Image – Wikimedia/NasserHalaweh
Is peppermint a sun or shade plant? It is one of the favorite plants to have in the garden, as well as in the kitchen. It grows very quickly and does not require much care, as it can live without problems without receiving too much water.
But, although it is an off-roader that really should not be given too much attention, it is important that we know where to place it and where we are going to plant it so that it is the easy plant that we all know. So, let’s see if the mint is sun or shade.
How to distinguish a plant from the sun and from another shade?
Image – Flickr/Forest and Kim Starr
Although there are exceptions, both sun and shade plants have certain characteristics that can make us suspect that they live either in direct sunlight or sheltered from it. To make it easier to understand, let’s compare peppermint to an aspidistra for example.
Mint has small, rough and somewhat leathery leaves.; on the other hand, the aspidistra has them much larger and smoother. In addition, the development is more compact in mint, and more “disordered” in aspidistra; because? Because while the first is in full sun, the second directs its leaves instead where there is more light.
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But, as I said, there can be, and indeed there are, sun plants that have large leaves (like many trees, like horse chestnuts), and shade plants that have small leaves (like azaleas), but for In general, the size of those leaves is a good indication of where they should be.
How much sun does a mint need?
pepper mint It is a herbaceous plant with sun, but it must also be in an area where it receives all day. It is important that even the seedbed is placed in a sunny area, so that when the seeds germinate, they become accustomed to exposure to sunlight from then on.
Sometimes we tend to protect the seeds too much, to sow them indoors for example, then to take them outside they spoil. And why are they dying? Because we may have placed them in an area where they receive direct sunlight and, not being used to it, they simply burn. This is avoided, as I said, by putting the seedbed in direct sunlight.
Can it be inside?
Not the most recommended. Peppermint is a plant that can withstand temperatures down to a minimum of -18 ºC and a maximum of 40 ºC very well, and since it also needs lots and lots of light, the best thing to do is to always grow it outside the house. , both in summer and winter.
But if we are happy to have it at home, of course we can have it, but only if the room where we are going to place it is very, very bright. We will place it near the window, and we will rotate the pot every day so that all the stems have the same amount of light; In this way we will avoid that it ends up having a messy appearance.
And if there is no room where light enters, the best is for the plant to be outside. It is not necessary to have a garden to plant it in the ground, since it grows very well in pots or planters. The only thing you need to keep in mind is that It is necessary to put a universal or urban garden substrate, and that said pot must have holes in its base.
The latter is one of the most important things to know, because if it were planted in a container that did not have one, the water would stagnate, the earth would be wet for a long time and the roots would die.
How do you prevent an “indoor” mint from burning when moved outside?
Image – Flickr/Forest and Kim Starr
By “indoor” peppermint, I mean a plant that has always been kept indoors. Good. Suppose we want to start growing it outdoors so that it is stronger and healthier. The first thing to be very clear about is that since it had never been directly exposed to the sun before, if we expose it to direct sunlight right away, the leaves will burnand they will also do it quickly.
To avoid it, you have to go little by little. We figured it needs a lot of light, so we’re going to put it outside in partial shade. During the first week it is advisable not to expose yourself to direct sunlight, even for a little while, but after the second there will be no problem as long as it is only for a few minutes. After the third or fourth week, you can give it more time, an hour or two at most.
It will not be from the second month that we can begin to consider leaving it in a place where it is exposed to the sun throughout the day.. And even so, it is possible for some leaves to burn, especially if it is a plant that has spent years indoors, as it will take longer to get stronger.
And by the way, never take a plant out in the middle of winter. For him to get used to the sun much more easily, he must be taken outside in the spring, not before, because even if he is genetically prepared to resist frost, if he has never had to overcome it previously, it could suffer significant damage if temperatures drop below 0 degrees.