How to plant and care for Mint (Spearmint)

Mentha spicata

🌿 Herb 🔁 Perennial

The classic garden mint for new potatoes, peas, mint sauce and mojitos. Very vigorous — grow it in a pot.

Growing Mint (Spearmint): what it needs

Light: Part shade · 6+ hours a day
Watering: Keep moist; mint wilts quickly in dry pots
Soil: Moist, fertile soil
Spacing: One per 30 cm pot
Height: 60 cm
In pots: Grows well in containers
Feeding: A general liquid feed monthly in pots
Hardiness: USDA zones 3–9

Step by step

On planting day
Plant
Plant in a large pot (or a bottomless bucket sunk in the ground) — mint spreads aggressively by runners.
0–1 days after “Plant”
Water In
Water well, then keep just moist while it settles in.
30–51 days after “Water In”
First Light Harvest
Once it is growing strongly, snip a few sprigs — never more than a third of the plant at once.

Every year

March
Divide and Repot
Every spring or two, tip out the pot, split the root ball and replant a healthy piece in fresh compost.
May
Check for Mint Rust
Orange spots on the leaves are mint rust: cut affected stems to the ground and bin them.
July
Cut Back After Flowering
Cut stems to 5 cm after flowering for a fresh crop of tender leaves.
November
Winter Die-Back
Mint dies back in winter. Clear old stems; it regrows in spring.

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Photo: Forest and Kim Starr / Wikimedia Commons (CC BY 3.0 us)