Lavender

Introduction

🏁 Starting Lavender From Seed

Lavender seeds can be started in small spaces, like a 128 count tray. The seeds are about the size of basil seeds, difficult to handle. I use a small long spoon to plant individual seeds in each cell tray. If accidentally added 2-3 extra seeds, simply cut them after a month or so of growth.

Here is the soil seedling recipe I use for Lavender. I adjusted this recipe over the years though trial and error. It works pretty well. I have tried various soil block recipes and other seed starting mix recipes and had poor results. Until I find a reason to, I plan on using the below to germinate most of my seeds.

After seeding your tray, apply a dome/lid to maintain humidity. Keep the soil moist. I use a spray bottle to keep the top layer of soil moist (1-2x a day). After 1-2 weeks, your lavender seedlings will sprout like the picture below.

Here are the seedlings after about a month.

About 1.5 months from germination.

Here are the lavender seedlings at 3 months old, ready to be transferred to a larger container, preferably 3.5-4" pot.

Potting Lavender

Once your Lavender plants are >3" tall, they may be moved to a larger pot. The soil mixture should drain well. Here is the potting soil recipe I use to grow Lavender:

This recipe has all the basic fertilizer that will feed your plants for few months. Scale the recipe as you see fit.

Once potted, place the Lavender where they will get plenty of sunshine. I generally water them every few days. When temperatures exceed >90f, water more frequently during the week. Lavender plants are very resilient to dry spells.

I have fertilized biweekly with 20-20-20 at ~7-10 grams per gallon water.

Lavender Maintenance

In order for your Lavender plants to become full (i.e. bushy), pruning is required! I have learned through trial and error over 2-3 years I have grown Lavender. It is very important to trim the stems at a height you prefer. This forces the plant to make new stems. Without pruning, the plant will produce a few stems, grow lengthy, and then develope wood at the lower parts.

Easier to explain by pictures. Please see below:

[Fig. 6, 7, and 8] 2 year old Lavender plant in the spring. No pruning. The first stem grew long and produced off-shoots of new growth.

[Fig. 9, 10, and 11] As you can see above figures, Lavender plants with pruning have less woody growth and produced new stems originating at the plant base. It seems the more you prune at a certain length, you can force more new growth. This leads to a better looking plant.