Greens & herbs
Mint & lemongrass
A container only; they spread.
- Outside
- Set plants out after mid May
- Where
- A contained pot; mint escapes beds
- Sun
- Full sun; mint forgives some shade
- Water
- Often, even daily in heat; lift-test the pot
- Harvest
- Jun to Oct, cut as needed
Care
- Water
- Both are heavy drinkers all summer, wanting water daily in a container and twice a day in a heat wave. Tip the pot; if it feels light, you are already behind. Lemongrass, a big tropical clump, gets thirstiest of all once it takes off.
- Sow
- Neither starts from seed here. Buy mint already growing and set it in a contained pot, never a bed, with a tray underneath so runners cannot slip out the drain holes. Stand a store lemongrass stalk in shallow water for a few weeks to root, then pot it up once nights warm.
- Feed
- Lemongrass is a heavy feeder: a monthly compost top-dress and a fish and seaweed drink every couple of weeks fuel its fast, tall summer growth. Mint wants far less, just a light feed in spring to keep it lush.
- Ready
- Snip mint sprigs whenever you want them; cutting only makes it bushier. Cut lemongrass stalks off at the base once they fatten enough to use. Before frost, dig and pot a piece of the lemongrass clump to carry it over on a sill.
- Trouble
- Mint's real menace is escape: one runner into open soil is permanent, which is the whole reason it lives in a pot. It can also pick up rust or powdery mildew in still, damp air, so thin it for airflow. Lemongrass has few pests; its one true threat is frost.
In a bag?
- Yes
- Up to a 10–15 gal bag.
- Water
- Both drink daily in summer and twice a day in a heat wave; a bag dries faster than any rigid pot. 60 to 90 sec on the shower dial until it runs from the seams, and lift the bag to check, light means overdue.
- Feed
- Top-dress lemongrass monthly, since a bag leaches with every watering; mint still needs only its light spring feed.
- Sow
- For mint the bag is the smart home, not a fallback: it traps the runners that would take over a bed, so set it in a 3 to 5 gallon bag on a tray and never in open ground. Lemongrass wants a big 10 to 15 gallon bag for its clump.
Mint and lemongrass share one rule, keep them contained, for different reasons: mint escapes, and lemongrass just gets enormous. Both go out in late May and earn their keep in drinks and the curry pot.
Growing
Buy mint as a plant, not seed, and give it any bag in almost any light; the single instruction is never let it touch open ground, since one rooted runner is a decade of weeding. Lemongrass can start as a grocery stalk rooted in a glass of water a few weeks ahead, then goes into a big bag after mid May and eats heat and water all summer. Before frost, pot up a lemongrass division for a windowsill winter; it is a true tropical and stays wherever it is warm. Both drink prodigiously; if either bag feels light when tipped, watering is overdue.
Varieties
Spearmint is the drink mint and peppermint the tea mint; Kentucky Colonel is the julep pick.
In the kitchen
Mint covers tea, mojitos, and anything with peas or lamb. The swollen lemongrass bases go into curry and tom kha, and spare stalks freeze whole.