What does peppermint look like and how to grow it?

Mint is famous for its taste and aroma. This plant is used for preparing various dishes, refreshing cocktails, as a flavoring for candies and chewing gum, as well as for medicinal purposes. Mint can be grown in your own backyard. It does not require any special care. Peppermint is rightfully considered the most common.

Peppermint (sometimes called English or cold peppermint) is a perennial herb that belongs to the Clay family. The plant got its famous aroma due to the presence of special essential oils in the leaves and stem.

Outwardly, it looks pretty attractive. Botanical description of the plant:

• stems reach a height of 100 cm;

• leaves are round or oval, dark green in color;

• leaves and stem are covered with soft fluff;

• blooms in small inflorescences;

• has a developed root system.

The medicinal plant cannot be found in the wild as it is a hybrid bred in England. Cultivated and grown in different countries.

Peppermint itself is one of the varieties of common mint. It differs from the simple one only in that the pepper has a brighter, even aggressive aroma.

By design, there is practically no difference between the two varieties of mint. Both of them are actively used for culinary and medical purposes.

Science knows 25 types of peppermint. The most popular are the following.

• Sadovaya... The plant reaches a height of 90-100 cm. The main essential oil here is carvone. It does not have an excessive cooling effect. This type of mint is often added to tea and other drinks, and is also used as a flavoring agent for toothpaste.

• Curly... This variety is frost-resistant. It also does not have a particularly bright aroma. It is used very often for cosmetic purposes and for preparing relaxing baths.

• Apple mint - often used to add to dishes. The plant is distinguished by round, velvety leaves of a dark green color.

• Fragrant - a perennial plant, the length of which varies from 40 to 100 cm. It has a straight stem with oval-shaped leaves of light green color located on it.

• Long leaf mint Is another perennial herb that reaches 150 cm in length. The leaves have a pleasant menthol aroma. They are often used to add to tea, other drinks and dishes.

Despite some differences, care for different varieties of mint should be the same.

You can grow mint from seeds not only in the open field, but also on the windowsill in the apartment. The first thing to take care of is preparing a suitable soil mixture. To obtain the ideal composition, it is necessary to mix in equal parts the soil taken from the garden, peat and humus (can be replaced with sand). The substrate must be well calcined in the oven.

Seeds can be purchased at the store or collected on their own if there are already mint plantings on the site. Sow in moist soil. To do this, it is necessary to make shallow grooves, distribute the seeds evenly around their perimeter, sprinkle with a small amount of soil and water. Moistening should be done from a spray bottle, because when watering from a watering can or bottle, the seeds will be washed out.

Can be planted directly in garden beds... This should be done in May when the weather is relatively warm. Mint takes root well in a new place if it was originally grown in seedlings. In addition, seeds sown in open ground also have good germination. The site should also be prepared in advance: dig it up well, apply fertilizers. Sow seeds and cover with foil. Once they are germinated, the polyethylene can be removed.

Growing mint in the garden or at home will not be difficult. As soon as the seedlings appear (approximately 10-15 days should pass from the moment of planting), it is necessary to carefully and timely care for them.

The most favorable temperature for growing is between 20 and 25 degrees Celsius. In low light conditions, it is better to choose a cooler place where the readings on the thermometer do not rise above the +17 mark.

Particular attention should be paid to watering. In no case should the soil be allowed to dry out, because this can cause the plant to die rather quickly..

In winter, when the heating is working, it is necessary to use either air humidifiers or spray the plants themselves from a spray bottle. If the crop is grown outdoors, timely watering is also necessary. In addition, it is recommended to periodically gently loosen the soil, avoiding violation of the root system.

Mint is propagated by seeds or by dividing the bush. The first method is simple and straightforward: here you need to act in the same way as for a standard fit. You need to collect or purchase ready-made seeds and plant one of the selected options.

Mint grows rather quickly, so it will not be difficult to propagate it. You need to carefully act according to the following scheme:

1. carefully dig out the bush, being careful not to damage the root system;

2. separate young shoots;

3. dig holes and plant them at a short distance from each other.

After these actions, the plantations need to be well watered.

If you grow peppermint at home, the plant may only be susceptible to certain diseases.

Here are the most common diseases affecting peppermint.

• Powdery mildew. This disease appears most often in the second half of the summer. The main symptom is white bloom on leaves and stems. In order to get rid of the disease, it is recommended to spray the plant with colloidal sulfur (solution with a concentration of 1%).
• Anthracnose, the main symptom of which is brown spots on the leaves. The treatment with 1% Bordeaux mixture will help to stop further development. You need to spray 3-5 times.
• Septoria, or spotting. Symptoms: brown spots, black spots, inappropriate appearance of the entire bush. Treatment is required at an early stage. A solution of Bordeaux mixture will help.

In addition to all of the above diseases, sometimes an unfavorable process is observed, which is called overgrowth... At the same time, a decline in the development of the root system is visible, the plant itself changes color to a less attractive one.

In addition to diseases, pests sometimes attack peppermint. They feed on the pulp or sap of the plant, causing significant harm to it. Most often, there are several of their representatives.

• Mint flea - a small yellow beetle that makes small holes in the leaves. Mint becomes outwardly not particularly attractive, but you can eat it.
• Aphid Is a common pest that attacks many plants, not bypassing mint. The best way to fight aphids is to plant ladybirds on the plant. Aphids are food for them, so they will soon leave the mint bushes.
• Meadow moth – a rather dangerous insect that is capable of attacking mint bushes in whole flocks and destroying them almost to the very foundation.

It will not be difficult to grow peppermint at home or on your garden plot, since this plant is really unpretentious to care for. Experienced gardeners recommend growing mint in a separate bed, away from vegetables and ornamental crops. It grows rather quickly, so it can harm its neighbors. The flowers and vegetables themselves can suffer from nutritional deficiencies.