Catnip

How to propagate catnip

Almost everything in the mint family roots from cuttings so readily it feels like cheating. Snip a 4–5 inch non-flowering tip, strip the bottom leaves, and either set it in a glass of water on the windowsill or push it straight into damp potting mix. You'll usually see roots in 1–2 weeks. Seed works too, but cuttings give you an exact copy of the parent — which matters when one plant tastes better than its neighbor.

Beginner's path: take more cuttings than you think you need. They're free, they cost you nothing but a few minutes, and the ones that take more than make up for the ones that don't. This is how a single plant becomes a hedge, a row, or a gift for every neighbor on the street.

Growing catnip in Texas

Give it full sun to part shade and average, well-drained soil. Match the spot to the plant and most of the battle is already won.

Because it's a perennial, the work is mostly up front. Get it sited and established and it comes back on its own year after year — one of the best returns on effort in the whole garden.

Once it's rooted in, this is a low-water plant — overwatering does more harm than drought here. Water deeply to establish, then back off and let it prove how tough it is.

Harvesting

Figure on roughly cut as needed before you're harvesting. Pick herbs in the morning after the dew dries for the strongest oils, and harvest little and often — regular cutting keeps a herb bushy and stops it bolting. The part you're after: leaves.

Making more for free

If you want more, let your healthiest plants mature fully and collect the seed once it's dry on the plant — then store it somewhere cool, dark, and dry until next season.