Question about cloning peppermint?

[ydolem11]

I don't know if it's actually considered cloning, but I'm wondering if I can grow more mint from the mother plant using the runner, and how I can go about it. I did find one runner in the mother plant that I cut off and transplanted and am trying to get the other end of that to also put down roots, but I'm wondering if I can use this runner to start new mint plants.

Here's my idea: Cut the runner into pieces so there's one "bulge" on each piece. Remove the leaves. Bury each piece of the runner under a bit of soil and let it take root.

Will that work? I'm all for experimenting and trying it out, but I'd also like to save myself some trouble if there's a better way to do this, and I haven't been able to find any definite information online specifically related to these above-ground runners. Everything I've found only talks about the root runners.

Thanks!

Here's the runner in question. I counted 10 spots where the leaves are, and a couple look like they might have roots started, or it could be the start of new branches. Not sure.

Here's the whole plant. As you can see, it's healthy and over-flowing... Once I take care of the runners I'm planning on separating it into a few pots.

 

[Trellum]

Hi there! I have never tried growing peppermint using runners, but those do grow roots when in contact with the soil... so that is when you can actually place them in a pot. The way I do grow peppermint is by grabbing a part of the plant (with roots) and place it in a pot. That method never fails. You can do the same with your runners if they have roots. Basically any bit of the plant with roots will do well and turn into a new peppermint plant.

 

[Corzhens]

It's only now I learned about runner. So that is what the crawling stem is called. That's what we use when propagating mint.We have a very prolific mint in the planter box in the front yard and we trim it once in a while to lessen the crowd of stems. Some weeks ago, I got one of those discarded runners and planted it in a small plastic pot. This morning, I was surprised to see that it had grown already and has plenty of new leaves.

 

[IcyBC]

This is the exact type of mint I have in my old garden, and they are almost impossible to kill. They are invasive and take over my area. You can root them in water first and just plant them from your cuttings. I started my chocolate mint this way too, from the cutting that I had received.

 

[ydolem11]

Awesome, thanks! I have cloned my spearmint before just using cuttings, but haven't really messed with a runner before, so I'll definitely be trying to plant pieces where the leaves are to see if I can get them to root like that. If not, the worst thing that happens is I've learned how NOT to propagate mint and have some peppermint seeds to make tea with.