Peppermint generally grows best in moist, shaded locations, and expands by underground rhizomes. Young shoots are taken from old stocks and dibbled into the ground about 1.5 feet apart. They grow quickly and cover the ground with runners if it is permanently moist. For the home gardener, it is often grown in containers to restrict rapid spreading. It grows best with a good supply of water, without being water-logged, and planted in areas with part-sun to shade.

The leaves and flowering tops are used; they are collected as soon as the flowers begin to open and can be dried. The wild form of the plant is less suitable for this purpose, with cultivated plants having been selected for more and better oil content. They may be allowed to lie and wilt a little before distillation, or they may be taken directly to the still.

Like other true mints, propagation is recommended by division, cuttings, or ground layering. When someone is propagating a plant, they are in a sense aiding the plant in reproduction, because they (the plant) are unable to. 

Many essential oil growers harvest when the majority of plants are just before full bloom, during summer (July in most areas of US). This is the first cut that is solely intended for distillation and essential oil production. However, in many cases they can harvest a second cut about two months later, and this second cut is intended solely for dried material. In other cases, farmers that are not interested in essential oil can normally harvest three cuts, with the first being around late spring, the second during summer and the third around early autumn.