ALL ABOUT GROWING MINT

MINT

GROWING MINT

My garden is never been without mint as it is all year round herb. I always love growing mint. In our family, everyone loves mint for its fragrance and smell. As it is so refreshing, mint is used almost every day in our food and drinks. We love to use mint in Biriyani, mint chutney, pulavs, vermicelli recipes, also in drinks like mint lemonade, mint lemon teas. So continue reading and grow your own fresh mint at home.

THINGS TO DO

If you are a beginner in gardening, just start from a mint. It is very easy to grow mint. Being that, mint adapts to a wide range of weather conditions, you can choose to grow mint in full shade, partial shade, full sun, moist areas. Mint grows very fast and makes a good companion to plants. So that, it can be grown along with other plants, or separately in pots, raised beds or ground.

For growing mint, you will need

1. Nutrients rich medium
2. Water
3. Full / partial sunlight

For the good and healthy growth of mint plants.

TYPES OF MINT

There are different types of mint available based on the requirement. Mostly grown varieties in India are:

• Japanese mint
• Spearmint
• Peppermint
• Flavored mint

The mint I grow at home is Japanese mint (Mentha arvensis).

PLANTING MINT

In my opinion, growing mint from the cuts of the parent plant is very easy, cheap and effective. No parent plants? Do not worry! Strands obtained from the grocery mint in your kitchen can help you. I do not recommend growing mint from seeds, as they vary from the parent plant. Also, the germination rate is less.

Got a mint strand? Just remove the leaves from the bottom and put it in the bowl with some water and dirt. Place it in a warm place with partial shade or full shade. This will help with the germination of the root. After root appears, plant it in the pots or raised bed.

PRUNING AND RE-POTTING

As mint is the fast-growing herb, frequent pruning may help in the good and healthy growth of the plant. For the reason that mint is a Runner that grows all year round, the root of the plant becomes pot bound. So it is vital that plants are re-potted on a yearly basis.

RE-POTTING PROCEDURE

We had a one-year-old mint plant. I recently re-potted to different pots.

Pot bound leads to insufficient space for the plant to grow. So it deficit growing fast, healthy looking, leaves will be smaller.  

Remove the whole plant if necessary. Identify and separate the healthy plants for re-potting. Harvest the rest.

Now plant the healthy strands in different pots with good space. Usually, March is the best month for pruning and re-potting.

Either place them in the shade or sun, according to your preference. I placed them in a partial shade area. Now they are ready for this summer.

Mint plants usually do not attract insects that cause harm to the plants. Also if the plants are affected by any disease or insects, it can be spotted easily. If so, then the plants must be treated properly. Provide fertilizer, manures at regular intervals.

HARVEST

Harvesting is the best gift for the patience to grow a plant!

Mint is harvested for its leaves. Fresh leaves can be harvested at any time from your backyard. These leaves can be used immediately or can be frozen for later use. The mint leaves are rich in Vitamin A, C, iron, calcium, and magnesium, which is essential for our good health.

Do plant mint in your garden and share your experience with me. Comment below what type of mint you grow?

Stay tuned for more updates!

Happy gardening!!