Should I allow my mint to flower?

Roseamore · Mon Jul 22, 2013 9:29 pm

Hi Everyone,

I realized today that a couple of my mint plants are preparing to flower. I've never experience mint flowers
(only seen them on line) and I am curious to see them. However, I've been reading that after flowering the leaves become bitter, the plant gets woody, and the growth rate is reduced. I've also read that it is ok to let them flower.

Which one is correct? I want to see the flowers but I also want my plants to continue to grow well.

Advise anyone?

Roseamore

imafan26 · Tue Jul 23, 2013 2:42 am

I'd like to see them too. Mine have never flowered.

rainbowgardener · Tue Jul 23, 2013 7:13 am

If you want to keep harvesting mint, best not to let it flower. However bees love those flowers, so I sometimes do leave one or two.

Roseamore · Tue Jul 23, 2013 11:08 am

Hi Guys,

Thanks for responding.

Based on your reply I have cut off the "flower heads" off all but one of the plants because I really want my mints to continue producing.

Rainbowgardener if I let only one of them flower and then trim back all the branches to about four inches would that do the trick? That is, would the plant bounce back and continue to produce?

looking forward to hearing from you.

Roseamore

tomc · Fri Jul 26, 2013 2:28 pm

I guess it depends (on you) how bad you want seed of your mint. If not so much, cut 'em (the flower heads) off.

I don't recall if mint behaves like cilantro--once it flowers, aint no stopin' it.

rainbowgardener · Fri Jul 26, 2013 3:21 pm

Mint handles pretty much as much cutting back as you care to do and bounces back. I generally just let one or two stems on each plant flower and keep cutting everything else back. I don't particularly care about mint seed, since the stuff is easily propagated by cuttings and spreads like crazy by runners and what gardener doesn't already have more mint than they need? I just let it flower for the bees and the skipper butterflies.

Lucindra · Mon Jul 13, 2015 9:13 pm

I planted 4 mint plants 10 years ago....2 of 1 kind and 2 of another.....the others were chocolate ......they all grew well the first year and smelled great......all and more came back the next year......covering a 4 x 4 foot area.....now its a 10 x 10 area I keep cut back.....I never cut flowers and it multiplies.....I have put a flower with the leaves in the tea I was brewing.....

Roseamore wrote:Hi Everyone,

I realized today that a couple of my mint plants are preparing to flower. I've never experience mint flowers
(only seen them on line) and I am curious to see them. However, I've been reading that after flowering the leaves become bitter, the plant gets woody, and the growth rate is reduced. I've also read that it is ok to let them flower.

Which one is correct? I want to see the flowers but I also want my plants to continue to grow well.

Advise anyone?

Roseamore

pepperhead212 · Mon Jul 13, 2015 11:43 pm

tomc wrote: I don't recall if mint behaves like cilantro--once it flowers, aint no stopin' it.

This was my first thought when I saw this question! You can start cutting them off, when they start appearing, but after a while, you can't keep up with them! But then, I have a HUGE patch of mint.

Some people refuse to use the mint after flowering, as the flavor changes somewhat, but the things I use it in (mostly SE Asian cooking) have so many other intense flavors that I don't think this is really noticeable.