How to Grow Mint & Other Herbs from Cuttings from Your Garden or Store Bought Produce – Part 2
A while back I wrote about a frugal way to grow mint from cuttings. This gardening tip is really pretty age-old. I mean, it’s really one of the simpliest propagation techniques you could ever wish to make use of.
Cuttings from established plants either in your garden or a friend’s garden (or maybe ummm … “borrowed” from a plant growing somewhere else) are usually the way you can get free cuttings. But another way is that many fresh herb cuttings found in the produce section of most grocery stores are able to be rooted. So, since I wanted to have fresh mint growing in my garden this year I used two healthy looking mint stems from a small container I’d bought a couple of days before.
I just stripped off the leaves leaving only about 4 leaves up at the top of the stem; made a nice sharp fresh cut in each stem; moistened the stems and dipped them in rooting hormone (one little bottle of the hormone powder will last most of us for many years, unless you root lots and lots of cuttings). Stuck each one into a small deep hole made with a pencil so I wouldn’t disturb the hormone powder; snugged the fresh potting soil in the pot around each stem and stuck the pot in a sunny window. (Sorry for the fuzzy pic – took that with my “old” digital camera that didn’t allow for my unsteady hands.)
I discuss the many ways you can propagate all sorts or herbs and vegetables, even some fruits, in my newest eBook The Shoestring Gardener.
The stems never wilted – yes I did keep the soil slightly moist – and after about 2 weeks I figured those stems had to be taking root as by that time the stems hadn’t started to shrivel or anything.
I then left the little pot outside in a semi-sunny spot to get acclimated and then I repotted dirt and all into a larger pot. All I have to do now is keep an eye on the soil not drying out in the container, which I admit I’ve been guilty of. But it’s amazing how mint can bounce back! Here in Tennessee container gardens can dry out quick. Well, really my garden dries out awfully quick too, especially with the heat and scorching sun we get here during the summer months.
Anyway, here’s my mint today. I’ve been pinching it back a bit to encourage new growth. It already looks kinda crowded, doesn’t it?
Gardening tip: Do NOT plant any of the mint family directly into your garden’s soil unless you don’t mind having mint springing up all over the place. It is very invasive and really can be a bugger to eradicate. It’s amazing how far and wide runners can spread underground! That’s why so many people plant mint in containers.