Advice needed re harvesting Cat nip

[Shelley123]

I have managed to grow a pot of Nepeta Cataria (cat nip), there are lots of leaves and flowers but i am at a loss as to what to do with it to prepare it for Tom and jerry ?

[angieh]

Just let it dry Shelley - they'll love it if they are susceptible. Even when my catnip was dead at the end of last year, Kizzy still loved to chew the dead dry leaves!

If you want to save seed, cut the stalks and upend them in a brown paper bag and hang somewhere airy until dry. The seeds will just fall into the bag.

[Shelley123]

Thanks Angie, so i just pick it and let it dry ?
Will it just grow again next year or will i need to plant more seeds.
Tom and Jerry love it. Apparently it is a mild hallucogenic and cats need to inhale it to get the effect, they use that special Jacobsons organ to smell and taste at the same time.

[angieh]

I think it's an annual but will self seed if you let it! Eileen is a good authority on seeding catnip!!!

[dandysmom]

I wouldn't go so far to call myself an authority!! Thanks, Angie! Was this pot indoors or outside? If it was outside and the seeds fell on soil, you'll probably have catnip next year. If indoors, as Angie said, hang the stalks upside down in a paper bag to dry and catch the seeds. You could strew them outside now if you have a suitable place; if not you could save them and plant in a pot come Spring ... truthfully, it's a lot less bother to just buy a new packet of seed or a plant next year.. Catnip seeds are VERY tiny,

My climate here is mild enough that they not only reseed but the mother plants also frequently overwinter, so some of this may not apply in a different cooler climate as far as the ease of reseeding ...

They do love catnip and get so silly ...Leia, unfortunately is a non responder. Wishing joy to T & J with theirs!

[Shelley123]

Thanks Eileen, the plant is outside. I will pick some and dry it.