Plant Propagation - Taking Mint Cuttings The Really Really Easy Way.

A few weeks back we where given some mint stems so we could use the leaves to make some mint source for our Sunday lunch. I decided to make the mint source. When I made the source instead of taking all the leaves of and chopping up the stems also I just took the lower leaves off and left just a few leaves on at the top and all of the small sideshoots on the main stem. I then cut the stem so it was about 3 inches long just below a leaf joint and placed them in a glass of water.

After about 2 weeks or so small fine roots started to form on the stems. These roots I like to call water roots and they are very thin and fragile unlike the roots you find on plants growing in the ground or in compost which are a lot stronger and the density is greater. The roots had formed and it was time to get them potted up. This picture shows the water roots on the mint stems. These took around 2-3 weeks to form after sitting on the kitchen window sill.

I then gathered together 2 pots and something to stand them on as they are going to grow on for a little bit longer on my bedroom window sill. The pots where dirty so I washed them over in a solution of jeyes fluid (which is an exterior disinfectant). Hence they are wet. I rinsed them over well in fresh water to remove and residue of the disinfectant. I then dried the pots.

After filling the pots with a good multi purpose compost, being carefull not to over fill them so it is easier to water I carefully so not to damage the fragile roots, placed in the rooted cuttings around the side of the pots. The reason why I placed them around the side of the pots is due to fact that there is more drainage at the side of pots than there is in the center.

Once the sides of the pots where full I watered them and then placed the plant pots in the stands on my bedroom window sill. That is a very easy way of rooting mint, and also getting some great mint source also.