Can i grow catnip

Both are lightweight and have good water holding capacity. Like other herbs, catnip is quite easy to grow and needs little care beyond watering and pruning when given the appropriate growing conditions. Catnip plants need full sun locations, preferring at least 6 hours of sun exposure every day but liking shade in the afternoon when grown outside in hot climates.

When growing containers indoors set them on a sunny windowsill of a south or west-facing window. Plants will become leggy if they do not get enough sunlight. Simple growing lights can be purchased online or at a local nursery to supplement indoor lighting conditions if necessary. Plants are drought resistant and prefer the soil dry to out slightly between waterings.

Allow the top inch of potting soil to dry out before giving your plant water. Then saturate the container until water freely drains out the bottom. Like mint, and other herbs bearing essential oils, it is recommended to not fertilize your catnip.

Fertilization encourages prolific vegetative growth and reduces the quality of the oils in the foliage and flowers. Regular pruning encourages bushier plants. After your catnip flowers, cut the plants back to 3 to 4 inches above the ground.

Within a couple of weeks, it will grow back; this new growth will trigger a new flowering cycle. Try to wait until your plant is at least 6-inches tall before harvesting, then use a clean pair of sharp scissors and snip off an entire stem at the surface of the growing media.

Plans are easy to grow and need little care other than plenty of sunlight and watering when the soil dries out. With an M. Updated September 28, Amanda Shiffler Plant expert, M. Skip ahead What is Catnip?

Uses for Catnip How to grow in containers Supplies for planting Basic plant care for catnip Conclusion. In fact, a planting site with some kind of boundary, such as a pot, raised garden bed , or stone wall, will help to contain catnip's spread.

Space catnip plants 18 to 24 inches apart in the garden. Position nursery plants and seedlings at the same depth they were in their previous container. Lightly cover seeds with soil. A support structure is typically not necessary for catnip. Catnip prefers full sun, meaning at least six hours of direct sunlight on most days. Too little light can cause leggy growth with sparse foliage.

However, catnip does struggle in extreme heat. So if you live in a hot climate, give your catnip a little shade from the strong afternoon sun. They can tolerate poor, rocky, and dry soils.

A well-draining sandy or loamy soil is best with a slightly acidic to slightly alkaline soil pH. Catnip is a very drought-tolerant plant, and sitting in waterlogged soil can kill it. Keep the soil of seedlings lightly moist but not soggy. If the foliage is wilting, give your catnip a deep watering. Catnip prefers temperatures between 55 and 85 degrees.

The plant tends to struggle in hot, humid climates. Especially in high humidity, make sure there is good air circulation around the plant to help prevent fungal growth. Mix some compost into the soil at the time of planting to give your catnip a boost. But if you have very poor soil, you can use an all-purpose liquid plant food or a layer of compost each spring.

Catnip is a self-pollinating plant. It will attract bees and other pollinators to the garden. Besides Nepeta cataria , there are several plants that go by the name catnip, including:.

The catnip plant Nepeta cataria is commonly confused with the catmint plant Nepeta mussinii. Both plants have gray-green foliage on square stems. However, catmint has a longer blooming period. Moreover, catnip is the plant that attracts cats while catmint does not. Catmint also generally has a nicer form, making it better for landscaping purposes. This perennial member of the mint family is native from eastern Europe eastward to China.

Like many mints, its stems are square in cross section, and its leaves have a soft texture, being covered by minute hairs. Its white to pale-pink flowers are highly attractive to bees, butterflies, and other pollinators. Catnip is hardy to Zone 4, and works well in containers. Catnip has been celebrated for centuries as a medicinal herb, and it has come to be known by many names: Catmint, catnep, catrup, catswort, field balm, or, simply, nep.

The word Catmint is now generally used to describe all members of the genus Nepeta, including the ornamental flower , but we are focused here on N.

Various early herbalists expounded on its medicinal properties, but none, perhaps, with greater enthusiasm than Nicholas Culpeper:. Nep is generally used for women to procure their courses, being taken inwardly or outwardly, either alone, or with other convenient herbs in a decoction to bathe them, or sit over the hot fumes thereof; and by the frequent use thereof, it takes away barrenness, and the wind, and pains of the mother.

It is also used in pains of the head coming of any cold cause, catarrhs, rheums, and for swimming and giddiness thereof, and is of special use for the windiness of the stomach and belly. It is effectual for any cramp, or cold aches, to dissolve cold and wind that afflict the place, and is used for colds, coughs, and shortness of breath.

The juice thereof drank in wine, is profitable for those that are bruised by an accident. The green herb bruised and applied to the fundament and lying there two or three hours, eases the pains of the piles; the juice also being made up into an ointment, is effectual for the same purpose. Catnip repels mosquitoes, flies, and other biting bugs — some gardeners say that if you rub a handful of plants on your skin, the oils will repel pests for several hours.

Catnip has medicinal properties — it is thought that the water soluble compounds in catnip are antibacterial in nature, lending merit to the age old remedy of washing and cleaning wounds with it.

Catnip grows into a floppy mound three feet wide, and is a hardy perennial that prefers open, dry places. You can harvest again in late summer if you wish.