Mint is one of the most strong smelling herbs, soothing, and refreshing has multiple varieties, good for daily consumption, and is easy to grow at home in containers.
It has multiple uses for human health and as a medicinal plant as well. It is easy to grow even for beginners.
Here, I'm going to give you a brief on the nature of growing mint and then we'll move on to the method of growing it in pots.
How to grow mint in containers
Let's understand first how mint grows once it gets established.
How does mint grow?
Mint grows with its rhizomes in soil. It means, its stem can produce more roots in the soil and a new bunch of leaves that you can propagate and transplant again at a new place. This growing from rhizomes makes it a more invasive plant that grows all year long.
It is a perennial invasive plant that slows down its growth in too cold a winter.
Mint doesn't get much height not an average of more than 1 foot.
Season of growing mint
Generally in warm climate conditions, mint can grow from early spring to fall at any time. There is no problem while growing or propagating mint in such seasons but in too cold winter, you should avoid its propagation and transplantation.
In cool climate conditions, trying to grow mint from early spring to late summer is best.
In high-altitude regions, where outdoor temperatures remain too cold, you can grow it indoors if you can provide enough light for 8 to 10 hours.
Requirements to grow
The following are the basic requirements to grow mint at a beginner level-
- Soil type- Good drain light soil
- Sunlight- 6 to 8 hours in summer and 8 to 10 hours in the rest of the year
- Shade- Dark at night, 3 to 4 hours of shade, and 5 to 6 hours of partial shade
- Irrigation- Regular in summer
- Temperature- 20F to 80F
- Humidity- 10% to 60%
- Fertilizers- Vermicompost and sand
- Tools required- Cultivator tool, trimmers, and spraying bottles
Types of containers
Containers should be lightweight, easy to move, and less wide but long.
If you don't have much space, then you can take a gallery shape long and less wide containers of 3x0.5 square meters. This container should have a depth of at least 10 inches.
Light wooden containers or plastic containers are good enough to grow mint in the garden.
Steps to grow mint in containers
Considering you are going to grow mint outdoors, the following steps will help you to grow mint-
Step 1- At first, prepare the soil mixture that is well-drained and fertile enough. Choose the right place where you can provide sunlight to your containers.
Step 2- To prepare the soil mixture, you need to take 2:2:1 of garden soil, sand, and vermicompost. Add some moisture and mix it well. Sand will make the mixture slightly light. Preparing the soil mixture in the same container will help you to make things easier. Make the mixture slightly moist.
Step 3- Now, bring the mint either from a nursery or your neighborhood. Bring a couple of plants to set them on a certain gap. At a later time, these couple of plants will cover the entire container easily.
Step 4- Let the mint establish the roots in the container soil for a couple of days. Till then, you can check soil moisture and provide spraying water if it is required.
Step 5- After 7 to 10 days, the mint will start to growing new leaves and develop roots inside the soil and start developing rhizomes as well.
Step 6- In the next couple of weeks, it will cover the entire container very fast.
Step 7- When you feel that it is asking for more space, you can restrict them at the edges of the container. Cut the rhizomes at the edge. Although it will grow again in some weeks you need to cut that again. Thus, you can restrict mint in the containers.
Step 8- From 25 to 30 days, you can start picking mint leaves easily for your daily use. Either use scissors or pick them with your hands.
What to do if the mint is getting dry or stops growing further?
Mint doesn't get dry in most cases. It grows even in the least favorable conditions if the soil is just moist and the sunlight is accessed. But if still it is getting dry or not growing further, maybe you did some fundamental mistakes earlier.
In such cases, you can pick the youngest rhizome of the mint and try to propagate that in a new container if you tried everything. When this mint will establish its root then you need to prepare a new soil mixture in the same container that's mint was getting dry or stopped growing further.