How to Grow Your Own Catnip

It is not commonly known, but fresh catnip gives our feline buddies a lot more pleasure than the dried variety sold in most pet stores. No matter how fresh the package states its contents are, catnip you grow yourself is more potent and is preferred by cats. It is easy to grow your own, indoors or outdoors. Your cats will appreciate your efforts as they have a high old time! Growing catnip is easy, cheap, and you can even use the leaves to make a cup of tea for yourself!

Difficulty: Moderately Easy

Instructions

Things You'll Need:

• Small containers
• Potting soil
• Catnip seeds
• Water
• Plastic Wrap
• Hanging pot
• Patience

1. Choose several small containers to start your plants in, depending on how many seeds you intend to plant. You can buy special pots from the garden section of a store, or you can reuse and recycle things like clean yogurt containers, or even egg cartons. The plant won't be in this pot too long, so it does not have to be super sturdy in order to work.

2. Choose a good quality potting soil. Catnip is a prolific plant and is not too fussy about the type of dirt it grows in. Commercial potting soil has been sterilized, which insures that the catnip is all that will be sprouting! Dirt from your yard will do in a pinch, but be aware that you might get unidentified plants as well as catnip.

3. Catnip seeds are easy to find! Buy them from seed catalogs or from the home and garden center of your favorite mass merchandiser such as WalMart or Target. Organic seeds are nice, but not necessary.

4. Now, you are ready to plant your catnip seeds. First, prepare the pots. Fill each pot not quite to the top with potting soil. Moisten the soil with water. Make a small indentation in the soil--no deeper than around 1/8 inch or so. Take a tiny pinch of the catnip seeds, and place in the small hollow you made. Gently cover the seeds with the soil. You can also plant catnip seeds directly in your garden after all danger of frost has passed. But be aware that if you do this, all the neighborhood cats will not only be drawn to the catnip one it has begun to leaf out, but will shred it, roll in it, eat it and generally make a big mess of what you worked so carefully to grow. Pots that can be kept out of every kitty's reach are much more practical.

5. Find a nice sunny spot indoors that is safe from inquiring noses and paws to place your newly-planted pots of catnip. Cover the plants with a sheet of plastic wrap to simulate the growing conditions of a greenhouse. Remove the wrap just as soon as you see the sprouts appear. Allow your catnip plants to grow indoors until they reach about 2 inches in height. Make sure to keep the soil moist at all times--catnip really likes water! Once the plants are this size, they should be ready to transplant into their new home and live outside. Or, if you prefer, you can keep catnip plants inside.

6. The best advice to insure the ease of having fresh catnip without the worry of cats destroying it seems to be planting in a hanging pot. Indoors or out, this is the way to go. It's easy for you to tend the plant and place it in a sunny location, and quite difficult for cats to reach it when it is hanging at your own eye level! You can plant several seedlings per pot for a good-sized plant.

7. As the catnip plant grows, be sure to pinch off the new leaves in order to make the plant bush out and have more leaves. Otherwise,the plant will consist of several tall, weedy shoots and far fewer leaves. Since the leaves and buds are what attract your cat the most, you want to make sure to have as many as possible from each plant.

8. Harvesting your catnip is easy, but the right timing is crucial. You want the leaves to have as much natural oil in them as possible. This seems to happen at the time that the plant begins to bud out, so this is the best time to start picking and preparing to dry. You can cut the plant back rather severely when you harvest the catnip.... it will come back. It is hard to kill catnip! Lay the stems out in a catproof area to dry, or you can use your oven turned on a very low temperature. Watch the catnip carefully while drying, and turn as needed.

Tips & Warnings

• Catnip is a member of the mint family, and as such makes a delicious tea. You can also enjoy the fruits of your catnip harvest! Catnip tea can be a very soothing beverage. All you need to do to prepare it is to take a heaping teaspoon of dried catnip, and add to a cup of very hot water. Let it all steep for about three minutes, then strain the catnip out, using a tea strainer. Sweeten to taste and enjoy!
• If you think your cat doesn't like catnip, don't make a final conclusion until you have offered him or her fresh catnip. It truly makes all the difference in the world!
• All cats do not respond to catnip. Research has proven that around a third of all cats are not affected by catnip whatsoever.
• Don't offer catnip to your pet more than once a week. Cats can become immune to the effects of this herb. Why spoil their fun?
• Catnip can cause behavior changes. A normally sweet and docile cat can turn into a real brat after inhaling and/or eating catnip. It's best to monitor your cat the first few times he or she tries fresh catnip.

[Hedgehog1]

on 8/11/2008 I was thinkng about making cat treats by mixing catfood, fresh catnip, and cat treats in a blender. Would my cat eat it?

[prism]

on 3/22/2008 We have 5 cats and my son decided we should grow some catnip for them. It is impossible to grow any type of plants in our home without the cats destroying them. They have even gotten to hanging plants. We set up an area in our basement with florescent lights to have a little indoor garden and the catnip is doing fantastic. It is very easy to grow. Every time we water, my son snips a leaf for the cats. They absolutely love it!