How to Start Mint Plants From Cuttings

Mint is a plant that grows well from cuttings.

Mint is a versatile herb with many culinary applications from mint cookies and mint tea to mint jelly served with roast beef and lamb. Popular varieties such as spearmint and peppermint are used to flavor candy and freshen breath. Additionally, mint is said to help with digestion. Because mint can become invasive, it is usually left in a pot instead of sown directly into a garden plot. Mint can be started from seed, but it will grow very well from cuttings.

Things You'll Need

• Parent mint plant
• Garden shears
• Peat moss
• Rooting hormone
• 4 inch plastic seedling pot
• Plant mister
• Plastic bag
• Grow light

Instructions

1. Select a parent mint plant that is free of diseases, mold, mildew or root spot. Healthy parent plants will produce healthy offspring.

2. Take a cutting from the tip of a mint shoot with a pair of sharp pruning shears. The cutting should be about 6 inches long. Slice through the stem at a 45 degree angle just below the point where the leaves emerge from the stem. This point is called a node.

3. Strip off the leaves on the bottom half of the stem. Fill a 4-inch plastic seedling pot with peat moss and mist until damp. Peat moss should be as damp as a wrung-out sponge.

4. Dip the tip of the mint stem in the rooting hormone. Then insert the stem into the peat moss and press the stem into the soil until the cutting is halfway buried.

5. Place the pot into a plastic bag and close the top. Place the bag under a grow light or in a sunny windowsill that receives southern exposure. Check the bag daily to ensure that the plant does not dry out. Mist the soil as it begins to dry. Remove the bag when roots develop, but continue to keep the plant moist.

References

• Purdue University Consumer Horticulture: Propagate Herbs Now For Yearlong Enjoyment
• Planet-Science: Mint Farming
• Patrick de Pinguin: Growing Your Own Mint Plant