If your mint plant is happy and has a little room to roam, it’ll usually start spreading all on its own. But if you’re not the patient type and want to grow your “mint family” a bit faster, you can definitely take matters into your own hands! I’ve put together some helpful tips to get you started—you just need to provide the green thumb.
Multiple Ways to Grow More Mint
If you’ve got a hardworking mint plant and a little patience, you’ll soon see tiny runners or offshoots popping up. To turn these into new plants, just gently dig around the base of the young shoot and snip it away from the mother plant. Get it into the ground or a pot right away—whether that’s a spot in your herb garden or a container for balcony gardening or your kitchen windowsill.
If your mint isn’t sending out runners yet, don’t worry! The plant is still happy to help you out via:
- Seeds
- Cuttings
Keep in mind that plants grown from seeds will have their own unique genetic mix. If you want a new plant that is an exact “twin” of the mother plant, cuttings are the way to go.
How to Sow Mint Seeds the Right Way
You can harvest seeds from an existing plant or just grab a packet at the store. Just a heads-up: this works best with heirloom or original species. Hybrids often produce seeds that won’t germinate well (or at all).
- Start your seeds indoors as early as March.
- Fill a pot with a mix of standard potting soil and sand, then dampen it.
- Scatter the seeds evenly and press them down lightly—don’t bury them deep!
- Cover the pot with a plastic bag to create a mini-greenhouse and keep it warm (at least 68°F).
- Lift the cover regularly to let in fresh air and keep the soil moist.
- Once they hit about 2 inches tall, thin them out or move them to individual pots.
- Wait until mid-May (after the last frost) to move your young mint outside.
Pro Tip:
Since mint seeds are teeny-tiny, try mixing them with a little bird sand before sowing. It makes it much easier to spread them out evenly!
Propagating with Cuttings
For hybrids like the fan-favorite Peppermint, you’re much better off growing from cuttings. Seed propagation for these types is slow and often disappointing. Honestly, this method works great for all mint varieties anyway!
- Take your cuttings in June, just before the plant starts to flower.
- Look for healthy tips about 6-8 inches long that don’t have flower buds yet.
- Strip the leaves off the bottom half of the stem.
- Place them in a glass of water in a warm, shady spot to grow roots.
- Change the water every few days to keep it fresh.
- Once you see a good root system, it’s time to plant!
You don’t *have* to use the water glass method, though. You can also stick the cuttings directly into the garden bed. Just pick a good spot, loosen the soil, and maybe mix in a little sand and compost.
Pro Tip:
Keep pinching off the tips of your young mint plants. This encourages them to branch out and get nice and bushy. Not only does it look better, but it means you’ll have way more leaves to harvest for your tea or mojitos!
