Last updated on September 23rd, 2022 at 03:26 pm
While you may be acquainted with the most common plants and how to grow them, the process of growing mint can be pretty elusive. This lack of clarity is because you may feel that you’ll need to propagate the plant vegetatively.
So, what other way is there to plant mint? By producing its seeds, of course. And right now, you must be thinking about how to grow mint from seeds. Well, the answer is not far-fetched.
You can grow mint from its seeds using pots or containers indoors or directly in the soil without necessarily transplanting it. Nevertheless, to access full sunlight, when your mint plant is about a month old, it would be best to transplant it to an isolated portion of your garden.
How Do You Plant Mint From Seeds?
In planting any crop, there are materials needed to plant them. A mint can either be grown indoors in pots/containers or directly in the soil.
We are going to be discussing both of them. Some of the materials required for planting mint are listed below;
- Soil.
- A container or pot
- The mint seeds.
- Water.
- Some useful gardening tools.
- And optionally, fertilizer.
Steps On How To Plant Mint From Seeds
Now let’s see how to plant mint from seeds. There are some essential steps to growing mint from seeds. Below, I’ll be explaining them.
1. Seed selection:
It would be best to select viable seeds. This careful selection is because they can stay alive while being dormant only for a limited period after harvesting seeds from the mint.
So, you can have dead plants that you do not know of. Furthermore, it would be best to soak relatively old seeds overnight to get them ready for growth. However, do not soak the seeds for more than eight hours.
2. Planting preparation:
When using containers or pots, the vessel should be at least 8 inches wide and 10 inches deep.
In addition to this, the soil you should carefully select the soil you wish to use. It would be best to use loamy soil with slightly high acidity and a pH of 5.55 to 7.5.
It would be best to select a suitable position when planting mint indoors. Besides an open window where there is less sunlight with good humidity is a great choice.
Mint doesn’t need direct sunlight to grow. So you can plant it indoors as it grows well in low sunlight.
3. Planting the seeds:
To plant the mint seeds, you should first fill the container or pot with the soil you selected until it is almost complete. After this, moisten the soil. Also, it would be best to space the seeds when planting adequately.
Furthermore, since they do not need direct sunlight, you should provide a light covering of soil over the sprinkled seeds. It would be best to ensure that the depth of the seeds is around 0.25 inches deep.
In addition, when sowing directly on the soil in the garden, you should consider the spacing of the seeds.
This careful consideration is because of mint’s aggressiveness. Planting too many seeds could make the mints spread across the whole garden dominating it.
Also, you should ensure that you don’t plant the seeds too deep into the soil.
4. Watering the plant:
After planting the seeds, it is crucial to keep the soil moist by regularly watering it.
Indoors, you should use about 3.54 liters of water should be used to water the mints. Nevertheless, you should only water the seeds when the soil becomes too dry.
Lastly, it should take ten or more days for the mint to germinate and 14 to 21 days to sprout. Therefore, if you want to transfer them from inside to a garden or backyard, it would be best to do this after six weeks.
Is It Easy To Grow Mint From Seeds?
Mint is one of the easiest plants to grow. They are aggressive vegetables because of their great adaptability.
It is easy to grow mint from seeds without transplanting because you can sow them directly into the soil, unlike most plants that require transplanting.
Growing mint from seeds is easy to care for because it is a plant that you can continuously harvest.
That is, the mint produces more than one time for harvesting. This year-round production is because it is a perennial plant.
Perennial plants tend to be hardier than typical annual plants. They usually take more time to grow. This relatively more extended period of growth is because they use their resources to fully develop parts that will keep them productive all year round.
Mature mint has such a developed shoot system that even when you pluck a substantial quantity of leaves from it, it can bounce back to total health. So, you don’t need to fear it is hard to grow.
Also, because we can plant mint indoors in containers or pots, a garden is not required as they can grow well indoors to the point of harvesting.
It is not only easy to grow mint indoors, but it is also preferable to grow them indoors in containers/pots due to its aggressive growth and adaptability in shady areas.
Why Won’t My Mint Seeds Grow?
Generally, mint plants fail to grow due to the wrong method of planting them or improper care and maintenance. Nevertheless, here are some critical facts about mint growth to help you understand your plant better.
1. Mint seeds take 14- 21 days to sprout, so if your mint hasn’t yet been that long, then you should be patient.
But if it takes longer than this period, your mint seeds may have dried out, maybe because they are not getting enough moisture.
2. As much as mints do not need direct sunlight, the little amount of the sun they get is significant. If your plant isn’t getting enough sunlight, it will not grow well.
3. Also, while planting the mint seeds and being buried too deep in the soil, they are likely not to germinate.
Most of all, the main requirement for mint seeds to grow is keeping them moist at all times and not exposing them to direct sunlight. Also, it would be best to water your mint seeds at least two times a week.
Conclusion
Mint is a perennial plant with a continuous harvest. It’s also an exciting crop because you can either plant it indoors in pots or containers or outdoors in gardens or backyard, and it will grow well with no complications.
Mint is like a treasure growing by your windows or in your gardens. Growing mint from seeds is very easy and beneficial.
Also, with all its health benefits, mint can be kept in the house for decorative purposes because of its pleasant fragrance and beautiful appearance.
Mint is a great plant to grow with less difficulty. Growing mint has so many benefits- attracting bees, pleasant fragrance, having a delicious taste, refreshing flavor, and medicinal properties.
Because it has lots of help and is easy to grow, growing mint is a great idea.
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