How to Grow Spearmint in Containers

Spearmint (Mentha spicata) can be an excellent addition to any container garden. As a member of the mint family it is a great beginner herb and it has a number of uses from salads to beverages.

Some of the reasons to add spearmint to your herb garden include:

It adds a great minty aroma that is pleasant to be around but barely noticeable unless you’re smelling for it
That minty aroma actually deters a number of garden pests
It is a vibrant green
It can form a beautiful bushy herb when pruned correctly
You can use it for a very relaxing tea
You can use it for watermelon salads
You can use it for mojitos!

So those are the reasons you should plant spearmint in your garden, but why shouldn’t you?

You may have heard folks say before that mint is invasive and impossible to kill. I am here to tell you that this is both true and untrue. Do NOT be afraid to add mint to your container garden just because others say it is invasive! When kept in appropriate conditions mint is incredibly aggressive and can sprout from a tiny segment of roots. I would never encourage a gardener to plant mint in the ground where it can spread outside of your garden. That being said, I have managed to kill 3 containers worth of spearmint.

Here are the 3 ways I’ve killed spearmint so that you can learn from my mistakes:

Under-watering – Despite being hardy, mint still needs water! While I was on vacation one summer I neglected to ask a friend to water my mint and a small container of spearmint shriveled up and died.
Over-pruning – I watched an internet video that said I was harvesting mint wrong and that I should be pruning the entire plant to the dirt for each harvest. I did this twice and the second time the plant did not recover.
Pests – The first time I killed mint it was not actually me, it was a horde of Japanese beetle larvae. In the spring of 2021 my mint did not come back strong after the winter months. I tried fertilizing it, watering it more, watering it less, not harvesting it and I just could not achieve the abundance I had the previous two years.

As long as you keep your pot in a sunny location, keep your soil moist, prune your plant no more than 30% at a time and take a look in your soil if your plant starts spontaneously dying, your plant will thrive and all of your neighbors will think you have the greenest of thumbs.

The below directions can be used for any species in the Mentha genus.

How to Grow Spearmint

I recommend growing spearmint in containers for many reasons:

You can grow it anywhere, including inside!
You can control moisture
It won’t take over your garden – mint spreads via its roots and is incredibly hard to get rid of if you change your mind about growing it in your space.
It is easy to harvest in a container because it bunches up nicely and some of the stems will cascade over the sides of the pot

How to Grow in Containers:

Sun: Spearmint thrives in full sun to partial shade. I place my container in a location that receives a lot of sun in the morning but shade in the afternoon.
Moisture: This plant prefers moderate moisture. The soil should always feel moist to the touch but not wet. You will see the plants visibly wilt when they need water but they recover very quickly!
Soil: I have kept my plant in a standard potting mix since 2019 and it has thrived! You do not need to regularly fertilize.
Container Size: I recommend planting this herb in a 10 inch pot. You can definitely start it in a smaller pot, but it grows quickly and if you start it in a large container you will never need to worry about up-potting it.
Planting/Propagating: You can plant this herb by seed, start, or division. Since roots grow all along the stems, you can divide the plant and separate it into new pots at any time. This plant does take a long time to get established from seed so I normally recommend planting a started plant for beginners.
Yearly Maintenance: The biggest maintenance that this plant needs is annual division. Mint likes to spread aggressively via the roots so dividing the plant annually can prevent it from becoming root bound. As an added bonus, annual division will allow you to check for pests!
Winterizing: The taller stems all tend to die off during the winter months so I like to prune all stems to the dirt right before the first frost. This seems to help the plant go dormant over the winter months and then it comes back without a problem in the spring.
Pruning/Harvesting: You can harvest mint one of two ways. You can prune branches back to a pair of leaves so that the plant will branch out or you can cut the stems all the way to the soil. I prefer pruning the branches to a pair of leaves because I think it creates a fuller bushier plant. No matter which pruning method you choose, do not prune more than 30% of the plant at a time.
Preserving: You can hang stems to dry or use a food dehydrator.

Using Spearmint

When a person refers to using spearmint they refer to using the aerial, or above ground, parts of the plant. Those parts are either used fresh, or more often, used dried. It is used as both a culinary and medicinal herb.

Some of the most common things spearmint is used for include:

Fresh salads
Jelly
Soda
Tea for both relaxing and as a digestive aid
Lotion for irritated skin
Tincture for digestive problems
Essential oil for relaxing
Potpourri

I think the absolute easiest way to use spearmint is in a simple tea.

Spearmint Tea

Steep 1 tsp of dried spearmint, or 2 tsp of fresh spearmint, in boiling water for 5-10 minutes.

I hope you all have enjoyed this post and I wish you luck and chaos in the garden!

Learn More

Online Resources:

Books I love:

I am an Amazon Associate and that is reflected in the below affiliate links. I will make a small commission if you purchase the below books with my affiliate link. That being said, please check your local or favorite indie book store for them! I’d much rather you support a small business than give me a kick-back.

Facebook

Twitter