Why Is My Mint Scraggly
Welcome to this post about why your mint might be growing into a scraggly plant. The most common reason for this is actually lack of sunlight exposure. It can be difficult getting the necessary amount during some seasons, especially the autumn and winter. Like almost any plant, without the sun they just won’t grow properly. Now, too much sun can also harm it. Other reasons may include a lack of nutrition in the soil or proper watering. Follow along and we will discuss the issues further below.
If you want to learn even more about growing mint and especially how you can make it grow into a bushier plant then we have put together just the guide for you. You can find the article here, How Do I Make My Mint Plant Bushy.
Why Is My Mint Scraggly
Like we said in the beginning of this article, the most common reason for having a mint plant that is growing scraggly or thin is because of a lack of sunlight during the day. If something like that keeps up then it won’t grow like it should. We usually say that if you are growing herbs indoors then they will need about 10 hours of sun each day. But if you are growing it outdoors then they generally only need between 6 – 8 hours of light.
You can see the difference pretty clearly. Since mint is a pretty hardy plant you can keep it outside during the season a bit longer than you might think. Where I live I usually bring it in when October comes around. At this point the weather is too cold and the sun is not out as much.
But we also said there are a few other reasons why your mint might be growing the way it does. Most commonly that will include it not getting enough nutrients from the soil. This can easily be fixed by making sure you fertilize the soil. We recommend doing this 4 times a year to keep it steady and not stress out the plant too much. If you want to use your mint for either cooking, or in any way consuming it we highly recommend using an organic fertilizer then.
Why Is My Mint Growing So Slowly?
One of the reasons your mint grows slowly can be because of watering. Too little can hinder growth substantially. Much like it needs proper nutrition in the soil to keep healthy, almost as important is having it get water. Mint is a herb that will excel and grow the best if it can stay in a soil that is kept moist and damp at all times. The only way to know if that is the case is by looking and feeling the soil. Then you should know whether it needs water or not.
I want to reiterate again on the question that we started off with, why your mint might be growing into a scraggly plant. The most common reason is because of the sun. Even though the soil might be healthy and you make sure to water it properly, it can still grow this way. So if you are keeping it indoors then it will need about 10 hours of light per day. If grown outside however, then 7 hours is usually the sweetspot.
If you want to learn a bit about why it might be growing thin, then you can check out our article here, Why Is My Mint Plant So Thin.
