Mint
Also called: نعناع · Naana
Perennial in Qatar — it lives for years if you shade it through summer. Grow it from a cutting, not seed, and keep it in a pot or it will take over the garden.
The year at a glance
Each month is split in half. The outline marks now.
Stage by stage
Stage 1 of 7
Seed
Days 0–9
Seed
Days 0–9The seed sits in the soil taking up water and swelling. Nothing shows above the surface — everything is happening underground.
Do now
- Water lightly and often so the soil stays damp but never soaked. Letting it dry out between waterings kills the seed before it sprouts.
- Cover the surface with a thin layer of straw or compost to slow evaporation and steady the temperature.
- Label what you sowed and when. You will need the date to work out the harvest.
Watch for
- A hard crust forming on sandy soil after watering, which traps the sprout underneath. Break it gently.
- Ants carrying small seeds away — a very common problem in Qatari gardens.
In Qatar
Better not to use seed at all. Stand a stem of shop-bought mint in a glass of water for a week until it roots, then plant it.
Germination
Days 10–18The seed coat splits: a root pushes down and a shoot pushes up. The two seed leaves that appear are not true leaves — they are the seed’s own food store.
Do now
- Keep moisture constant. The first root is very fine and a single dry day can end the seedling.
- Remove any covering as soon as the first sprout shows, or it will stretch thin looking for light.
- Give bright, indirect light. Direct midday sun will scorch a new seedling within hours.
Watch for
- A long, thin, pale stem: the seedling is not getting enough light and will collapse.
- Sudden wilting with a pinched stem at soil level — damping off, caused by overwatering.
In Qatar
Seed is slow, unreliable, and may give you a scentless mint. A cutting gives you an exact copy.
Seedling
Days 19–38The first true leaves appear, shaped differently from the seed leaves. The plant is now feeding itself and the roots are branching fast.
Do now
- Thin crowded seedlings and keep the strongest. Crowding gives you many weak plants instead of one good one.
- Start watering less often but more deeply, to drive the roots downwards.
- Harden the seedling off — build up its sun exposure over a week before transplanting.
Watch for
- Yellowing lower leaves: nitrogen shortage, very common in Qatar’s poor sandy soil.
- Small holes or chewed edges, meaning snails or young grasshoppers.
In Qatar
Put it in partial shade from the start. Mint is one of the few herbs that does not want full Qatari sun.
Leaf growth
Days 39–54Leaves multiply fast and the rosette widens. All the energy goes into leaf — which is the crop itself, so speed is the goal.
Do now
- Feed nitrogen every ten days. Leafy crops want more of it than anything else you grow.
- Keep the moisture even. Any drought turns the leaves bitter and tough, permanently.
- Clear competing weeds. Leafy crops root shallowly and lose the competition easily.
Watch for
- Small, thick, dark leaves: the plant is thirsty or the soil is salty.
- Aphids gathering in the heart of the plant, where they are hard to wash out.
In Qatar
It grows fast in the mild winter. Pinch the tips twice during this stage to get a dense plant.
Cut and come again
Days 55–220The plant is at its most aromatic. Regular cutting makes it branch and produce more; leaving it uncut pushes it to flower.
Do now
- Cut from the top just above a pair of leaves, and the stem branches into two.
- Never take more than a third of the plant at once.
- Cut before the midday sun, when the aromatic oils are at their strongest.
- Pinch out any flower buds as soon as they appear to stretch the leaf season.
Watch for
- Woody stems at the base: the plant is ageing and needs a hard cut back or replacing.
- Spider mite in hot dry air, showing as faint speckling and fine webbing.
In Qatar
You can pick year-round in Qatar if it is shaded in summer. One pot supplies a household for tea and salad.
Bolting
Days 221–250Heat or lengthening days convince the plant its life is ending, so it rushes to make seed. The leaves turn bitter and tough.
Do now
- The leaves are past salad use. Cook them if the bitterness is bearable.
- Let the strongest plant finish flowering and collect its seed for another season.
- The flowers pull in beneficial insects, so leave some standing if you have another crop nearby.
Watch for
- Early bolting caused by sowing too late in the season — the commonest mistake in Qatar.
- Seed scattering itself and coming back as a weed next season.
In Qatar
It flowers in May–June. Cut the flowers off at once — after flowering the leaves lose half their flavour.
End of cycle
Days 251–300The plant’s cycle is over. The roots left behind break down and add organic matter if you leave them.
Do now
- Cut the plant at soil level and leave the roots in place to rot down.
- Sow a crop from a different family in the same spot to break the pest cycle.
- Add compost and cover the soil before the summer heat.
Watch for
- Planting the same family twice running in the same bed.
- Leaving the soil bare in the sun all summer.
In Qatar
Do not pull it. Cut it to 5 cm in June, move it into full shade and water sparingly — it will burst back in Suhail.
- Water
- High
- Salt tolerance
- Medium
- Heat tolerance
- Medium
5 L/week in winter, 14 L in summer
Soil preparation
Unlike most herbs it wants moist, rich soil. Add plenty of compost and hold the moisture with a mulch.
Pests
Mint rust
- Sign
- Orange pustules on the undersides of the leaves.
- What to do
- Cut the whole plant to the ground and destroy the cuttings. It regrows clean within a fortnight.
Spider mite
- Sign
- Pale leaves and fine webbing — near-inevitable in May and June.
- What to do
- Hose the foliage down daily in summer. Mint copes with high humidity very well.
Common problems
Taking over the whole bed
- Cause
- Horizontal runners spreading metres under the surface.
- Fix
- Always grow it in a pot, even if you sink the pot in the ground. This is not optional advice.
Long stems, small leaves
- Cause
- Not cutting it enough, or too much shade.
- Fix
- Cut the top third every three weeks whether you need it or not. Cutting is what keeps it dense.
Picking
Cut whole stems from the top above a leaf pair. Do not pluck individual leaves — it leaves the plant bare and ugly.
Keeping
Stand it in a glass of water on the counter like flowers and it keeps a week. Or dry it in shade for winter tea.