Mint is a favoriteperennial herbof mine . I always have some produce in my garden . presently I have spearmint , peppermint , and chocolate mint growing in my garden . I do n’t cerebrate I could tell you which is my favorite ! Let ’s take a little time to do a deep prima donna on one of my favorite herbs .
What is Mint?
Mint is a wonderfully various perennial herb with a tendency to spread . It can be used in deglutition like mojitos and tea , used to garnish salads , and can even be made into anoil . There are as many as 600 variety in the world , each one a flake unlike .
How to grow Mint
With as many as 600 potpourri in existence , each one acquire a little bit unlike . But by and large , your stock slew works is hold up to be a repeated herbaceous plant that require full sun , most soil until well established , and is hardy to zone 3 - 8 .
Mint plants can be planted outdoors in the spring after the net frost date . This herbaceous plant has a tendency to spread like wildfire , making them an idealistic candidate for grow in containers . It is a stout perennial in zones 3 - 8 and is best planted out of doors in the spring . This herbaceous plant diffuse and spreads , so space them pretty far aside , 18 - 24 inches . After about 30 day , you’re able to start harvest leaf .
This recurrent herb relish a decent , balanced NPK 16 - 16 - 16 fertilizer and is n’t known to be toxic , although hard menthol can be . It is drought tolerant , cervid resistant , and pest immune as well . You ’ll be drinking julep , mojitos , and teas in no sentence !
When to start seeds indoors
set out mint candy seed 8 - 10 weeks before your concluding hoarfrost date . Cover the seeds with 1/4 inch of soil and keep the territory warm and most . Your seedling will sprout after 10 - 15 days . Plant alfresco after your final frost has passed .
When to plant Mint outdoors
deal plants that have been started indoors or purchased from a nursery can be planted outside after the last danger of frost has passed . Generally , your plant life will go back in the wintertime and come back in the give if you live in zones 3 - 8 . Beyond zone 8 , it may never expire back and alternatively remain evergreen .
Growing Mint in containers
Growing this herbaceous plant in container is something I would by and large urge , as the herbaceous plant has no military issue with disperse out of doors of found gardens . I ’ve personally seen illustration of lawns being partly overtaken with mass , which bring on a pretty marvelous odour when mow , but is n’t exactly idealistic for the great unwashed who want a prisitine weed lawn .
A standard pot soil will do just fine for mint , but providing a balanced NPK 16 - 16 - 16 every calendar month during its active growing time of year will assist it stay healthy and solid in a container .
When to harvest Mint
you may begin harvest home parting from the middle of your sight plants about 30 days after being plant outside , but start slowly . Take care not to overharvest – only remove one - third of the plant ’s leave-taking at the very most .
Deadheading old flowers
Deadheading is the operation of removing beat flowers from the plant life once the blossom have track down their class . It broadly speaking promote bushier growth . This is rightful of mint plants as well . If you allow your plant to bloom , once the efflorescence have died , cut the stem with clean shear approximately 2 - 4 inches below the flower . you could also opt not to let the industrial plant blossom at all so as to encourage more folio growth and monish seed scattering .
How to collect Mint seeds
2 - 3 weeks after the blossom of your mint have die back , perform the above - describe deadheading strategy and store the flowers in a composition boxwood or envelope for 2 - 4 weeks , countenance them to fully dry out . Once juiceless , you could beat out the flowers in your fingerbreadth and small seeds will will be loose by the pods . Store these seed in a paper gasbag .
Wildlife attracted by Mint
Mint is well known to attract pollinators like bees and flies . Some kind also bring in hummingbird . Some gardeners claim this plant life is a repellant to some pests , like mosquitoes , pelf moth , Musca domestica , ants , aphids , mash bugs , flea , even mice . There is modified grounds that mint is effective at this , so your mileage may vary .
