Last updated on September 23rd, 2022 at 03:25 pm
Sunlight is one of the most essential elements required in the growth of plants. In photosynthesis, it is used by plants to manufacture food for themselves, which is the plant’s most basic metabolic process.
Though the amount needed by plants may differ in their specification, it’s very vital in their growth and development.
For example, an extensive range of plants requires an average amount of sunlight, while some are better in shade or open sun.
Being a vital element for plant growth doesn’t necessarily mean its prescription to certain plants should not be observed adherently.
So being a horticulturist, you should know if your crop/plant is a high, medium, or low sun requirement variant.
How much sunlight does mint need? The mint plant requires a significant amount of light for it to grow correctly. Though it can tolerate a little shade, it thrives better in full sunlight. Therefore, a daily dose of six to seven hours of daylight is needed for a mint plant to flourish.
How Much Sunlight Does a Mint Plant Need Indoors?
Being a sucker for sunlight, the mint plant should not be cloaked for far too long but should be placed at a spot where it can obtain conventional intervals of sunshine. The optimal exposure needed ranges from three to four hours when it’s indoors.
An essential mint plant requires a good amount of sunlight, even if they’re indoors. The window should keep a potted mint plant to enable it to grasp some of that good sun. A good amount of moisture is also significant.
There are a few regulations expected to have a healthy and green mint.
1. A pot or a container with adequate drainage. Your potting mix should contain a good amount of loam and, if you like, have a little bit of peat and perlite in it.
2. Mint seed or stem cutting from a healthy parent plant. You can propagate the mint plant from either a seed or a stem cutting. Cultivating it with a seed is preferably done in a nursery late in spring.
The cuttings, however, need to be left for about a week in a container of water to develop its roots before it is transplanted into the pot.
3. Regular trimming and pruning are essential. Mentha is known popularly to be very invasive as it spreads horizontally very aggressively. So it would help if you clipped off the branches to stop them from growing everywhere.
How Much Sunlight Does a Mint Plant Need Outdoors?
The greens thrive in moist, rich soil with a PH between 6.0 to 7.0 and should be exposed somewhere in the garden that receives about five to seven hours of sun per day.
It is important to note that not all types of mint need an open sun, particularly the Calamint (Calamintha nepeta). Still, some of them have a partly shady environment like the Basil mint.
Overwatering could have an adverse effect in the long run on the plant because its leaves are susceptible to rust if its surrounding is not properly aerated.
All mints are fast-growing, spreading plants, so it is only wise to give them space to spread out evenly without getting in the way of other companion crops like tomatoes, cabbages, onions, and other mint plants.
You can plant them alongside these vegetables because they deter a good number of pests away from your garden. It can be grown outside in pots and, to give restriction, can be used as paves for walkways to create an atmosphere of minty freshness.
Due to the nature of their runner’s mint, plants should be well spaced at an interval of at least 18 to 24 inches apart to avoid overcrowding.
Should Mint Be Grown in the Sun or Shade?
Mint should be grown in the sun but not for all the hours of sunlight in a day.
Overexposure to sunlight can cause the plant to wilt and cause the leaves to fall off, and reduce the water content in the soil, which destabilizes the typical growing environment of the plant.
Whether to plant in the sun or shade is an excellent argument to wage your mind because either way is good enough but in full sunlight is better off.
After the winter, those planted in the sun get to melt their ice off faster because all mints are frost-resistant. In comparison, those in the shade don’t melt quickly due to having a lot of moisture to deal with because too much water can cause root rot.
Planting your mint in the sun means growing it outdoors. Knowing how fast-spreading the mint is, planting it outdoors will give you the chance to control its invasiveness and confine it to a specific space, not to mention to the aesthetic value it adds to your garden and home.
The benefits of growing outdoors in the sun are quite numerous and promising to the plant owner. Aside from being easy to grow and maintain, it takes a lot less time to dry and stash them for the winter ahead.
A wide variety of mints are used in culinary dishes around the globe—for instance, spearmint. The spearmint is an excellent seasoning in meals and serves medicinal purposes as an herbal tea for men’s healthy living.
As if deterring pests away from your garden was not enough, this little green also repels mosquitoes. In addition, the plant’s oils obtained from crushed leaves contain chemicals that act as a natural repellant and larvicide.
Mint plants can also prevail in the shade, but a whole lot of work is required for that to happen. Only very few species of mentha can prosper successfully in the shade like the likes of the peppermint.
However, this species can survive at least, receiving two hours of sunlight a day.
There are quite a few things you can do to have a healthy mint in the shade.
1. Do not apply a lot of fertilizer, be it natural or synthetic, because your plant isn’t a natural lover of shade, so it may still be relatively thin, and a lot of nutrients may cause it to die.
2. Regular pruning or harvesting of the leaves helps the plant branch more and gives it a better-looking shape. It also delays the blooming of the plant for the leaves to retain their flavor.
3. It would be best always to watch pests of mint-like aphid cutworms, spider mites, etc.
Conclusion
Mint is aromatic subshrubs that can grow in several conditions but preferably in full open sunlight. It can grow from as little as 4 to 48 inches and spread, covering about 0.7 square meters. They can either be propagated by seed or by stem cutting.
You can raise it indoors in pots or containers, which must be placed in ideal positions to receive enough sunlight for adequate growth. But due to its invasiveness, you should well prune it.
Also, you could raise it outside in pots or on the bare ground. This plant is beneficial to man in many ways but should be treated with lots of care to obtain optimum results.