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How to grow Mint from cuttings

By geekgardener, on January 17th, 2012%

 

In most of my posts/comments, I recommend people to start with plants like mint that are very easy to grow. Mint for example, is easily available. It grows invasively and very easy to propagate. Or is it? I received many questions on how to successfully propagate mint. I have posted several times in this blog on how to root stem cuttings successfully but I thought it would be really helpful if I dedicate one post entirely for mint.

 

Steps to propagate mint with 100% success rate

  • Collect Mint cuttings — Buy or borrow mint that have slightly thicker stems.
  • Take the stem tip cuttings by making a cut at 3-4inches from the top. Make sure the cut is right below a node.

 

Mint-Cutting

  • Do not remove all the leaves. Leave them in the cutting, if the bottom most leaf in hindering them you can just remove them off.
  • Prepare the media (in my case cocopeat). The media should be moist but not wet. If you try squeeze the media, water should come out little bit.
  • Fill a propagation tray with the media. You can take any container. Propagation tray makes it easier to transplant.
  • Stick the cuttings into each cell and compact it so that the cutting is intact.

 

CuttingStuck

Mint-Cuttings

  • Now cover the whole setup with a polythene sheet. If your tray is small enough, you can enclose it in a polybag. Transparent cover is good. This step is extremely important. If you don’t cover the cuttings with a polybag, they will lose the moisture and wilt very quickly.

Mint covered in polythene sheet

 

  • Keep the setup in a bright location but not with direct sunlight.
  • No further watering is necessary. Keep an eye on the plants daily. The plants should remain fresh and not wilt. Wilting indicates that the plants are not covered properly in the polybag and is losing moisture.
  • If you properly followed steps 1 through 8, the cuttings should root in just about a week.

Rooted Mint cutting

  • Once rooted, slowly introduce the plants to the outside world. Since they were in humid environment inside the bag, sudden change in humidity will result in plant going through stress.

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  • Expose the plants to sun gradually. First start with an hour and then increasing by an hour every day to harden them.
  • In about 15 days time, your plants will be fully rooted and are good for transplanting.

 

 

This is how you propagate Mint from cuttings to get 100% successful results.

Happy gardening

GG

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8 comments   article, herbs, propagation   , , , , , , , ,  

Harvest from the Greenhouse – Beefsteak Tomatoes

By geekgardener, on February 16th, 2010%

Having grown small cherry tomatoes I started to long for jumbo sized tomatoes. I got some as clones from Anil and some as Seeds from another friend of mine. The seeds were sown long before the greenhouse was ready.

They were transplanted into 20L buckets and 10L buckets whichever was available at that time. The plants were looking so sturdy and thick. Those were the first ones to go into the greenhouse. So far I think they like their stay there.

Looking at the harvest I got from them, I think greenhouse works!

Tomatoes you see in the picture below are Beefsteak kind. You won’t believe  if I say that the plant that bore these was raised from a cutting.  The cuttings were grown in Soil + Compost( with a dash of 19-19-19 every week). Rest of the plants that came from seed, were grown hydroponically using coco-peat as a medium.

The fruits were perfect pumpkin shaped and very uniform both interms of shape and ripening. The one in the bottom of this pic is the largest in that plant( there are bigger ones coming read on).

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Below is the total harvest for the day, spread out in a tray. The giant ones that you see on the extreme left is “Marmande” a variety from France. I got this from one of my friend. Immediate right to it is “Pink of Berne” and the right extreme is Beefsteak.

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Total harvest came upto ~2kg. I thought I will let you see as I am gauging them.

Pink of Berne – 351 grams….           Marmande – 501 grams(280+220)

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The beefsteak tomatoes alone weighed a whopping 581 grams.

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This is the second biggest of all. The biggest one is still on the vine.This one weighs 280 grams. I haven’t tasted Marmande yet. My mom hasn’t seen this tomato yet. So once she is back, we might get to taste this..

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The beefsteak:

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Beefsteak tomato cross section. This one is the smallest of the bunch and we used for cooking. It was very meaty and had multiple locules as you can see. The taste was little sweet, little sour, a good flavor and was very juicy/pulpy. (oh god I am so bad at describing taste!).

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I know what you are thinking.. Seeds right?… I have already started saving the seeds for the tomatoes pictured above. Once they are ready I will let y’all know.

Cheers

gg

69 comments   greenhouse, harvest, hydroponics, vegetables   , , , , , , ,  
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