Catnip, Official (Nepeta cataria) seeds, organic
$3.95 – $34.10
Family: Mint (Lamiaceae)
Hardy to Zones 3 to 9, otherwise grown as a quick summer annual
(Catmint) Short-lived herbaceous perennial. Native to Europe. Downy, light green foliage with dense, white-green flowering racemes. Traditional usage (TWM): Sedative, aromatic, narcotic to cats. Flowers to 5 feet. Plant prefers full sun and dryish, fast-draining soils. If you ever want to get rid of catnip, just overwater it and it will go away. Or, bruise the leaves a little and the neighborhood cats will probably love it to death. Meanwhile most of us like it alot and will lightly scarify the seeds and sow in spring. Use a flat in the greenhouse or scatter on a prepared bed in the garden. Slow, low, and spotty germ is normal with this seed that is naturally loaded with germination inhibiting compounds. But that won’t slow it down permanently–the seed will eventually come up, either in a place where you planted it, or (almost magically) somewhere else, where worm, or crow, or stickyfooted butterfly deposited it. Space plants 2 feet apart
Packet contains 200 seeds
1 g contains ~2,000 seeds
5 g contains ~10,000 seeds
10 g contains ~20,000 seeds
Certified Organically Grown
Megan Olmstead (verified owner) –
Sprouted readily. If there were germination inhibitors I didn’t notice! I just spooked the seeds real good with some 220 grit and sowed into pots. Didn’t count seedlings but ended up with more plants than I dreamed. I pricked them into terra cotta in the spring and have already harvested leaves for me and kitty. Smells wonderful.
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Richo Cech –
Hi Megan,
Good to hear about this. It is always valuable to compare experiences. Scarification is always a good idea with Lamiates. Richo
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kodiak912 (verified owner) –
Can I tincture the seeds? Will that have the same potency as tea from the leaves? Needing some of these compounds sooner than the plants will mature.
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Richo Cech –
Hi Kodiak,
Well, the seeds do contain some nutritive substances. However they don’t have the essential oil content that one finds in the leaves, so the activity is not the same. My suggestion would be to get some good quality catnip leaf from one of the organic providers like Mountain Rose Herbs and use that, until your homegrown can be of service. Richo
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