Sneaky naughty mint

[Demeter]

My mint has really taken off in my 9" terracotta pot. Tastes so nice. I dont want to eat it though yet too much because it want it to be really sustainable.

Oh but just a little bit for some tea won't do any harm... I nip off a handful a couple of times a week and it's still growing like stink. It doesn't seem to notice!

[mrs dog]

Mint and strawberries are a marriage made in heaven. Also mint and rhubarb. I just love mint any way. It invites bees where you need them and if you have it in pots as I do I move this and my chives around the plot where ever I think they are needed.

[beaufontboy]

Eh .... ? Am i missing something here ....

[goldmother]

I've got a couple of old zinc wash tubs that my mint grows very happily in - they're probably about a metre long and half as wide, so plenty for cooking, tea and mojitos! It still seems to pop up elsewhere though. I tried to keep a variety of different types in one of the containers last year, but the apple mint obliterated everything else, which was a shame as it was my least favourite!

I wish I'd done the same thing with the lemon balm, I keep finding it everywhere in the herb garden. Still the lemon balm makes a great insect repellent, I just pull up great handfuls and rub the leaves on my ankles... arms etc I can go through quite a few stray clumps that way

[Gela]

If Hamsterqueen ever has a problem growing mint again, just pop some sprigs in water and they will send out some strong roots which you can then pot up. I think growing mint in pots and keeping the pots on concrete sounds a great idea; stops them invading the veggie plot but you can move them about when you want, for instance, to repel the egg-laying butterflies that invade cabbages.

[Does the Cooking]

Lucky all you.

I planted some seeds as per instructions on packet. Result nothing!

Is it too late to plant some again? Now?

[Noodles]

I've been fighting a battle with mint for a year now! It was going mad in one patch of the garden I wanted to use for lettuce so I dug it all out, potted some up and covered the empty area in plastic for 4 months to kill it off. Old scraps of root must have been missed though as new shoots regularly pop up. I bin them all now but the first few I just chucked in a tub with some soil and I now have a lovely healthy new crop of mint for my Pimms.

[Demeter]

Lucky all you.

I planted some seeds as per instructions on packet. Result nothing!

Is it too late to plant some again? Now?

I think seeds are hard to grow.

Do you know anyone who already has a plant? Or can you find one growing in a public space - at work the carpark is absolutely crammed with mint and other herbs! Public parks sometimes have it in raised beds or the like as well. If you can get a cutting (especially if it has a bit of root on it) then it is the easiest thing in the world to grow, even I can do it, and it's so vigorous nobody will mind giving you a bit. Just pop it in some compost and keep it watered.

Or you could get a small plant from the supermarket herbery, or from the GC, or a boot sale... at 99p or less it has to be better than mucking about with seeds, I reckon, especially as you can choose from varieties like pineapple or chocolate mint etc if you fancy a twist...

[Does the Cooking]

demeter said that mint seeds are hard to grow.

Well they should say so on the packet (just as they do on the tin)

Too late to grow now?

[Demeter]

If you're sowing seeds, it might be worth doing some now and see what happens. If nothing happens, just leaving the pot until spring might work - sometimes seeds need to go though a cold spell before they wake up in spring. Dunno if it applies to mint, but worth a try?

I'm sure there is plenty of time for cuttings to get established too.

[Alexx]

Hi all, I would really appreciate a little advice on mint growing. If I want to plant mint in a semi-submerged pot, does it have to be without any holes? Also any material preference? I don't want to waste a terracotta pot on this, will a strong plastic one do?

There's a mint patch in my garden (yes, an actual patch) left from the previous owners. It hasn't been touched in three years in any way other than picking sprigs for Pimms as required.

I now intend to make it into a patio. Not sure what part will be more work-consuming, building the patio or getting rid of the mint, however I would like to keep a plant for my Pimms

Thanks

[Demeter]

Hi all, I would really appreciate a little advice on mint growing. If I want to plant mint in a semi-submerged pot, does it have to be without any holes? Also any material preference? I don't want to waste a terracotta pot on this, will a strong plastic one do?

There's a mint patch in my garden (yes, an actual patch) left from the previous owners. It hasn't been touched in three years in any way other than picking sprigs for Pimms as required.

I now intend to make it into a patio. Not sure what part will be more work-consuming, building the patio or getting rid of the mint, however I would like to keep a plant for my Pimms

Thanks

There's a mint patch on the plot next to ours. It seems entirely unbothered by attempts to rip it out, dig it out - just keeps coming back as soon as...

So - good luck with that - have you thought of paving the area but leaving small gaps (filled with sand) between the stones for the mint to grow through? You could pull it up whenever it got too big and in the meantime a lovely mint-smelling patio. Mmmmm.

Anyway - yes you need holes, for drainage. Which is why you will need to lift the pot periodically to make sure the roots are not making a break for it through the holes.... Any kind of pot will do as long as its strong and weatherproof.

[Alexx]

have you thought of paving the area but leaving small gaps (filled with sand) between the stones for the mint to grow through? You could pull it up whenever it got too big and in the meantime a lovely mint-smelling patio. Mmmmm.

That is exactly how I intend to pave it. I think i'll plant different varieties of thyme in the gaps however, and the mint will go in the pot

[fwuffydragon]

I find that 3/4 sinking the pot into the ground and turning it every month or so keeps it from escaping.