My mint has taken off in the last week or so, so today seemed like a good time to divide the plants before they become truly rampant in Spring. Before division I gave the plant a good haircut and made my self a cup of mint tea.
I have harvested from the below plant a lot lately and while it could have kept going in this pot I think it will respond well to some TLC and new potting mix.
This is how I divide my plants: First remove it from its pot. I’m a fairly messy gardener hence no drop sheet or anything to collect stray dirt. Once the plant is out of the pot I usually just chop it in half with a spade ensuring the I am keeping about half the root system as well as half the leaves. (Apologies for the over exposed pics.)
I then repot the half I am keeping and discard the rest (alternatively this could be repotted in another pot.)
The below photo shows the divided mint alongside another which I have simply repotted in a larger pot. In this later instance I didn’t divide the plant. It will be interesting to compare any differences in growth. I use a lot of mint so hopefully both will be fabulously productive.
That’s exactly what I do. Mint is irrepressible, so there is never any problem propagating it. What do you do with the “other half” that you don’t re-pot? If you put it in the compost heap it grows like crazy. Destroying Mint is not easy!
Hi Mark, We have green waste collection so it goes in there – although I’m not sure if I am then creating a problem for someone else. As you say if you compost it you end up with mint every where so if I dont put it in the green bin then it goes into landfill (which does make me feel guilty but not sure what else to do with it really). Perhaps I should dry it out so completely it could never resprout and then compost it…..
Thank you, I am a new gardener growing some things on my balcony. It was really helpful to have the pictures to show what to actually do!
I had my first mint raita last night from my mint. Mmm.
Congratulations – I bet it was delicious!