Mint Propagation

Did you know that you can stick leaves in soil and it will root? Some plants are better at this than others, but the more succulent the plant, the higher the probability of  propagation.

I have an ice cream maker, and for the longest time, all I made in it was vanilla ice cream. I wanted to make a less bland batch, but didn't want to have to buy the ingredients for a new flavor every time I plan to make the ice cream

I wanted to make mint ice cream and was willing to wait until spring so that I could have my own mint plant and make mint ice cream without needing to buy mint every time I got the craving for it. I had a class about plant propagation and my TA/friend from this class told me that I should just take the knowledge I learned and grow my own mint plant from a few leaves. As in, I could buy it once, and have more than enough mint than I could ever use again. It WORKED!

I cut the mint back to the dormant buds (this is where new growth will develop) just above a pair of leaves, places a bit of the stem in the soil, and set in a greenhouse where it was misted with water every few minutes for 2-3 weeks.

 Constant watering and high humidity are perfect conditions for root growth from the stem. (We plant nerds call this cell dedifferentiating since the plant cells that were once meant for the stem are now needed to take up water and nutrients from the soil)

Now, I have a mint plant that I could easily re propagate again and again and start giving mint plants to all my friends.