I Have Been Having Trouble Growing Peppermint, Lemon Balm, And…
Mel Asked
I have been having trouble growing peppermint, lemon balm, and spearmint even though I have been warned those things will grow like weed! I have kept them in a wide mouth pot. I used potting mix from the store and water them two to three times on a hot day, two times on a regular day, yet they don’t grow much, no spreading out, and half of them died. Should I keep them in partial shade?
The Gardener’s Answer
Hello, Mel in Kentucky:: You are smart to plant both the mint and the lemon balm in a container. They will certainly take over if planted in the garden. These are low-maintenance plants that are happiest when grown in full sun. This means they should receive a minimum of six hours of direct sunlight each day. It sounds like they are growing in a good amount of light so I would suspect that the issue has more to do with moisture than anything else. It is true that we need to water our containers more than we would any plant in the garden, and on extremely hot days when temperatures reach the upper 90s we might need to water our container a couple times a day, but really once should be sufficient unless it is hot and windy. Make sure your containers have drainage holes and are not clogged. As long as you did not use topsoil the container mix you purchased should be just fine for these plants. Before you water in the future you can test the moisture level by sticking your finger down a couple of inches into the soil. Even if the top layer of soil seems dry there may be sufficient water in the sub-surface. If there is still moisture when you test the soil do not water until the first few inches seem dry. Too much water can be just as detrimental as not enough.
