How to Grow a Mint Plant From Cuttings

I have three plants from the mint family growing in my garden: spearmint, peppermint. and lemon balm.

I grow them mainly for tea, but I also add spearmint to salads. My tea is very simple… Boiling water, a spring of mint, and half a teaspoon of honey. No tea bag.

Mint is a very simple plant to grow. You can get a small plant at your local plant nursery, but today I wanted to show you how simple it is to grow a mint plant from cuttings. So if you know of someone that has mint in their garden, or if you come across a mint plant somewhere all you have to do is grab a couple of sprigs and you are on your way to haveing your own mint plant. I’ll show you how.

 

Mint grows best in rich soil that is high in organic matter. Mint loves a moist environment, however, the soil has to have good drainage.

 

You can plant mint in full sun or a partially shady location in the garden. All types of mint spread vigorously, so make sure to give them enough room or simply plant them in containers.

 

In fact, it might be a good idea to plant your mint in a container even if you have enough room for it in the garden so you can move it indoors in the winter.

I am gardening in zone 7B, and as you can see, my mint is planted in the garden. I start to cover it with dry leaves in the fall.

Mint actually love the cooler temperatures (50 – 60 F), but as the temperatures drop, I keep piling the dry leaves on the plants. At the end of the winter, they look pretty bad and I usually wonder if they are going to be able to recover, but they always do.

If you plant your mint in a pot, you can easily move it indoors in the winter and place it by a sunny window. It will keep growing just fine and you’ll get fresh mint year around. Learn more about indoor herb gardening here.

So now let’s see how you can easily start your own mint plant…

 

How to Grow a Mint Plant from Cuttings (also called propagating mint)

1. Cut a sprig of mint – Find a nice looking mint plant. It doesn’t matter if it grows inside or outside or if it grows in the ground or in a pot. You are just looking for a healthy, green, vibrant plant.

Use a sharp knife or scissors to cut a sprig of new growth, about 4 inches long…

 

2. Clean lower leaves – clean the lower leaves from the sprig so you are left with an inch of bare stem. Use the leaves you removed to make a hot or cold cup of tea!

 

 3. Place cuttings in water – place your mint cuttings in water on the kitchen counter or another well-lit location in your house, a window sill will work great.

I usually have this glass of water on the kitchen counter to use for tea. I prefer keeping the plants alive like that than storing them in the refrigerator.

If you ever bought mint at the store in one of those flat plastic containers and placed the container in the fridge, you probably noticed that the mint turns black pretty quickly. It’s because it doesn’t like the low temperatures. It’s much better to take it out of the container and place the sprigs in a glass of water instead. They might even root for you.

 

 4. Change the water – change the water every couple of days to keep things fresh. You’ll start seeing roots in just a few days (usually around 5 – 7 days).

 

 5. Remove your rooting mint cuttings – once the cuttings have established roots at least half an inch long, you can remove it from the water and plant it.

 

6. Plant your cuttings – it depends on what you are planning to do with your mint plant. If you just want it to establish in soil and then move it to the garden, you can use a small pot (3-4 inches). Maybe one of those Cow Pots that you can plant in the soil so transplanting to the garden is easier.

I’ve decided to keep this peppermint that I am planting in a pot so I can move it indoors in the winter, so I am using a 6” pot. You can go as large as you want with the size of the pot. As long as your mint is happy, it will keep spreading.

So once you choose a pot, fill it with good potting soil. Most potting soils have fertilizer mixed in them so you should be good for the first six months or so, however, I still added a bit of my worm castings.

Stick a pencil in the center of the pot and move it around to create a hole.

 

Plant your rooting mint in the hole. Be careful not to break the roots.

 

Pack the soil around the planted mint and water well.

Place it in a well-lit location in your house but not in direct sun. Keep the soil moist until you see new growth, then you can water when the soil feels dry (once a week or so).

 

This is a great gardening chore for the winter. By the time spring rolls around you’ll have nice mint plants to plant in the garden. Also, if you start this five weeks or so before the holidays, you can give a potted herb as a gift. Plant it in a cute, small pot, or let your kids decorate a small clay pot, plant the cutting, wait for it to establish, add a nice ribbon around the pot and you have an awesome gift.

I love mint and enjoy growing it very much. It’s one of those plants that you just can’t kill. You don’t need to pay much attention to it once it’s established and the more you harvest the more it grows.

Till next week…

~Lady Lee~