Peruvian Black Mint/Huacatay Seeds

Useful gardening information

Direct sow after last frost when soil is warm. Sow every 2-4", 1/8-1/4" deep, and thin to 12-24" per plant. Water regularly until germination. This plant is resistent to deer, groundhogs, and insect pests, so can be grown as a perimeter plant outside of your fences. It will grow much taller with irrigation, but does great without irrigation as well. Germination is around 70 percent in our trials.

Customer Tips:

Cheryl writes us: You should really visit this website on Growing marigolds with tomatoes. In my experience the taller Huacatay is much more effective than standard small marigolds for repelling pests on the plants.

Image:3dyottabyte [CC BY 3.0], via Wikimedia Commons

IP353 Peruvian Black Mint/Huacatay ( Tagetes minuta )

A member of the marigold family, but growing 6 feet tall, Black Mint/Huacatay ( pronounced "wah-ka-tay" ) is an internationally beloved herb for flavoring sauces, teas, risotto, potatoes, chicken and fish. It is a key ingredient in the ethereal Peruvian aji verde sauce.
A French heirloom plant, it is also the source of the essential oil marketed as "marigold oil". It can best be described as a flavor combination of basil, mint and citrus and tastes like nothing else. The leaves are used fresh, dried, in paste form or frozen.
Hang bundles of the dried stems to repel insects from your house and porch. As a bonus, the roots will kill some perennial weeds. The delicious but somewhat mysterious green sauce that is often served with pollo a la brasa - Peruvian roast chicken is typically made with huacatay (and aji amarillo chile peppers).
Peruvians use this herb to make a green sauce called Black Mint Paste, which is an essential ingredient in the Potato, Aji Amarillo, Peanut, Cheese, and Egg dish called Ocopa.
A very easy to grow annual plant.

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Tips from our customers

Dave writes: Noticed a difference last year with my stink bug problems when I planted these along side my tomatoes. I planted a Huacatay plant along side half my tomatoes and did not with the other half, the ones with the marigold had few less if any stinkbugs, while the others were infested pretty bad as they normally are in late summer. I think next spring, I will plant a row of purple hull peas on both sides of the garden. I am told that this will give the stinkbugs a better choice than tomatoes and make an excellent "sacrificial crop" for controlling stinkbugs on my tomatoes.

Eddy writes: At the end of the season, do not pull up the huacatay plants, but till them into the soil! The stems and leaves also contain substance that helps with nematodes!