I received from Nichols Seed Company yesterday the two mint plants I
ordered in January. One is a Black Simpson peppermint and the other a
spearmint. I am considering transplanting them both to a seven gallon
nursery pot. They will share an apartment for a while until I figure-
out how much of each I will use. If I need more of either for my
kitchen later I will take a cutting or a root to another location.

Are there cautions to this plan that my inexperience in gardening is
not allowing me to see?

Any comment is welcome.

Thank you.

Kitamun

--

Container Gardening in
Central California twelve miles from the ocean
Climate 10a

Separate Posting to Newsgroups: rec.gardens and rec.gardens.edible

On 4/26/2008 8:13 PM, kitamun wrote:

I received from Nichols Seed Company yesterday the two mint plants I
ordered in January. One is a Black Simpson peppermint and the other a
spearmint. I am considering transplanting them both to a seven gallon
nursery pot. They will share an apartment for a while until I figure-
out how much of each I will use. If I need more of either for my
kitchen later I will take a cutting or a root to another location.

Are there cautions to this plan that my inexperience in gardening is
not allowing me to see?

Any comment is welcome.

Thank you.

Kitamun

Mint in a container will eventually fill the container. I have
peppermint in a 12-inch red-clay flowerpot.

About once every two years, I knock the mint and its root ball out of
the pot. That is, I turn the pot upside-down and rap it sharply (but
not sharply enough to break the pot) on the edge of a table or other
firm surface. I can then lift the pot off the plant.

With a sharp paring knife I cut the root ball vertically in half and
then in half again. I keep one of the quarters and trash the rest. (DO
NOT ATTEMPT TO COMPOST THE TRASHED PARTS. You may wind up with a very
invasive pest.) I cut about 2 inches off the bottom of the root ball of
the quarter I'm keeping. Using fresh potting mix per my do-it-yourself
recipe (see http://www.rossde.com/garden/garden_potting_mix.html)
under and around the quarter I've saved, I repot it. I water the result
heavily, until the potting mix is quite soggy. (Mint is a thirsty
plant, requiring much more water than most herbs.)

I do the same with tarragon and oregano, again about once every two
years but without saturating the potting mix as these herbs don't need
as much water. In all cases, I put the pot in the shade against the
north side of my house for about a week or two. Then I move the pot
back into my garden, where it gets some morning sun.

--
David E. Ross
Climate: California Mediterranean
Sunset Zone: 21 -- interior Santa Monica Mountains with some ocean
influence (USDA 10a, very close to Sunset Zone 19)
Gardening pages at http://www.rossde.com/garden/

Mint is pretty hard to kill. And it WILL take over the yard if
planted in the ground, trust me!
I think it also root in water.

Good luck

On Apr 27, 12:36 am, Laura at theGardenPages
wrote:
Mint is pretty hard to kill. And it WILL take over the yard if
planted in the ground, trust me!
I think it also root in water.

Good luck

Mint will also grow in water. A friend got a Curley mint to go in a
small tub pond and gave it to me when she tired of the pond. I keep it
very wet with water always standing in the oversized bottom saucer,
and my dogs drink that water constantly. I haven't tasted it but
wonder if it tastes like mint to them? I can't bring myself to trying
it.
Thanks for the tip about repotting it. Mine is about filling the pot!!
Nan in DE

In article ,
kitamun wrote:


I received from Nichols Seed Company yesterday the two mint plants I
ordered in January. One is a Black Simpson peppermint and the other a
spearmint. I am considering transplanting them both to a seven gallon
nursery pot. They will share an apartment for a while until I figure-
out how much of each I will use. If I need more of either for my
kitchen later I will take a cutting or a root to another location.

Are there cautions to this plan that my inexperience in gardening is
not allowing me to see?

Any comment is welcome.

Thank you.

Kitamun

--

Container Gardening in
Central California twelve miles from the ocean
Climate 10a

Separate Posting to Newsgroups: rec.gardens and rec.gardens.edible


As others have commented, it would be more of a challange to try to kill
these plants, once they are established, and they establish themselves
very easily.

--
Bush Behind Bars

Billy
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9KVTf...ef=patrick.net
http://au.youtube.com/watch?v=7WBB0s...eature=related

On Apr 26, 11:13 pm, kitamun wrote:
I received from Nichols Seed Company yesterday the two mint plants I
ordered in January. One is a Black Simpson peppermint and the other a
spearmint. I am considering transplanting them both to a seven gallon
nursery pot. They will share an apartment for a while until I figure-
out how much of each I will use. If I need more of either for my
kitchen later I will take a cutting or a root to another location.

Are there cautions to this plan that my inexperience in gardening is
not allowing me to see?

Nearly impossible to kill even by neglect. Start new
plants by burying a stem. Cut free and repot once
roots form at nodes.

[This followup was posted to rec.gardens and a copy was sent to the
cited author.]


says...

I received from Nichols Seed Company yesterday the two mint plants I
ordered in January. One is a Black Simpson peppermint and the other a
spearmint. I am considering transplanting them both to a seven gallon
nursery pot. They will share an apartment for a while until I figure-
out how much of each I will use. If I need more of either for my
kitchen later I will take a cutting or a root to another location.

Are there cautions to this plan that my inexperience in gardening is
not allowing me to see?

I thank everyone who posted in response to my inquiry of suitability
to potting peppermint and spearmint plants together. The main caution
was their known tendency to colonize nearby territory. I planted them
together in a seven gallon nursery pot (14 inch diameter) and told
them to stay there. They seemed to agree that they would.

http://fasterupload.com/files/83976afnfc569bwkc3lc.jpg

Kitamun

--

Container Gardening in
Central California twelve miles from the ocean
Climate 10a

Separate Posting to Newsgroups: rec.gardens and rec.gardens.edible