Haha yes! Not as much as you guys do though...
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Earlier in the year I bought two packets of catnip seeds, determined to grow my own supply for my hair.
A few days ago I harvested my first catnip and made an infusion from a mixture of buds, leaves and a little stalk - OMG it was much more moisturising on my hair than the Haagen dried catnip I usually use!
I'm now determined to make the most of the catnip flowering season and am deeply regretting that I didn't buy more seeds.........
Did you grow them in a greenhouse or outdoors? Once harvested do you dry them,then sore?(Sorry for all the questions..lol). I was thinking of buying some catnip seeds from ebay.
I got some seeds from an eBay seller (sfr909tvcat) and planted them a few weeks ago. For a long time there was nothing but now they are coming up - hooray! The biggest challenge won't be germination, though - it will be protecting them from the neighborhood cats. (He also included a baggie of dried catnip. I won't use it on my hair because there are stems, but my cats are going NUTS for it, even the ones that usually are indifferent to catnip)
Oh, and I am growing them in pots on my patio. I plan to harvest the same way I do my catmint - cut in the morning and then either hang the stems to dry (for leaves) or leave the flower buds loose in a wicker basket and let them airdry for a few weeks, then store in a zip-top baggie.
I went with pots because as a member of the mint family, I was afraid catnip would be pretty invasive.
Stems are fine. Just do not use the big thick ones. I remove the very few that come in the Hagen catnip. The smaller, thinner stalks are no problem at all.
In my experience, a mix of leaves and buds (and thin stalks) works perfectly for my hair.
I have used just dried catnip leaves in the past (from health food store dried catnip that contained almost no buds contrary to what was on the label). I found them to be more astringent and results were not as satisfactory.
Buds only did not work well for my hair either. I tried that last year.
I find a mix much more conditioning.
ETA: I have been using catnip as my only conditioner for over 6 years straight (with minor temporary diversions early on only).
I will have to grow some catnip and try this!!! I used to always keep catnip plants for tea but never tried in my hair. It reduces fever in babies and helps with colic also. Great remedy for a hangover too LoL!!!!!!! If my hair likes it, it will be a cure all at my house!!
Thanks for sharing that ktani. I tried a regular catnip (buds and leaves) blend at first but personally I found the all-buds to work better for my hair. However, it is a different supplier than the blend I used so it may be more due to the source than the part of the plant. I will try a blend again when my own plants get big enough to harvest (I have lots of buds left to use up and since my hair is so happy with them I am willing to wait to do more experimenting)