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Having some issues with my peppermint and spearmint, finally caught a thread that wasn't on 280+ posts. Any advice is appreciated; I've only ever dealt with fungus gnats and spider mites.
I've got black spots on the upper leaves of half of the spearmint, top right of pic related is of the most damaged leaves that I haven't pulled off. Top left is the current state of the peppermint, which has much fewer spots but has been ravaged by the fuckers in the bottom left. Bottom right is the current state of the spearmint overall.
Buddy of mine that runs a vineyard with his family says the spots are probably caterpillar frass that is burning away the leaves a bit, but he didn't get a good look as my pic was shit when I showed him earlier today.
Both have been eaten like a motherfucker by these little green shits and I can't find anyone local who knows what they are. I've been pulling them off and thought about spreading diatomaceous earth in the spill basins but the bottle I found at the gardening store said it was for ants and fleas and shit; nowhere did it mention caterpillars. They move like inchworms and the lady at the garden store called them "tomato hornworms". I didn't have the heart to tell her she was retarded.
Someone suggested neem oil but I want to eventually trim them down (current harvest is ruined) and then harvest them; is it going to effect the flavor of the new leaves if I spread neem oil on the lower, older sections of the plant?
