Preparing mint cutting for propogation

Mint is easier to propogate by taking mint cutting that using seeds.

Remove the bottom leaves and put them in a glass of water. You can expect to see white roof after 5 to 7 days. Some stubborn ones can take a little longer.

Tips: Save the leaves to flavour your tea. 

How to know your mint cutting is alive?

After moving your water rooted mint cutting to soil, it is important to monitor and when you see : new leaves or babies, you know you can expose them to more sun (like other mature mint plant).

Cuttings below has been moved to soil a week++ ago. It has both new leaves and babies shoot. 

7 days after moving to soil:

10 days after moving to soil : you can see new leaves. 

To encourage bushy plant you can cut at the blue line, just above the baby shoot circled in pink.

Plant will start to branch out soon:

Tips: dry and crush egg shell and use as mint fertilizer. 

Growing mint in Singapore

Growing mint is very common in Singapore and Malaysia.

• Light : Full morning sun. Avoid direct afternoon sun here in Singapore due to heat. Full sun if you live in cold countries. 
• Water: lightly at least twice a day (unless raining) 
• Fertilizer : lightly every 3 to 4 weeks

If you do not have an existing mint plant, skip step 1. You can use mint purchased from supermarket/market for growing a new plant.

It is very easy to propogate mint using cutting. You will need:

- clean scissor

- glass container

- Water

Step 1:  Cut mint below leave node.

Choose healthy and strong cutting to increase chances of rooting. The cutting should be at least 3.5 inches. It is also important to thoose branches with many leave nodes as root will grow from node.

Step 2: Remove all the bottom leaves and keep only the top 2 to 4 leave.

Step 3: Place cutting in glass of water at a bright spot. It is fine to use a mug too if you can't find a glass bottle. 

Step 4: Throw and give the cutting new water every 2 to 3 days

Step 5: You should see white roots growing after 5 to 10 days.

Step 6: Transfer the cutting to soil when the root is at least 2cm. However do not wait too long as the plant may get shock and not able to adapt to growing in soil. 

Water the pot in the morning and evening to keep them moist. 

Keep the pot indoor for 1 to 2 week before moving them to the final location.

You should see new leaves growing within 2 weeks and new shoots when root is developed. Alternatively, you can trim off the top to encourage splitting. 

I will post an update after few weeks. Happy Gardening.