How to grow mint at home?
Mint and its closest related species, known as essential oil, spice and flavoring and medicinal crops, have long found their place in garden beds and gardens. But if during the summer the plants are regularly supplied with fresh greens, then with the arrival of autumn frosts, the gardener has to be content with frozen or dried mint in advance. And although these methods allow the plant to preserve most of the nutrients, such raw materials cannot be compared with green juicy leaves.
In order not to depend on the season and not to give up the mint greens containing menthol, vitamins, valuable acids and trace elements, when it is frosty outside and a blizzard is raging, you can plant mint on the windowsill.
How to grow mint at home?
Mint feels best on loose soils with an average organic content and low acidity, in the range of 5-7 pH.
Before planting mint for plants, prepare a soil mixture of two parts of garden soil, one part of humus, of the same volume peat and washed sand. To prevent the mint roots from getting wet, and there is no danger of decay, drainage must be done in a container for growing mint at home.
Since mint is quite unpretentious, you can propagate the plant:
- sowing seeds;
- root layers;
- cuttings;
- dividing an adult bush.
How to grow mint from seeds on a windowsill?
Seed propagation is the most laborious and time consuming method, but it cannot be avoided if you want to get a plant of a certain variety or type.
In order for the seedlings to be strong and friendly, it is better to give preference to purchased seeds. Not all hybrid species inherit the parental characteristics when collecting seed from them. So, for example, only a third of curly mint seedlings have curly foliage, and the rest of the seedlings are a simple garden variety. So how to plant mint seeds?
It is better to sow mint in March or April, in moistened soil to a depth of 0.5 cm. Sprinkle the seeds on top with a small amount of humus or nutrient soil and cover with glass or film. At room temperature, seedlings appear 14-18 days after sowing. Until this moment, it is necessary to monitor the moisture content of the soil, to prevent it from drying out or waterlogging. If necessary, the surface of the soil is carefully sprayed, trying not to disturb the small seeds, and the glass is slightly opened for airing.
When the sprouts of mint on the windowsill give two true leaves, they are dived, seated in separate small containers or in a 5x5 pattern in a single wide container.
How to plant mint by root layers and dividing the bush?
Gardeners and gardeners know how the mint that has taken root on the site quickly takes up new spaces. Long rhizomes with dormant buds are to blame for the predatory activity of the plant. The expanding root system of one plant gives birth to new shoots and bushes. How to plant mint with root cuttings?
If you take advantage of this feature of mint, and in August or September stock up on root cuttings, about 10-12 cm long and two or three buds, then there will be no difficulty in the question of how to grow mint at home. Root layers are planted in moistened soil to a depth of 5–7 cm. If there are already developed shoots on such a cuttings, the roots are carefully preserved, and the aboveground part, after sprinkling with soil, is cut off at a height of 4–5 cm. The same is done with the planting material obtained after dividing the whole bush.
After two weeks, with proper care, indoor mint, as in the photo, forms dense green shoots and the first odorous leaves above the soil.
The same breeding methods are suitable for planting on the windowsill such herbs as oregano and thyme, which belong together with mint to the same family and have common habits and characteristics.
All of these crops are grown at home as perennials and require light, but constant care.
Growing mint at home using cuttings
Cuttings cut from the tip of the shoots of an adult bush are also suitable as planting material for growing mint on the windowsill. How to grow mint on the windowsill in this case? Twigs 6–8 cm long are dipped in a root solution and, having removed the two lower leaves, are placed in water. Roots sufficient for planting in the ground are formed after 7-15 days.
Two weeks after planting rooted cuttings and the appearance of shoots on the planted root processes, the plants are fed urea at the rate of 1 gram per liter of water.
Caring for mint grown on a windowsill
Asking how to grow mint at home and get strong bushes with juicy bright foliage on the windowsill, it is important to remember that this is possible only if there is the correct temperature regime, watering and sufficient illumination.
The comfortable temperature for growth is 20–25 ° С. With this mode, long daylight hours and moist soil, plants form foliage well.
Mint reacts sensitively to changes in illumination, in room conditions, without additional 6-hour illumination in autumn and winter, its shoots begin to stretch, the leaves become smaller, lose their rich color and aroma. If it is impossible to organize the necessary artificial lighting of pots with mint on the windowsill, you can lower the temperature to 15-17 ° C and limit watering. This measure will slow down the growth processes somewhat and will not allow the quality of greenery to decrease.
With all the love of mint for light, the plant does not tolerate being in the sun in direct sunlight. Exposed to the balcony, terrace, loggia or on the windowsill, mint must be shaded, protecting the planting from burns and drying out.
In rooms with a dry atmosphere, especially when heating devices are working, a container with water can be placed next to the mint so that the air humidity does not fall below 80%, which can adversely affect the condition of the bush. For the same purpose, for mint on summer days and in winter, in a warm room, irrigation is carried out with water at room temperature.
As well as excessive dryness of the air, mint on the windowsill just as badly tolerates drying out of the soil. The soil is watered at the first signs of dryness of the upper layer, but at the same time they do not allow stagnation of moisture, which is detrimental to the roots. With a decrease in air temperature, the need for irrigation drops slightly.
To simplify the care, as in the photo, for room mint, a little hydrogel can be added to the soil for planting it. Several granules in the soil layer above the drain will allow the soil to retain moisture and fertilizer better.
We have three varieties growing in our yard. I noticed that she was more comfortable in the shade. From leaving, one watering, and even then not often, plants in this matter are not whimsical. I collect a notable harvest, then we drink mint tea all winter.