Catnip Seeds

Use dried or fresh leaves grown from our Catnip Seeds in tiny pillows in cat toys, or use green leaves for tea. Package (1800 seeds).

How to Grow Catnip from Seeds

Barely cover the seed to germinate in 7-10 days at room temperature.
Transplant the seedlings when they are hardened off to 12-18" apart in full sun.
This is a hardy perennial (zones 3-9) that gets 24-48"/.6-1.2m high.
It takes 75-85 days to grow to harvest age. Harvest the leaves when the plant is flowering.
It can get wimpy when during the high heat of summer, but it will come back when it cools off.
Grow Catnip full in sun to partial shade. They prefer average, well drained soil.
Catnip grows as a loosely branching, low perennial. In a flowerbed, you can plant catnip in front of purple coneflower, which blooms about the same time.

The plant bears tiny, white blooms that are not very showy. You can also grow it in containers.
For indoor cats, grow several pots outside to rotate to the indoors. Plants need a lot of light, so you will need to move them back out every couple of weeks and bring in a new one.
Also, consider planting catnip in the vegetable garden as a way to attract your cat, who can help keep down rodents in the garden.
Set out transplants in the spring after the last frost. Keep plants full by pinching the growing stems and flower buds when they appear. The small white flowers that appear in the summer will form seeds that sprout; the plant also spreads by underground runners.
Some cats are very rough on plants. To keep plants from being loved to death, cover each with an arch of chicken wire. The stems can grow up through the holes, yet the plant's base and roots are protected. Harvest leaves by cutting the stems anytime during the growing season. The foliage keeps its scent best when air-dried.