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Pineapple mint (Mentha rotundifolia Ananasminze) is a unique plant. It is grown for its strong, pleasant aroma. You can place it in open ground or at home on a windowsill.
Description of Pineapple Mint
Externally, pineapple mint attracts gardeners with its unusual appearance. The bushes are low - from 25 to 40 cm. They grow quickly, as new side shoots appear during the growing season.
Pineapple mint is also called variegated mint, as the plant stands out among other species with bright green leaves with pale yellow or white stripes. The leaf blades are round, not too large, with clearly visible wrinkles. Serrated edges.
Pineapple mint inflorescences are also attractive. They are lilac with a hint of red. Buds are formed at the tops of the shoots. The inflorescences are large with a strong pleasant aroma.
Due to its decorative value and small size, pineapple mint is grown in flower beds or in a pot on a windowsill.
Uses of pineapple mint in cooking
Pineapple mint is a useful plant with healing properties, due to which it is widely used in cooking:
- Herbal tea. To prepare it, take fresh or dried leaves of the plant. You can prepare a drink only from mint or add the raw material to regular tea.
- Sauces and seasonings. Additives to meat and fish are very tasty and piquant if you use pineapple mint leaves.
- In the summer, mint is added to fruit refreshing drinks.
- When canning vegetables and fruits, the leaves are added to jars to increase shelf life.
- Decoration. Amazingly beautiful leaves with a border will enhance the appearance of cakes or pastries.
What is the flavor of pineapple mint?
Pineapple mint leaves have a unique aroma. If you rub them, it begins to seem as if pineapples were cut nearby. The inflorescences have almost the same smell.
Where can you add pineapple mint?
Pineapple mint is valued for its beneficial properties. In addition to cooking, pineapple mint leaves are used:
- As an air freshener. Dry pineapple mint is placed in fabric bags and hung indoors, for example, in the bathroom or bedroom.
- Another use is based on the beneficial properties of the plant. Leaves and inflorescences are added during bathing as a relaxation agent and to relax muscles after a hard day at work.
- Doctors recommend preparing decoctions of pineapple mint for diseases of the bladder and gallstones.
Landing rules
To get a good harvest of leaves, you need to take care of proper planting. Pineapple mint is most often propagated by seeds. Sowing time is very important.
Timing for hanging seeds for seedlings
Seedlings should not be grown in autumn or summer. In both cases, the planted plants will not have time to take root, and, therefore, may freeze out in winter.
The cultivation of pineapple mint seedlings should be planned for mid-spring in order to be planted in a permanent place after the air and soil warm up to 10-14 degrees.
Selecting a location
Before planting pineapple mint in a permanent place, you need to take care of a suitable site. Although this is a heat-loving plant, you should not allocate open areas for it. In the sun, mint often suffers from powdery mildew and rust. It is best to plant seedlings in openwork shade.
Soil preparation
In order for pineapple mint to develop safely, it must be planted in nutritious soil. Before digging, add compost, wood ash, and humus. You can use special nutrient mixtures that contain lime.
All types of mint can suffer from fungal diseases, the spores of which overwinter in the soil. Therefore, before planting, the soil must be watered with boiling water to which potassium permanganate crystals have been added.
Preparing seedlings
The further development of pineapple mint depends on the quality of the seedlings. Large, full-fledged seeds are selected for sowing. To destroy possible pathogens, seed material must be disinfected.
The seeds are pickled in a pink solution of potassium permanganate for 25 minutes. Then they are washed in clean water and sown in a seedling box.
The seeds are scattered over the surface and pressed into moist soil.Cover the top with film.
You can sow seeds directly into open ground. If there is a threat of night frosts, then the bed is covered with film. After several true leaves appear, the seedlings are thinned out.
Planting seedlings
All types of mint, including pineapple mint, grow very quickly and can inhibit each other. Therefore, when planting, holes are dug in increments of 20-30 cm. Seedlings are planted to a depth of 5 cm. Propagated by shoots or small bushes after division. To be able to protect them from frost if necessary, you need to entwine them with willow branches as in the photo below.
Plant seedlings in moist soil. Immediately mulch with straw, sawdust or compost to retain moisture and prevent weed growth.
Features of cultivation and care
Despite the fact that pineapple mint is an unpretentious plant that does not require any special care, optimal conditions for growth must be created. This applies to:
- watering and fertilizing;
- loosening the soil and mulching;
- weeding and preparing for winter;
- control of diseases and pests.
Features of watering
Pineapple mint develops well in moist, but not oversaturated soil. Under no circumstances should you overdry the soil, as the root system may die. Therefore, in dry, hot weather, it is advisable to water the plantings every day.
When growing plants in greenhouse conditions, air humidity must be maintained. It is recommended to spray the greenhouse itself and the fragrant leaves daily.
Warm water is used for irrigation.It is best to plan your work in the early morning hours or in the evening when the sun goes down. Watering should be done carefully so as not to erode the soil near the roots.
Loosening and weeding
Pineapple mint, like other garden plants, needs to loosen the soil. It is carried out after watering to destroy the crust, which does not allow oxygen to pass to the root system. You need to loosen to a depth of no more than 2-3 cm.
Gardeners understand that weeds are where pests and disease spores live. Therefore, grass must be controlled throughout the summer. In addition, weeds draw nutrients from the soil, so crops begin to wither. The yield of pineapple-flavored leaves is sharply reduced.
Top dressing
During the growing season, pineapple mint needs nutrition. You can feed the bushes with organic fertilizers:
- mullein infusion;
- wood ash;
- infusion of green herbs.
Preparing for winter
In autumn, the green mass of the plant should be cut off close to the ground. This procedure will save the bushes from diseases and pests next year. Cut stems are burned regardless of whether they are infected or not.
The planting site is covered with rotted manure. If the winters are snowy, then a layer of 25 cm is sufficient. In other cases, the shelter should be greater.
Pests and diseases
To harvest healthy leaves for culinary or medicinal purposes, mint must be protected from pests and diseases.
Diseases and pests | Symptoms | Control measures |
Verticillium wilt | The mint leaves first darken and then dry out. | Compliance with crop rotation Weed removal |
Leaf rust | The fungal disease first affects the lower part of the leaf blade, then the entire leaf. Red spots appear on it, then holes with torn edges | Use special means for processing |
Spider mite | After wintering in the soil it quickly reproduces. It feeds on the sap of leaves, causing them to dry out. In addition, a thin cobweb is visible on the plant | Use of special drugs. Folk remedies use tobacco infusion with laundry soap |
meadow moth | The food is plant juice. Gradually the leaves dry out prematurely and fall off | Application of insecticides |
When and How to Harvest Pineapple Mint
Collection of leaves can begin already in the first year of planting. Mid-July is the time to cut, as nutrients and essential oils have accumulated in the leaf blades.
How to properly dry pineapple mint
It is not recommended to wash the leaves for drying, as moisture will take them a long time to dry and may even rot. You need to cut off the mint stems. Then tie into bundles. Hang in a room where sunlight does not reach and air circulates well.
The raw materials are stored in a dry place in a tightly closed jar to prevent moisture from entering and the aroma does not disappear.
Conclusion
Pineapple mint is a plant that can be grown on a windowsill, which is suitable for those who do not have land. In this case, fresh pineapple mint leaves can be picked all year round.
