Summer is the best time to propagate and developing for mint herbs. You need special care of the mint during this season which is the peak time of it otherwise mint plant will either get dry or die.
Several factors are responsible for better mint growth but if some of them are not favorable then your plant may get negatively affected by it.
Growing mint plants indoors is a bit easier to grow them outdoors. Here, I'll give you valuable tips to take care of mint plant herbs indoors.
Mint care indoors
Mint plants develop with rhizomes so they need horizontal space more than depth in the container. If you restrict the container size according to plant size ratio then it may be affect negatively your mint plant.
Let's see the actual growing conditions of mint plants and how they can survive indoors and then we'll move on to the steps of caring for it.
Growing conditions of mint indoors
- Soil type- Well-drained rich soil
- Sunlight- Bright light
- Shade- Partial shade is good
- Season- Summer
Requirements to care mint indoors
Tools required
- Harvesting scissors
- Spraying bottle
- LED light setup
- Wide container
Materials required
- Vermicompost/organic compost
- Coco-peat
- Dry leaves and material
6 Tips to care mint indoors
People debate on growing herbs like mint indoors or outdoors. But with experience, I can say that it is not difficult to grow mint indoors if you follow the right procedure and practices to grow and care for mint plants. Here, I'm sharing my tips for caring for mint plants indoors with you-
1. Watering
Mint plants can survive in both slight drought conditions and slightly wet conditions but not for too long. Indoors, you should try to keep a regular check on the soil moisture in the soil. If it remains dry for too long, your plant may get dry quickly. In summer mostly, humidity remains low so moisture gets dry quickly.
If you can manage then water your plants twice if the soil is getting dry faster. You don't need to water it too much but just shower so that the soil gets moist. If soil is becoming compacted then it may not absorb water quickly. In that case, you need to scratch the soil layer with a pointy tool so that it can release the stress.
2. Composting
Sometimes just watering the soil is not enough for mint growth because of the lack of soil richness. Mint plants need plenty of nutrients to survive and grow optimally. For that, you need to provide any organic compost you can have.
But direct dry composting or fertilization is not that effective for mint. So you need to mix it with the water and provide a liquid compost to the mint plants. It will help plants to faster the process of absorption and encourage the effect of composting.
Using organic compost or vermicompost both are good but market powdery fertilizers(non-organic) are bad because they can give a boost to mint plants but they'll suck their natural strength to grow longer.
3. Mulching
If you have a very busy schedule of office and business work, it's quite convincing that someday you'll miss checking and watering the mint plants indoors. In such cases, most plants get dry quickly but you can't notice closely.
To avoid these things, you can do an arrangement of mulching to hold the moisture for longer. For that, you can use dry leaves and organic material(dry) to make a thin layer over the soil. Remember, you need to do it once you water your mint plants.
Mulching can last longer and hold the moisture for longer and keep your plants healthy longer. You can also use coco-peat just by digging one inch in the soil and making a layer of it about 1 inch. It is also an alternative to dry organic material mulching.
4. Pruning and trimming
Pruning and trimming are two of the most important activities to keep plants healthy. Don't be afraid of trimming plants because it's good for their further growth. Trimming the top of the twigs is good. If you are thinking that these plants will develop these twigs longer and bigger, you are doing a mistake because using them in the initial stages is good for your consumption.
On the other hand, pruning the twigs just above the newly developing nodes also helps for better growth of mint plants.
Pruning and trimming both are very regular activities in mint plants so keep it once a week so that you'll get the mint herbs and plants will feel relief and focus on better growth.
5. Sunlight and shade
Sunlight is a very important factor for mint plants because its intensity decides the growth of the overall plant either indoors or outdoors.
Bright sunlight is always best for mint growth and indoors you can replace it with LED lights if conditions are overcast.
Intense sunlight is single-handedly responsible for drying the mint plants quickly outdoors. So most gardeners love to keep them in partial shade and bright light or a shelter to filter it.
Indoors, when you keep the mint pot in bright light, you need to provide it partial shade as well. Because both work in combination for these herbs and collectively encourage the plant's growth.
6. Choosing a right container
Always choose a wide and bigger container than the size of the mint plant either indoors or outdoors. Mint plants don't develop roots deep but they develop horizontally with the help of rhizomes. For root expansion, the container should be wider.
Using a hanging pot or deep container is a waste of time for mint plants. If you want to keep it in the same container, then cut the developing rhizomes and restrict them in the walls of the container. Regularly prune and trim the leaves, twigs, and rhizomes.