cute, which is always a perfectly good reason for making something. :)

Shayne said...

Everything should have a cozy!