Question
I plan on growing 3-5 catnip plants in my house in our sun room...I just can't find anything relating to this:

After I spread the seeds and they start to sprout, should I leave all the sprouting seeds to grow, or thin them out so there is just one left?

And which size pot would be the best? I was thinking maybe 4" - 6" would be decent.

Thanks

Answer
Hi Andrew,
Thanx for your question.  Sprinkle the catnip seeds onto the soil and press them into it.  Keep the soil evenly moist but not soggy.  The seeds should germinate in 2-3 weeks and they will need strong light so they don't get leggy.  You can grow them in a window sill that gets strong sunlight or underneath a 40-watt shoplight extended about 8 inches above.  There will probably be a ton of seedlings so start thinning them out as the get their 1st set of true leaves (not the first set of leaves).  Thin out to the three to five strongest plants.  After that, get a planter box or pot that will be big enough to support all 3-5 plants.  Now bear in mind that the catnip plant is a hardy perennial.  It needs the winter cold to go dormant and store up energy for the next year and it does not make a very good houseplant.  I would use a 6 to 8 inch pot.  The plants will eventually die if kept indoors for the winter.  You should put the plants out in the garden in the fall 30 days before the last frost.  Dig them back up in the spring as they start to emerge and repot them and then you can bring them back indoors.  I know to a new gardener this probably doesn't make a whole lot of sense but hardy plants need a resting period like bears and wolves do.  In other words, they need to hybernate or in botanical terminology "go dormant" for the winter.  At this time, they concentrate their energy and rest up for the next year's life cycle which will be spent growing green growth to gather energy from the sun through photosynthesis.  This energy is converted to sugars/starches and stored in the roots.  The plant uses this energy to complete it's cycle of sexual reproduction assisted by bees, moths, butterflies and other life to pollinate the flowers of the plant.  The flowers contain ovaries just like animals and inside the ovaries are the female structures that are pollinated and become seed which will be dispersed by the wind and by animals so that the plant can maintain its race.  I hope this helps.
Tom