How to grow mint on a windowsill, care basics
Beautiful velvet mint leaves with a stunning invigorating scent are used not only for tea drinking. This plant can also be added to side dishes, especially meat ones. If in summer there are no problems with where to get mint, then in winter it remains to be content with leaves dried ahead of time. However, not everyone likes their aroma, since it acquires a specific smell of dried spices. If you love fresh mint, knowing how to grow mint on a windowsill will come in handy. Even one pot will be enough for the fragrant leaves to last until the summer season.
Planting methods for mint
You can get a fragrant spice on the windowsill in one of the following ways:
- By sowing the seeds. One of the most affordable, but not the easiest, mint breeding options. The seeds are very small and taut-like. It is recommended to soak them before sowing, and then dry them slightly. It is not necessary to sprinkle the sown seeds from above with soil, otherwise they may not sprout at all. It is enough to spray and cover the container with foil. The grown seedlings must be dived into separate pots.
- Rooting the cuttings. You can put them in water first to form the roots. Or immediately plant the cuttings in light soil.
- By dividing the old bush in the garden, and planting the divine in a pot.
Cutting and dividing a bush is the fastest way to get a young plant. If you do not have a mint bush in your garden to take planting material, do not despair. For rooting, cuttings taken from sprigs of mint, which are always on supermarket shelves, will also work.
It is better to sow seeds in early spring, but to divide the bush - in the fall, before frosts. But you can root cuttings all year round.
How to grow mint on a windowsill - features of caring for a potted plant
In order for indoor mint to feel good and actively grow new shoots, it is worth considering what she loves. First of all, you should choose a wide, but not deep pot for planting. Bushes actively grow in breadth. The substrate for mint should be loose and nutritious, with a small amount of acidity. Such a soil mixture (in equal proportions) will fully satisfy all the requirements of the plant:
- ordinary land from the garden;
- humus;
- sand;
- peat.
In order for the leaves to retain their rich aroma, you need to keep the mint on a sunny windowsill. Caring for the bushes is not difficult and consists in the following:
- Regular watering in summer and less frequently in winter.
- Spraying mint, especially during the heating season, when the air in the house is dry.
- Supplementing the bushes in winter. If this is not possible, the flowerpots should be moved to a cooler room.
Mint grows well without additional fertilizing in one soil for up to 3 years. All this time, you can cut off its twigs and leaves for consumption, promoting the regrowth of new shoots. However, the maximum amount of essential oils is reached during the period when mint begins to form flower stalks.