Am I Taking Good Care Of My Calamint?

Did you planted your calamint in full sun or partial shade?

Did you planted your calamint in well-drained soil?

Do you live in a region with hot and humid summers?

Are you making sure that the soil is consistently moist?

Do you feed your calamint frequently?

Do you prune your calamint to control its spread and to encourage new spring growth?

Do you harvest your calamint throughout the growing season?

Do you keep your calamint free of pests and diseases?

These species can thrive in full sun or partial shade locations. In areas that have strong afternoon sun, calamint will do better being planted in a shadier spot.

Known for being able to adapt to pretty much any soil type, calamint can grow in infertile, gravelly, loamy, and sandy varieties without issue. It just needs to be one that has good drainage.

If you experience chilly winters, calamint could be suited to your garden. They're relatively cold hardy and can survive even when temperatures reach almost as low as 0°F. This isn't a plant that appreciates extreme heat or humidity.

Calamint likes to be kept consistently moist, but it does cope well through periods of drought. To prevent stress in prolonged drought conditions, where possible, you should still lightly water your calamint after the top inch of soil has dried out. Overwatering, however, is a bigger problem. Calamint roots don't like to be sitting in standing water.

Unless they're planted in highly infertile soil, your calamint won't need any fertilization. If the soil is particularly deficient in nutrients, applying a balanced fertilizer just once at the start of the spring could help to increase the plant's vigor.

Deadheading the flowers before they start to seed in late summer or early fall is important if you want to control your calamints spread. Trimming back the plant to half height after the growing season can also encourage new spring growth and keep this bushy perennial from looking untidy. It can also redirect the energy needed to encourage more vigorous blooming.

You can harvest the leaves from your calamint plants anytime through their growing season from late spring to early fall. Picking the leaves at the start of the season and first thing in the morning is recommended for the fullest flavors.

Good job! You are taking good care of your calamint.

Calamint can sometimes get rust, which appears as small orange spots on the undersides of leaves. Use an organic fungicide and try to allow plants to dry between waterings. Stressed plants may also be bothered by whitefly, spider mites, aphids, and mealybugs.