Mints, more than just peppermint and spearmint

i got mine through trades XD.
Bonnie plants just seems to be the name of your distributor.

Hey everybody --

I really enjoyed reading this thread - what a wonderful world of mint and basil!

I recently moved to a new house and am basically starting with a blank slate (nifty, huh?). I was wonderng with all the mints -- do you have problems keeping them in bounds / under control? At my old place I had a huge pot for peppermint (which did not make the move) because I'd been warned not to put it in the ground.

What do you experts think? Thanks!

My chocolate mint choked out my spearmint, so I learned to keep it in the bed by itself and keep it trimmed. The trimmings make their way into my coffee and hot chocolate, so it's worth it!

I've been keeping my spearmint (don't know what kind - it was just at my local big box nursery), lemon balm, and chocolate mint in separate containers, but looks like I'm losing all of them....even though the containers are not all that deep, no chance of wet feet, etc.

Think I could put them in a 'living wall' project?

...mints are perennials, right? I'm fearful to put them in the ground; they'd take over....

Yes, they do come back every year with no problem, even here.

If they've been in their pots for a year or more, chances are they are overcrowded and need to be repotted, maybe divided if you're going to put them back into the same pots.

I have a couple of mints in 12 inch and even 18 inch pots... and they still get too crowded and start dying out (especially in the middle).. when you unpot them, you'll probably see roots & stems circling around & around the edge of the pot.

no - i put mine in pots when they're tiny, but they're not even growing into their pots - they poop out and die. :(

What kind of medium are you growing them in?
You live in florida, so making sure they aren't getting too hot around the roots is a priority, and also letting them dry out between watering.
But you also want a soil that's going to hold in SOME moisture.

OK, so go the other way... if you have a 2" pot with a "starter" plant, first pot it into a 6 inch pot and up-pot once it has filled that pot. How are they "pooping out?" wilting? browning?

What kind of pot are you using? A dark pot, especially in the sun, might just be getting too hot. Try putting them in a less sunny spot... "full sun" for people further north is probably like "part shade" in FL to many plants. Check them by sticking your finger into the soil mix before you water... as LadyA said, they won't like being bone dry for too long, but they don't love being waterlogged either. I like adding a pinch of polymer moisture crystals to soil-less potting mix, sort of evens out the moisture levels and lets me go a little longer between waterings.

I've lost all the mints I had in pots. It just gets too dry in the summer here and I don't have time to go out and water regularly. So I do put my mints in ground. However, I "build" a bed for them.

I don't have a picture but I'll try to describe what I do. I get two of those corner scalloped landscaping edging "bricks"--those concrete things that people edge beds with. You know, they're scalloped and are generally straight, but you need the corner pieces to turn corners. Two or four of the corner pieces make great beds for mint. Use two of them to form a small square or 4 to make a larger square.

Then I line the ground and the sides of the bricks with an old plastic soil bag. I used to throw them away, but they are thicker than the black garbage bags. So they are great for this project. Then I add soil and the mint. This setup will generally last a couple of years before the mint starts escaping. When it begins escaping, then it is time to share your mint with the rest of us. LOL

For those of you in hot places have you tried Soil Moist? (or similar product)
It's wicked nice. Makes it so you don't have to worry about things getting so dry when it's crazy hot out.

Yep, Soil Moist is one brand of polymer moisture crystals... if you're using them in quantity, try watersorb.org for good prices on quantities from 2 pounds to 50... and yes, I've gone through 50 by splitting them with several friends, but it was still a several years' supply!

For anybody not familiar with them, I wrote an article on the polymer crystals a while back... the photos show the importance of not using them too generously! LOL http://davesgarden.com/guides/articles/view/1092/

Hahaha I accidentally doubled the amount in a basket while working this last year. I guess I went off and did something, and came back and had forgotten I'd already done it.
Needless to say, the plant was not too happy, despite the rest of the display looking amazing.
Boy did I get a surprise when I stuck my hands in the dirt! lol
I also heard a good story from the nursery supervisor, where they had done some landscaping for someone at some point, and someone decided that to plant the trees with a generous amount of soil moist.
After water was added the crystals expanded into masses of jelly all over the ground, and the trees were practically floating in jelly! lol
But back on topic, when I was growing my mints indoors, they didnt do too well in soil moist. But I live in a much cooler climate than arizona or florida!!! =D

I've never had much luck with mints indoors... always seem to peter out after a while, even under lights... maybe I was keeping them too moist or not letting them get dry enough between waterings.

Joining in late -- I have a very healthy apple mint and spearmint, and a couple others that are currently struggling to get established. I am planting them between our barn and gravel driveway, to (a) soften the edge of the barn, and (b) give the mint a place to run yet be controlled by the traffic on the driveway. I tend to forget about the new starts and often lose them to not enough watering their first year. Once they do get established, they do great.

Just added in my container garden - Banana, Pear and Lavender Mint. I can confirm that the first and the last really do smell like the name. Pear ... meh, can't tell.

Did you find them locally or online?

I thought my banana mint had mostly died over the winter but it's come back nicely and now has a couple of little lavender pom pom flowers of some of the stalks. I had planted a spearmint in the basket with it in case it didn't make it. Now I'll have to repot the spearmint or it will take over and kill the banana mint. It did that to an orange mint one year--big bully! Lavender mint sounds wonderful!

Lavender mint is awesome. I bought some from Richter's or FragrantFields last year. Ooooh, it just smells divine!! Orange is another new favorite I've aquired.

My spice mint is the thug this year. I haven't really thinned it out in a couple of years and it really loves the spot it's in. My tall daylilies are hidden, so I'm going to have to do something with the spice mint. Everyone I've given it to is loving. They're supposed to give me recipes they use it in, so I'm waiting.

KyWoods I found them on eBay. dogwooderitternet had the banana and mybuckeyefarms had the other two. I received an eBay card from my Dad and went a bit wild lol.

All that survived last year was Pineapple Mint, Orange Mint and Applemint. The issue was pots I think. These three were in 8-10 inch bone colored pots while my others were in 6-8 cheapo green pots. I even lost peppermint and spearmint!!

I've added the three mentioned above and peppermint. Looking to add Kentucky Colonel, chocolate mint and maybe a couple other fancy mints. I will not be adding ginger mint - did not care for it.

Side note: I am looking for Kentucky because it's supposedly "improved spearmint." The regular spearmints in a local garden center have this smell that smells like exhaust, gas or oil. I can't put my finger on it but it's disgusting. The nursery hasn't gotten theirs in or I missed it, so I'm not sure if it's just this one store.

This message was edited May 5, 2012 7:46 AM

I'm surprised you don't like the ginger mint. It's one of my favorites. It's also the last one to appear in spring. Each year, I think I've lost it, and then finally it surfaces. I love the smell of it.

I have silver mint and just don't like it. I didn't like apple mint either. I let that one die. I keep trying it give all the silver mint away, but more just pops up.

I have two mints that I've lost the tags for and my mint expert friend couldn't ID them, and I think I got them from her years ago. So I'll have to keep buying mints until I find some that match these two so I know what I have.

Thanks for the sources, tikipod.

ButterflyChaser - I don't necessarily dislike it but I was disappointed it had no ginger smell. It did sell quite well at the nursery that ordered it in for me.

Tikipod, I have choc. mint and I LOVE it! Choc. mint is one of my taste addictions! I eat a sugar free choc mint snowball (we call them snowballs in S. Louisiana!) with a splash of milk every night lately. Few calories, great dessert!
I would be happy to root any of my mints for anyone and mail them when they are full of roots. Just let me know... Janet

I'm originally from New Orleans, and I remember getting spearmint snowballs, which were my favorite. You can't get that flavor here!

This message was edited May 5, 2012 8:33 PM

I would love a recipe if someone can tell me how to make them i'd be interested =D

Chocolate mint was one of the ones that didn't survive. I was so disappointed but the nursery will get them in eventually. I have a gift card for the local store so if THEY have it I'll be buying it and I know they have Kentucky.

I can't wait until these new mints get big enough. I want to see some to my best friend.

KyWoods, DELICIOUS! My fav growing up. Then I got stuck on strawberry with sweetened condensed milk--DANGEROUSLY good! But I'm off sugar now.
Back to mint--I never thought about using the mint to make a syrup. Hmmm. I don't have a recipe. I just buy Monin SF Choc. syrup and Torani SF Peppermint. Tonight I'm having SF Caramel with milk. Goodnight!!

I agree about the chocolate mint ... and also Mojito Mint. Love that in sun tea. I'm addicted. ♥♥♥

I keep cuttings handy in a jar by the kitchen sink just to rub and sniff. :-)

I want to use Lavender Mint in my lavender tea :D

Lavender mint does sound nice! Two that I'll look for again sometime are 'Marshmallow Mint' and 'Jessie's Sweet Pear', both of which had mild flavor and a light sweet scent (yes, like a whiff from a freshly opened bag of marshmallows and a ripe pear, respectively). I loved the soft leaves on the sweet pear mint, also.

Kentucky Colonel Spearmint is definitely better than "generic" spearmints -- none of that harsh resinous note that some seem to have. Similarly, I like Chocolate Peppermint better than most "peppermint."

And a glass of mint cuttings by the fridge is great to have... a little sprig in the bottom of a glass of ice water is nice, too.

No mints, tho usually I have spearmint and choco- or pineapple- mine last abt 2 years and I clean out the planter and have to start over, but for 2 years they grow Everywhere! Do have basils! Sweet, compact box sweet, blue African, lime, spicy globe( the bees adore this one), and red leaf( perilla) I keep thinned to 2 plants, hmm, am missing one somewhere, grew cinnamon last year, but most of the stuff died in our heat zone. I like pennyroyal mint, tho I don't have that one either.

Going to use the Oregano-Thyme Mint with Rosemary and Garlic to make a dipping oil. Also thought of using the Pineapple mint to make a flavored honey.

Mmmm, yummy ideas!

Another DG friend alerted me to the possible hazards of using garlic in flavored oils - thought I should share http://www.ext.colostate.edu/safefood/newsltr/v2n4s08.html

Wow, good to know, thanks for sharing it!

bump - just found you all.........
I have chocolate and spearmint in my garden, and they grow sooooo wild! They over-winter beautifully.
I dry them and use for whatever strikes my fancy at the time........ I also use fresh mint in my tea infuser. yummmmmy

Do you dry them before using them in the infuser, Tallulah?

Nope - put them in fresh. I know it takes more mint when fresh, but I Have So Much lol

Yep, there is never just a little, is there? lol Thanks!