Catnip Seeds

Anyone who has a cat knows how much fun it is to give their pet a bit of fresh catnip. With just a few leaves of catnip or a toy stuffed with the plant, your cat will go completely bonkers, rolling in the catnip, eating it, purring, and probably acting a little goofy. Catnip is a hugely pleasurable experience for most cats, and your cat will love you for letting it indulge in this safe and entertaining past time.

But did you know you could grow your own catnip from inexpensive catnip seeds? You can, and it’s really easy to do, too! Fresh catnip grown from your own seeds is much more potent than any of the catnip you can buy at the pet store or the supermarket. Just a few leaves of home grown catnip will send your cat wild. Follow the simple steps below to buy and plant catnip seeds and give your cats the freshest catnip they will ever have.

Cats aren’t the only ones who like catnip. Gardeners love to grow this aromatic herb even when they don’t have cats. The flowers on catnip are beautiful and fragrant, and the herb grows well in sandy or poor soils, making it a great plant for areas of the garden where it is difficult to grow many other plants. What’s more, catnip attracts beneficial insects to the garden such as honey bees and butterflies while discouraging  harmful insects from visiting.

What this means is that you can find catnip seeds at a variety of places in your home town or on the Internet. Most lawn and garden stores will sell catnip seeds in envelopes of about 100 to 500 seeds. Buying catnip seeds from a lawn and garden store is very economical. Many pet stores also sell the seeds owing to the popularity of giving the fragrant herb to pet cats.

Catnip seeds are also available for purchase online. One great place to stop and shop for catnip seeds is the website at LocalHarvest.net. The folks at Local Harvest supply pet owners and garden enthusiasts alike with a hardy stock of completely organic catnip seeds. This means that you can give your cat a catnip treat while doing something nice for the environment too. What’s more, Local Harvest donates its profits to help stray and feral cats have a better life.

It is very easy to plant and grow catnip seeds. The first thing you will want to do is find a number of small containers in which you can sprout the catnip seeds. You can purchase small clay or plastic pots or you can recycle such things as used yogurt cups or eggshell cartons to plant your catnip seeds. Simply fill your container with a few inches of soil and press the catnip seed into the dirt with your finger, about an eighth of an inch deep. Because catnip is so hardy and grows in most conditions, any potting soil or even dirt from your backyard will do.

Keep the seeds damp—catnip likes water—and protected from curious felines until they sprout. Once they grow to about 2 inches in height, it is time to transplant your catnip sprouts. You can either transplant them to larger pots that can be grown indoors or out, or they can be transplanted directly into the soil of your backyard or garden. Be aware of the fact that once the catnip begins to gown and give off its wonderful scent that your cats, and likely those in the neighborhood, will start to come around. Protecting the young sprouts from enthusiastic felines might be a good idea.

Once the catnip is growing well, simply pinch off the leaves to harvest. Because catnip grown from seeds is so hardy, you can harvest the herb pretty aggressively without damaging the plant. In fact, pinching off leaves early in the catnip’s growth will make for bushier plants with more leaves.

Once you have harvested the catnip leaves, you will now want to dry them. This can be done by placing the leaves on your windowsill in the sun, on a table in an extra room, or by placing the leaves in the oven at a very low temperature.

When you purchase catnip seeds to grow your own catnip, you can rest assured that the herb will be at its most optimal potency. This will make the experience of eating and playing with the catnip the most enjoyable for your cat. Your cats will simply adore you for giving them the freshest catnip in town!

Remember, you have the catnip seeds to grow catnip, but what about other items you need for your cat? Visit CordialCat.com to buy more items for your cat.