Overheard my neighbor say her mint plant took over her entire balcony

I was watering my tomatoes this morning and heard Mrs. Patterson two floors down talking on the phone about how her mint plant from last spring spread through every pot she had. That brought me back to my first balcony garden three years ago when I planted mint directly in a big rectangular planter without any barriers. By August it was choking out my basil and actually cracked the plastic pot from all the root growth. I spent a whole Saturday untangling those roots and repotting everything, and now I only keep mint in a separate hanging bucket. Has anyone else had an aggressive herb surprise them like that?

2 comments

2 Comments

johns1812h ago

That's actually a fair point, never really thought about the sun cracking the pot instead.

ben43623h ago

Actually mint's roots are pretty aggressive but I've read some studies that say it mostly spreads through aboveground runners, not really underground roots cracking pots. The cracked planter was probably just from the plastic getting brittle in the sun over time. Just something to keep in mind if you ever try containing mint again with a barrier underground.