Potted mint, tips for planting and care
March 18, 2022 7 Comments
We plant mint in pots on the balcony, in the yard and on the terrace to cut fresh leaves full of aroma when we need them.
Mint is one of the herbs we love for its cool scented leaves that are used in salads, foods, drinks and in wonderfully cool drinks.
An ideal plant for beginners in gardening, mint is a plant without excessive care requirements, as long as we pay attention to watering which is quite frequent, especially in the hot summer season.
So we can make a small garden on our balcony to grow mint along with other favorite aromatic plants and herbs such as potted mint, potted rosemary, potted thyme and potted oregano.
We can also grow quite a few vegetables in pots, such as potted lettuces, potted cherry tomatoes and potted peppers, and even fruit trees such as potted lemons and potted oranges.
So let’s see what care is needed to grow mint in a pot to keep it cool and green to enjoy its fragrant leaves.
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1. In what position do we place the mint pot on the balcony?
Mint is sensitive to winter frost, north winds, as well as strong summer sun. That’s why we should choose to place the mint in a semi-shaded protected position on our balcony if we want it to show lush vegetation with green foliage.
If our balcony has a southern exposure and strong sunlight, there is a risk of burns appearing on the foliage. In any case, we can occasionally use a special mesh cloth, relatively thinly woven, to protect against wind, frost and strong sunlight.
2. Which pots are suitable for planting mint?
Mint is good to plant in a relatively wide pot or planter, due to the rapid growth of its rhizomes that quickly take up the space of the pot. It is good to transplant the mint in a pot two sizes larger than the one we bought at the nursery.
We choose pots, plastic, clay or metal, making sure in any case that they have holes to drain the water left over from watering the saucers. For our convenience, we can use nursery pots which we will then put in a caspo of our choice.
How to choose pots for plants
3. What potting soil do we choose for planting mint in a pot
For planting mint in a pot or planter, we choose general-purpose potting soil or more specialized for aromatic plants, enriched with perlite to ensure better aeration and drainage.
Alternatively, we can make our own potting soil, using 70% peat or loose topsoil from the garden, 20% compost made from our kitchen ingredients 20% and 10% perlite or pumice.
4. When do we transplant the mint into a bigger pot?
If you notice the mint roots coming out from under the pot or coming out of the soil surface, it’s time to transplant to a bigger pot.
A suitable time for transplanting mint is the period of spring and the beginning of autumn, after the summer flowering of the plant is completed.
5 secrets for transplanting potted plants
5. How often do we water the mint in the pot?
Regarding the mint’s water needs, it will need regular watering. We usually water twice a week in the spring and autumn and every two days in the summer. In strong sunlight and high temperatures, mint needs watering on a daily basis to withstand the heat.
If we neglect watering, mint shows us that it needs water, as its leaves begin to wrinkle. The plant acquires a withered appearance which is a characteristic sign that it needs watering immediately to recover.
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In several cases, the mint roots have thickened so much in the pot that when we water it, the soil does not absorb the water and the plant remains stunted.
6. How often should we fertilize mint?
It is useful to add organic fertilizer for aromatic plants, once a month, during spring and autumn, which helps the growth of the plant.
We avoid putting fertilizer in the hot season of the summer and in conditions of severe frost in the winter.
7. How do we protect mint on the balcony from insects and diseases?
Although mint is relatively resistant to insects and diseases, we can preventively spray the plant with an improvised ecological preparation made by dissolving one tablespoon of green soap and one teaspoon of rubbing alcohol in 1 liter of water.
How we use green soap on our garden plants
In case of severe infestation, for a more effective treatment of insects, we use biological insecticides such as natural pyrethrum that we obtain from agricultural stores.
8. Does potted mint need pruning?
Pot mint often, cutting the tips of its shoots, once a month to keep its foliage compact and to limit the growth of weak shoots.
Also, when transplanting, we can prune the mint low enough to not stress the plant into showing rapid growth of its foliage again.
9. How do we create new mint plants from our pot?
If the mint we have in a pot has very dense roots, we can make new mint plants by digging up the plant. In particular, we can separate with a knife the roots and foliage of the mint into 2-3 parts and plant it in nursery pots that we will keep in a cool environment.
Another easy homemade method of propagating mint to make new plants is to cut small branches about 10cm long, put them in glasses of water to grow roots and then transplant them into new pots.
7 secrets to caring for mint
10. And a secret for growing mint in a pot
Mint can be planted in a planter and grow harmoniously with other herbs such as mint, basil, oregano and marjoram.
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