Nope. Can't grow true peppermint from seed. It can only be propagated by cuttings. While you will have a mint from seed, it won't be true peppermint.

FataMorgana

Here is a link that might be useful: Herbs Forum -

Yes, it is cheating, and no 'kind of' either! I call it downright fraud. But the practice goes on, and will continue to go on until consumers like ourselves riot in the streets (or otherwise kick up enough of a stink) so producers will do something about it. If the seeds came in a labelled package - boycott their products in future, and write to the producer, and to the place your bought it, explaining, in words of one syllable, just why, and demanding a refund. Spread the word. Hit them where it hurts the most - in the rear pocket!

Why do they do it? (a) because they can, and (b) because we let them get away with it!

You'll have to find somebody with a peppermint plant to get cuttings. Best way to do this is to join your local gardening club - most gardeners are friendly people, only too happy to share cuttings and seeds. Or try your local supermarket, produce section. They often have potted herbs for sale. Do a taste test before buying, however.

Peppermint is a man-made plant, and if it does happen to flower and produce seeds (which would be highly unusual), those seeds will contain the genetic material of the original source, whatever it might be (with around 600 species to choose from, it could be anything, but most likely spearmint or something similar). Such plants can only be propagated vegetatively - ie, by cuttings, or layering (ie cloning).

Richters (www.richters.com) as well as other online herb seed/plant sources sell good quality peppermint plants - that are correctly labeled!

FataMorgana

I have opened the richters.com site and in the seeds subpage they sell Menthol Mint, Korean Mint, Mountain Mint seeds.In the plants subpage they sell Peppermint plants.(saying that- DonÂt be fooled by seeds labelled as ÂpeppermintÂ, peppermint canÂt produce seeds because its flowers are sterile.)
So it means that they sell both mint seeds and mint plants. As for plants I may imagine how to propagate by cuttings, but what about seeds? What for do they sell mint seeds if they themsleves say in plants section that mint seeds are sterile?

Mint, has MANY kinds, and some do produce seeds. Its like trying to define herbs as a single plant type. When Richters offers plants, most of the time, they are for herb strains that can only grow from cuttings and not seeds. Because they also offer herb seeds, its because there are a lot of different kinds of mint, just like there are different kinds of other herbs, and some mint types can be grown from seeds, but not what your looking for.

Thank you. I have understood this mint growing technology.

I have some more questions about the pepper mint planting.
1) Which variety/sort pepper mint has the highest essential oil content up to 100%?
2) As I have read pepper mint leaves are ready for use only once or twice a year. But what if I am going to grow them at home all thoughout the year in a pot? Is it possible? How many usable leaves harvests may I have a year - more than two?

I harvest peppermint as 1.) I need and 2.) to keep the plants bushy and under control. I'm not sure what you are referencing that says that the leaves are only usable 1 or 2x per year. That's just not right.

As far as harvests, as a perennial plant like mint gets mature (2nd year), it will get larger and your harvests will increase. That is the nice part about perennial herbs, your harvests increase as the plant matures. With tiny, baby plants in the first year, harvest very lightly. Let the plant establish itself. Usually this is far from a problem for mint. In the second year, you can harvest up to 1/3 of the living plant material at any time. Allow the plant to recover and push more growth before repeating.

Btw, no plant would have 100% essential oil content. Plants are more than oils. ;) Check a vendor that has many mint varieties, like Richters, to see if there is one that lists a higher essential oil content.

FataMorgana

I have found several internet articles on pepper mint. Only they are written for out-door pepper-mint planting. They say that you should plant it in May-June, you'll get your first mint leaves before the plant starts full blossoming and then after plant blossoming you should cut the stalk 5 cm above the ground. On the second year you will get two harvests-one in June, another in August.
By harverst I mean aromatic mint leaves for culinary purposes- teas etc.
What do you mean by harvest? And how can you harvest the plant any time you want? What about the aromatic leaves qualities in the connectio to plant blossoming period?

You can take leaves (or stems) from your mint at any time for culinary use. Call it harvesting, call it collecting leaves, call it pruning to stop it getting leggy, call it trying to keep it under control, call it what you like. It can be done whenever you like, whenever there's enough to be useful.

Peppermint is unlikely to flower, but with other non-sterile mints, best time to harvest, especially for drying or for medicinal purposes, is just BEFORE they flower.

Which to my mind is a bit like 'country directions'. You know - 'when you've got to the mill, you've gone too far'.

Peppermint does bloom. It blooms under long day length-10 to 14 hours-15 hours is recommended for commercial oil production. Areas nearer to the equator are not likely to see peppermint bloom since the days are short. Being a sterile plant doesn't mean that flowers aren't produced, just that no viable seeds will be produced. If you are harvesting with the idea to produce oil, the best time to harvest is when the plant is blooming its heart out. This is when peppermint is producing the most oil. Watering from overhead can cause the oil glands to burst, thereby reducing overall oil harvest. I suggest that anyone interested in mint oil read The Big Book of Herbs for more information.

-F. DeBaggio

And just because the oils are highest at a particular period doesn't mean that the plant is going to taste and smell like straw the rest of the growing season. Your mint tea is still going to taste & smell like mint tea and I suspect that in blind taste tests few palates could pick out which cuppa is from what growing period.

FataMorgana

I was pleasantly surprised that I can harvest pepper mint for culinary purposes all throughout the year. Only I am interested in the mint taste level, does it decreases noticeably in some year periods? I bought last year some pepper mint branches at the market, but they didn't smell like mint, they smelled like any green leaves with no aroma. Later I got the explanation that that mint was not for culinary purposes, and really when buying it I and the seller called it just mint. So probably that was wrong kind of mint, would pepper mint 100% have mint smell and taste?

Finally I bought a pepper-mint plant in a gardening store. It is called "Swiss mint". I chose it among various kinds of mints- pepper mint, "Indian mint", "Citron mint" because the flavour is the most pleasant and mint-like.
I would call this flavour menthol mint. Now going to find some nice recipes of mint teas. Do you have any?

Swiss mint (at least the one I have) is a type of spearmint not peppermint. The two have very distinct flavors and aromas. Peppermint, Mentha xpiperita, is a sterile hybrid of Mentha spicata (spearmint) and Mentha aquatica (water mint). For me, peppermint always dies back when the days get short and well before most of my two dozen or so other mints-even in the heated greenhouse. So year long harvest may not be possible. Your Swiss mint may give you a longer harvest period although it may not put out a lot of new growth during the short days of winter, unless you provide some artificial light.

-F. DeBaggio

I wrote the word pepper next the Swiss mint name by mistake. When choosing among the mints by smelling the leaves I picked out the Swiss, because of the fragrance strength. Actually I didn't like the smell of pepper mint at all, it was even a bit not mint like. I exluded it when doing the choice. I liked more Citron mint and Indian mint.
I am glad that as you say pepper mint doesn't provide a all year long harvest that is opposite to Swiss mint.
I just wonder in what way the Swiss mint propagates itself by seeds or by shoots? Now it doesn't have flowers, will it have the flowers later?

Mentha spicata-spearmint (Swiss mint is a type of spearmint) is very promiscuous. It produces flowers and has fertile seeds but the seeds will not come true. In other words the seeds will produce spearmint, just not an exact duplicate of the parent-just like people. The only way to produce an exact duplicate of your mint is to root cuttings. Spearmint, like other most other Mentha species will spread vigorously via runners.

F. DeBaggio

I am growing my mint plant in a pot, it has one central main shoot and shorter shoots around it, some of them have tiny roots and I tried to dig in those roots by covering then with some soil. But the space is limited and I feel that in some time I should have to do something with those growing shoots.
-Would you recommend just to cut off the extra shoots by the knife?
-Actually I have now one young shoot which has some tiny roots on the stem. These small roots are located just next to the growing young small leaves. If I want to cut this shoot for transplantation, do I have to dig in the roots together with the neighbouring growing leaves into the soil? Won't it hurt the plant?

Just let the plant grow on its own. It will do fine without intervention and is growing the way it should. You are seeing how mint spreads. I grow my mints in a 12" pot and they are completely filled to the edge by the end of the growing season.

If you want to create a new plant you can cut off a stem with roots and carefully transplant into another pot. You can also root a stem cutting very easily. Cutting off stems and leaves is how you harvest the plant and will not hurt it.

F. DeBaggio

I have no problem growing any kind of mint from seed. Peppermint grows profusely in my area and is strong flavored for tea and smells wonderful when animals walk thru my yard and crush a little of it. It spreads rapidly and cuttings root in a glass of water in nine to ten days. I have several kinds of mint in differant areas and on a rainy day it smells like heaven here. I bring bunches in and put in a vase to perfume the house. Over the years almost every neighbor has requested cuttings from my yard because of the wonderful scent. I sure could use advice on growing nicotania tho. I love it but just can't keep it alive.

jan

Funny, I have both spearmint and peppermint growing near the deck and in a planter on the deck, and I can't smell any of it unless I brush up against it. It certainly doesn't perfume the air on its own. My night-scented stock, on the other hand...

I wonder if sprigs of mint in the produce section would be viable to start new plants? It's so easy to propagate mint using cuttings.

Mint? Go to the grocery store, buy a bunch of mint for a dollar or two. (Make sure it looks alive! Not wilted but vigorous.) take a 4" deep tray, fill with moist playsand (DO NOT MAKE MUD!...roots need oxygen). Pop pencil holes in the sand, drop in diagonally cut stems and cover with a humidity dome or a sealed clear plastic bag. Use sunlight or daylight artificials.

No rooting hormone required. In 2-3 weeks you'll have more mint to transplant than you'll ever need. If you want the roots to get big...leave plants in the sand, remove dome and water with with a super diluted nutrient supplement like Masterblend or MiracleGro This technique will work with almost all fresh cut (perennia) herbs.