Mint - would I be mad to...

[didireallysaythat]

..just plant it out ?

I kill mint in pots. The herb border is already solid with lemon balm (so it would have competition). Or should I just plant it in the pot it's in ?

Usual advice to keep it under control is to plant it in a bottomless bucket - it spreads by underground stolons (runners), but not from very deep down.

Mine is in the pot it came from and pretty well behaved.

It will spread everywhere and from my experience very very quickly...so if you are cool with that then go for it! With regards to growing in pots, I can get pot bound very quickly so best to repot every year or so, taking out most of the plant and replanting just a bit of it, or rooting a new cutting. It also does die back completely over winter - apologies if stating the obvious - but just in case you thought you'd killed it and it's just that it hasn't come back up for summer yet!

No, for God's sake do NOT put it in the ground!! I speak from bitter experience. I am still pulling up reams of the bloody stuff, having made that mistake 5 years ago.

If it's dying, it's probably too dry. Put it in non-terracotta pot, in a a really shady, wet place and it will be fine. I grow mine in a bright purple trug with a broken handle on a north-facing patio in the shadow of the house. I just drilled some holes in the bottom for drainage.

Ooh I like The idea of using a plastic trug - I have used plastic pots but just in the usual planter size - a true would be a much better idea and would be easier to keep a larger pot moist. Plus the bright colour would look against the green leaves - am definitley pinching that idea, thank you!

Good plan - you'll need loads of it for pimms!

yes. my parents made that mistake. they basically have to lawn left.
smells lovely kicking the ball with the dc :o

they have no lawn left...

IME bottomless bucket would not work. I grow mint in a pot on my balcony. It tried v v hard to take root on the wooden planks.

It depends how much of your garden you want to be mint.

If at least 90%, then fine to plant out.

If you want to keep your mint in pots alive you have to feed it a couple of times in the spring and again in the summer and also do what Starman says and repot a bit of the old plant to avoid congestion.

I have about 17 varieties of mint, all planted in tin buckets and baths. They look and smell fabulous and grow really well in the shade.

I just would not plant it in the ground ever. Too risky.

Ok. I'm going to repot some of my barely alive mint plants, I've sewed some more seeds and I'll take some water cuttings. But I won't be planting out.

Anyone got tips on how you contain lemon balm ? It's in every bed and is out competing dandelions between the patio slabs.

I dig half of the clump out each spring before it gets going. It is a bit of a thug!

what would you feed mint with to help growth?

if you can get hold of an old sink, preferably belfast, they are great for growing spready herbs like mint. either bury it in the ground, or just use it as a planter.

what would you feed mint with to help growth?

nothing, it seeminly only needs air.

I must be the only one who can kill mint by planting it in the ground! Although I did see the cat peeing on it last year so that might have done it!

But mine doesn't grow! At all. I have it in a pot on the patio, and I've been watering it religiously for a month now. I have nowhere near enough for even a single jug of pimms.

Questions for those struggling with mint:

• is it getting too much sun? This is a herb that likes shade.
• is it in loads of fairly rich, moist compost?
• is it well-watered (but not standing in wet all the time - it will rot!)
• is your soil just a bit alkaline (if not, add a tiny bit of lime)?
• is it being weed on by cats?
• is it just spreading nefariously below the soil, ready to spring up everywhere when you turn your back? (Sometimes plants just need a bit of time to settle into a new pot too).

If your mint is in a pot it needs feeding! Multi-purpose compost only feeds a plant for so long. All plants in pots need feeding tbh. And proper watering too, not just a quick splash but a proper soak.

I find it really hard to get someone to water my pots properly when I go away. A bit of rain doesn't cut it.

sorry, you can use either a seaweed based feed or a tomato feed. Seaweed probably the better of the two.

You can make your own plant food by steeping comfrey or nettles in a bucket of water for about a month, then diluting into water. It absolutely STINKS though!

lovely, thank you. I have tomato feed for the geraniums. I will add some tonight when I water and move it to a shady spot (you're right, it is in the sun).

You'll be knocking back home-grown mint mojitos before you know it, welltidy!

Bring it on!!

If you are in south wales, pm me - I have just taken a load of strawberry mint cuttings especially for pimms!