Wednesday, July 24, 2013

Catnip, anyone?

You know we've been selling (by donation) the catnip seeds donated by Chen? Well, we've sold the last of the packets, and I haven't managed to grow mine (sobs), but Connie offered to grow it for me and...

mini-CIMG7928 mini-CIMG7929

 Nice, yes?


So far, the patio cats haven't shown much interest in it. Heidi, for example, slept next to it but didn't do anything to the leaves. Aren't cats supposed to go "high" on it?


I haven't tried it on Bunny & Friends yet, but I will...soon.  Just a bit "sayang" they might kill the plants in their state of ecstasy!


For seasoned catnip users, please advise how I am supposed to use it. On the cats, I mean.


Thanks!

16 comments:

Joy E. Saga said...

I cut the leaves and pass the leaves to them. No way I'm letting them get to the plant (haha) .. it's quite hard to grow but once it's up, it's quite easy. I noticed they don't like a lot of water :D

Both my plants have been flowering lots!

chankahyein said...

From the flowers, you will get the seeds?

Joy E. Saga said...

Oh! Not sure, maybe :D If it does produce seeds for me then I'm very happy :D

Chen said...

Hello!

For people not familiar with this line of story, this is not true catnip (Nepeta Cataria) but another kind of catnip (Nepeta Mussinii), so don't expect the cats to react the same to catnip bought in pet shops. This is why I prefer to call it catmint.

Joy - yes the roots rot easily when it gets too much water. And yes you do get seeds from the flowers. But it's much easier to propagate it via cuttings.

To make a cutting - take a healthy stem and cut the stem off at the point where the stem is still green and above a pair of leaves. Pluck the leaves off the stem that you've cut but leave 4 young leaves at the tip. The stem need not be long - about 10cm is long enough. Stick this stem (with only the 4 young leaves at the tip) into a small pot of soil. In my experiments, if you stick the stem into a big pot, it gets too wet and the stem will just rot. Better to stick it into a small pot with good drainage and leave it in the garden next to a mature plant (for company and friendship)and water everyday.

You can pluck the leaves and put them into an area in the house for the cats to enjoy it. The leaves will dry up and this is ok because the smell is still strong. But the smell will go away after some days - so throw away. Or cut the whole stem (especially the long and straggly types) and give it to the cats. It's like a cat toy that you can wave about for the cats to chase too. Nowadays I prefer to give the whole stem. I'll put one long stem into an empty litter box and let it stay there. Occasionally a cat will jump into the box and roll around in it or/and chew the leaves. Funny thing is when the cats are playing with me chasing strings, etc they will jump into the box of catmint in their excitement and start chewing the leaves. I don't know why they do this - maybe it's just my cats that do this. Enjoy!

chankahyein said...

Hey, sane way as the veges!

Chen said...

And also the cats react to the leaves only when its torn or crushed. Leaves that are intact gives out no smell and so the cats are not attracted to it. So whole plants are safe. So be careful when making stem cuttings for cultivation. The stem smells nice (because its cut) and if you turn your back after you stuck the stem into a pot, a cat may saunter by and go "Nice smell," and pull it back out.

Chen said...

Yep same way as the veggies!

Joy E. Saga said...

Oh Wow! Thanks for the tip Chen! Will most definitely create a big catmint garden after this :D

Chen said...

When you have lots of them, try making tea from it. It makes tasty tea too. Said to be calming.

Chen said...

Hmmm ... this post made me re-check question whether this is really Nepeta Mussinii or Nepeta Cataria. Because the packet of seeds at the back says Nepeta Mussinii. But the shape of the leaves, the stems and the flowers of the plants in my garden that grew out of those seeds (and in this post) look like the pictures for N. Cataria, not N. Mussinii. This makes me wonder if there is an error in the labeling of the seed packet. Based on visual evidence, I'm inclined towards N. Cataria. Dang! I would like to have the opinion of a trained botanist.

Joy E. Saga said...

I got some pictures of my catmint, with the flower. Maybe that would help? How do i send the picture to you?

Chen said...

No need Joy! My plants should be the same as yours (grown from the same seed packets) so they should look the same, right? But if you go through google images for N. Cataria and N. Mussinii, don't you think that the catmint from the packets look more like N. Cataria? I hope it's N. Cataria!!!!

Connie said...

Packet wrote N. Mussinii but the actual plant more like N. Cataria (the true catnip) according to Wikipedia! Ask the cats, they should know better.

Chen said...

Each cat reacts differently to it!!! Anyway, as long as the kitties enjoy it, then yay! A catnip by any other name smells just as sweet. :D

Joy E. Saga said...

Found this useful link :)

http://www.the-ibenefits.com/catnip-tea.html

Chen said...

Thanks Joy! Sounds like it'll make a great after dinner tea.