How to Grow Potted Mint at Home? Keep These Precautions in Mind

Mint, commonly known as “yindancao” (silver dan grass), is an aromatic crop with special economic value. Many people like to keep a few pots at home, so how do you grow potted mint at home? What do you need to pay attention to? Next, let's learn together:

How to grow potted mint

1. Growing environment requirements for mint

Mint prefers a warm, humid environment with plenty of sunlight and abundant rainfall. The rhizomes can sprout and emerge at 5-6°C, and the optimal growing temperature for the plants is 20-30°C. It has strong cold tolerance. The best soil for cultivating mint is loose, fertile, well-drained sandy soil. Moisture has a significant impact on the growth and development of mint; the plants require more water in the early and middle stages of growth. During the budding and flowering stage, sunny and dry weather is needed, and less water is required.

2. Plenty of sunlight

Mint needs plenty of sunlight. If you grow mint, be sure to place it in a sunny spot. Even the strong summer sun is nothing to worry about. If there is not enough sunlight, mint tends to become leggy, the leaves do not grow large, and the plant becomes especially thin and weak. An entire pot may gradually shrink into smaller and smaller plants.

3. Plenty of water

Growing mint requires plenty of water. Hydroponic cultivation is also possible, but soil cultivation will produce better growth. If you have not watered for several days and the flower pot becomes extremely dry, with even the leaves withered from dryness, do not worry. As long as the roots are still alive, water it again and it will quickly regain its former vitality.

4. Fertile, loose soil

Growing mint requires fertile, loose soil. If the flower pot is too small, or there is too little soil, the nutrients cannot keep up and it will grow very slowly. So use soil that is breathable, well-draining, and very fertile. Ordinary garden soil or leaf mold will do. Add a little chicken manure fertilizer and it will be quite good. It is not particular about soil.

5. Regular pruning

Mint is very tough. Prune it regularly and use its leaves to make tea or for whatever purpose, and there is no problem. The more you prune, the more luxuriant it grows. Regularly loosen the soil, or add some soil, or apply fertilizer, and it will grow faster. Be sure to place it in a ventilated spot on the balcony.

6. Pest and disease control

Rust disease: occurs frequently in the rainy season in May, damaging leaves. Control methods: clean the field and dispose of diseased plants; in the early stages of the disease, spray with 25% triadimefon 1000x solution.

White star disease: occurs from May to October, damaging leaves. Control methods: in the early stages of the disease, spray with 50% carbendazim 100x solution, or alternately spray with 1:1:120 Bordeaux mixture.

Other pests and diseases of mint include leaf spot, rust, and silver Y moth, etc. For leaf spot, promptly remove diseased leaves, take them outside the field, and bury them deeply or burn them to reduce sources of infection, spray with 120x Bordeaux mixture, or spray the leaf surface with 65% zineb 500x solution. For rust, in the early stages of the disease, spray with 15% triadimefon wettable powder 1000x solution or 40% carbendazim suspension concentrate 800x solution. For silver Y moth, spray with 90% trichlorfon 1000x solution, or 2.5% deltamethrin, or 20% fenvalerate 1500x solution.

Precautions for growing potted mint

1. When it snows in winter, the mint leaves in the flower pot may all wither and appear to have no vitality. Do not worry; they will sprout and grow again the following spring. It has strong vitality and will not die from freezing. It is best not to plant it in a flower bed, because it will take over the entire flower bed area. It will rob other plants of their nutrients.

2. If you want mint to fill its pot and grow very quickly and luxuriantly, there is a little trick: repot it once a year, in spring or autumn. Change to a larger pot and make the soil more fertile, and it will grow faster, because it is like spider plant; its root system may even develop faster than that of spider plant and will quickly occupy the entire flower pot.

3. If you want to maintain the growth of mint branches, be sure to remove flower branches when you see them. Mint generally blooms in autumn, and after flowering, leaf growth for that year basically stops. Even if it does not completely wither, it will enter a semi-dormant state. So if you want mint to continue growing in winter, be sure to remove the flower branches. If you want to collect mint seeds to grow new mint, let the mint bloom. Mint is self-pollinating and does not set seed, so it requires hand pollination.

The main value of potted mint

Culinary value

Mint has both medicinal and culinary functions. The main edible parts are the stems and leaves, and it can also be juiced and consumed. In cooking, mint can be used as a seasoning, as a spice, and can also be paired with alcohol or brewed as tea. Every 100 grams of dried mint contains 9.6 grams of water, 6.8 grams of protein, and 31.1 grams of fiber, and provides 870.7 kilojoules of calories.

For example: mint porridge. Effects: refreshes the spirit, disperses wind and reduces heat, increases appetite, and aids digestion.

Mint tofu. Effects: can treat symptoms such as nasal congestion from a cold, sneezing, and runny nose.

Mint chicken shreds. Effects: reduces internal heat and relieves summer heat.

Mint cake. Effects: cooling, disperses wind and reduces heat, soothes the throat and benefits the voice.

Fresh mint crucian carp soup. Effects: can treat prolonged cough in children.

Mint soup. Effects: detoxifies and reduces internal heat.

Mint herbal tea. After drinking it, the whole body feels comfortable and energy is multiplied.

In addition, mint stems and leaves have a special fragrance and can be used to make chewing gum, toothpaste, etc., providing cooling, refreshing, and heat-clearing effects.

Also, mint can be used to make honey. Its honey is dark in color, appearing deep amber, and has a strong distinctive mint aroma.

Medicinal value

Mint is a commonly used traditional Chinese medicine. The young tender stem tips can be eaten as a vegetable, and the whole plant can also be used medicinally to treat symptoms such as cold with fever and sore throat, headache, red and painful eyes, muscle pain, skin rubella with itching, and incomplete eruption of measles. In addition, it is also effective for carbuncles, deep-rooted boils, scabies, tinea, and lacquer dermatitis.

Mint contains menthol, a substance that can freshen breath and has various medicinal properties. It can relieve abdominal pain and gallbladder problems such as spasms, and also has effects such as antiseptic and bactericidal action, diuresis, phlegm reduction, stomach strengthening, and aiding digestion. Consuming a large amount of mint can cause insomnia, but consuming it in small doses can help with sleep.

Mint is a plant full of hope. In life, there will inevitably be many people or things that are missed, and the chance of meeting, growing close to, and loving them again is almost nonexistent, but the less possible it is, the more one misses them. Although mint is an ordinary flower, its scent is refreshing to the heart, with a coolness that seeps through every pore into the skin, making every cell in the body feel clear. That is a very happy feeling, and it will give a bit of comfort to those who have once lost something. Therefore, the flower language of mint is “may I meet you again” and “love me once more”. In addition, it also has another flower language: “a person of virtue”.