Spearmint is easy to grow, it is fun to grow, and you will use it every day if you have it.

Big Herb doesn't want you to know this, but a lot of time you can use mint in place of parsley, basil, or cilantro.

• It doesn't work in all cases, but way more than you'd think.

It's also tasty in cold water, or as a hot tea. And you can mix it into ginger ale or club soda for a super tasty drink.

Choosing and Growing Mint! 🌿

You want a spearmint (or similar) with big leaves. If you can find it, pick up something like:

• Spearmint
• Apple Mint
• Mojito Mint
• Kentucky Colonel
• Pineapple Mint

Varieties with fuzzy leaves are good. Big leaves are good.

Don't waste your time with tiny leaf varieties that will be hard to harvest, and don't waste your time with peppermint unless you actually have a use for it.

If you plant it in 5 gallon pot outside, it will come back in the spring. Whatever you have left over in the fall, you can freeze or dry.

There are a million guides on Youtube about how to trim basil plants to make them bushy: Basil is a close mint relative, and you wanna prune them the same way. Cut the main stem right above one of the lowest pairs of suckers.

Mint is easy to propagate in water (ideal) or even soil if you need to.

There is a chance that mint can hybridize with basil, but that's fine. You're mostly going to clone mint - not grow it from seed, so you' unlikely to actually see a hybrid. And if you do, you might like it. And if you don't, you can just rip it out!

Unlike basil, though, mint is hearty and pretty invasive. So it's best to grow it in a pot, instead of directly in the soil.

How to Propagate Mint! 🌿

Step 1: Cut a piece of mint! More stem is better, but get at least one inch of stem at minimum.

The best place to cut is just above a pair of leaves, to help branch the parent plant.

Step 2: Cut off all the leaves, except for one or two small sets of leaves at the top.

You need some leaves to keep the plant alive, but it's hard for a plant with no roots to keep a lot of leaves hydrated.

Step 3: Put it in water! You want most of the stem to be wet, and all of the leaves to be dry.

Once it has roots, you can plant it in soil.

This is my favourite way to propagate anything, but it's absolutely overkill for mint.

• Ambered Mason jar.
• 3 inch hydroponic net cup, with the bottom-middle bit cut out.
• Foam insert to hold it in place.

Notes:

• The most important thing to do is keep your leaves dry.

• If, for example, you stole this cutting and only have one shot, you might want to consider swapping out the water every few days.

  Generally, I don't really bother to do that. Just be patient, and it'll eventually propegate.

• If your stem is long enough to keep the leaves dry, you can also just stick it in wet soil.

  I find soil works, like, half as often? It's easier, but not nearly as likely to be successful.