Tiny black specks on my Basil and Mint

[madloof72]

I have 3 basil plants and one mint plant on my window sill. They needed to be moved to larger pots so I went to my parents house, dug up some dirt from their back yard, filled 3 planters and put the dirt next to my vibrant plants, ready to transfer once I had some time. Well I never had the time and 2 days later there were ants moving between the new dirt and my herbs. I immediately got rid of the backyard dirt, and had to throw away one of the basil plants. The ants are gone but now the leaves on my herbs have these tiny black specks on them, the plants are wilting and the base of the stems have brown spots. Does anyone know what this is and how I can rectify the situation? Any help is appreciated.

rookie

[Billy]

Sounds like fusarium wilt. No treatment. Start over and buy from a different nursery or get a new seed packet. Basil does wonderfully in large pots. Heat new potting soil to 160F for 30 - 40 minutes.

[GQ]

Billy wrote: Heat new potting soil to 160F for 30 - 40 minutes.

This is interesting, would you care to explain this? I never heat my potting soil. Does this kill nematodes and other unfavorable noogies?

[Billy]

It shouldn't make any difference. I'm just trying to stop any source of infection. Normally this is only done with soil used for germination to combat damping off but, yes, it will sterilize the soil. That leaves only the seed or the soil on the starter plant as a possible source of infection, which is why I suggested a new seed packet or a new nursery, respectively. As I said, my best results from growing basil in a 9b region, has been in pots. Keep the bruchetta coming;o)