My peppermint doesn't smell very minty

[calendula]

This year, I planted peppermint for the first time. I purchased seeds from a reputable source whom I have been buying from for years now. Well, my peppermint plants are looking great and growing fast, but I am a little confused, because they don't smell or taste very minty at all! I harvested a bunch this weekend and put them in the dehydrator, thinking that maybe the herb needed to be dried to bring out the mint flavor, but no. Actually, its smell reminds me more of catnip than mint. But, I know it's not catnip, I grow that too. And I put it to the ultimate test: I offered some to my cat, and he agrees. It's not catnip. So what gives? Why doesn't my mint smell minty?

Here's a pic of it from earlier in the month:

 

[digitS']

With those wide leaves, it looks like basil, Calendula!

The mints are a part of a large family of perennials & annuals. It is a perennial, right?

What I think of as peppermint in my yard (there are a fair number of mints) has narrower leaves.

Steve

edited to ask: any chance that it is lemon balm?

 

[calendula]

Hi Steve, I grow both basil and lemon balm, and I am quite certain that it's not either of those. Unless maybe its some kind of species variation. It's confusing to me because the seed pack was clearly labeled as peppermint and had planting instructions on it and all that jazz. The package also says that it is a perennial.

...but I've been reading about growing peppermint from seed, and it looks like that's not a good way to go for propagating peppermint. The seeds are apparantly unreliable. Since peppermint is a hybrid, its seed wont produce true, so you never know what you are going to get! I'm not sure why they would sell peppermint seeds if this is the case though. So if peppermint is a cross between water mint and spearmint does it make sense that it could be one of those growing instead?

 

[thistlebloom]

Here's a picture of watermint, looks like what you have growing maybe?

http://www.google.com/imgres?imgurl...tp://www.scienceviews.com/photo/library/SIA00

 

[hoodat]

When you plant mint from seed the results are very uncertain. You might get great mint or (as in your case) not so great mint. Mint is a very variable plant. It's best to get a slip from a clump of mint that you like the taste and odor of. Mint will come true to the parent if planted from slips. Anyone who has mint will be glad to give you a slip or two. It spreads rapidy so they will always have more slips than they know what to do with.

 

[wsmoak]

Apparently, peppermint is a hybrid mint and is unlikely to grow true from seed.

I did the same thing though, and was thrilled to get anything to grow from those itty bitty seeds! Mine seems closer to spearmint, fwiw.

-Wendy

 

[RidgebackRanch]

Hoodat hit the nail on the head. I work for a seed company and they will no longer carry mint seed as what grows from seed is unpredictable and not true to the parent plant. It's best to buy a plant or get some from a friend. I will say though mint seed has always been popular and when there was a crop failure and no seed available demand was still there.

 

[jojo54]

Well that answers my questions too. I have chocolate mint that I grew for tea last year but it seems slow this year so I decided to dry some spearmint and peppermint that I grew from seed but did not use. Yuk! It was not nice tea - barely any minty taste at all. I thought it might be the season but now I know. I may be digging them up and growing more chocloate mint because everyone who tastes it wants some.

 

[Carol Dee]

If you can find someone that has peppermintI am certian they will let you transplant some of the EXTRA. Our spreads big time and is always trying to escape. We got our starts from my MIL's yard. Might be a better way to go than seed. Good luck.

 

[digitS']

Here is a mint I am interested in trying this year:

It is "basilmint" and it doesn't really have a minty fragrance either. I don't care for mints as teas (maybe they are the "true mints") but I like spearmint with chamomile tea, mint candy, mint ice cream . . .

I also don't care for basil as a tea.

So, this will be something new for me !

Steve