Grow Lavender from Seed

Lavender is a beautiful, fragrant bush that produces purple, white, and/or yellow flowers, depending on the specific variety. Most gardeners usually propagate lavender from cuttings, but the plant can also be grown from seed. Growing lavender from seed is not always successful and is a fairly slow process, but the method is often less costly than buying cuttings or pre-started lavender plants and can eventually produce plants that are just as vibrant.

Steps

Germinating Seeds

  1. Start the seeds 6 to 12 weeks before warm weather hits. Lavender seeds can take a while to germinate and should be started early indoors so that they have plenty of time to grow into mature plants during the warm growing season.
  2. Put the seeds through a process called "cold stratifying." In this process, seeds should be placed in a sealable plastic bag filled with moist soil. Use a commercial soil specially formulated for starting seeds. Place the plastic bag with the soil and seeds inside the refrigerator and allow it to sit for three weeks.
  3. Fill a container with seed starting mix. The seed starting mix should be a light potting mix that drains well. You can either use a plastic seedling tray or a wide, shallow container without divisions.
  4. Plant the seeds. Sprinkle the seeds on top of the soil.
    • If using a plastic seedling tray, plant one seed per slot.
    • If planting in a division-free container, space the seeds 1/2 to 1 inch (1.27 to 2.54 cm) apart.
  5. Cover the seeds with 1/8 inch (1/3 cm) potting mix. A light coating of potting mix protects the seeds, but the seeds also need access to sunlight in order to germinate.
  6. Keep the seeds in a warm spot. A heat tray often works best, but another work location may also work as long as the temperature remains around 70 degrees Fahrenheit (21 degrees Celsius).[1]
  7. Lightly water the seeds. Keep the growing medium moist, but not damp, and water the seeds in the morning so that the soil can dry some before evening hits. Soil that is too damp and cool will invite fungus to grow, and fungus will destroy your seeds.
  8. Wait. Lavender seeds can take two weeks to one month to sprout.
  9. Give sprouted seeds plenty of light. After the seeds sprout, you should move the container to a location that receives plenty of direct sunlight. If no such location is available, place a fluorescent grow light about the sprouts and allow them to sit in the artificial light for eight hours a day.

Transplanting

  1. Make the first transplant after lavender gets several sets of leaves. Wait until the leaves are "true leaves," or fully matured. At that point, the root system will have grown too large to continue sitting in a shallow tray.
  2. Fill a larger container with well-drained potting mix. You no longer have to seed starting mix, but the potting mix you do use should be light. Look for mixes that are made of part soil and part peat, part perlite. Peat moss is endangered; use coir dust instead, if possible. Do not use vermiculite, which may contain asbestos, even when the label doesn't say so.
    • The pot for each plant should be at least 2 inches (5 cm) in diameter. Alternatively, you can also use a larger pot or division-free tray and space multiple lavender plants in the tray 2 inches (5 cm) apart from one another.
  3. Mix a little fertilizer into the soil. Use a small amount of granular slow-release fertilizer that contains balanced proportions of nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium.
  4. Place the lavender into the prepared pot. Dig a small hole in the fresh growing media that is about as big as the compartment the lavender presently sits in. Gently pry the lavender out of its original container and transplant it into the new hole, packing the soil around it to keep it firmly fixed in place.
  5. Allow the lavender to continue growing. The plants must reach a height of 3 inches (7.6 cm) before they can be transplanted to their final location, but they should still only have a single stem. This could take anywhere from one to three months.
  6. Expose the lavender to outdoor conditions slowly. Place your pots outdoors in partial shade or partial sun for a few hours at a time. Do this for about one week, just long enough for the lavender to have time to adapt to outdoor conditions.
  7. Choose a sunny location. Lavender plants do best when grown in partial to full sun. Shaded areas tend to be soggier, and soggy soil can invite fungi that will destroy the plant.
  8. Prepare the garden soil. Chop the soil up with a trowel or digging fork to loosen it and mix in a healthy dose of compost. Compost has uneven particles, creating looser soil and making it easier for roots to stretch out.
    • Check the soil of the pH after adding compost. The soil pH should rest between 6 and 8, and preferably between 6.5 and 7.5 for best results. If soil pH is too low, mix in agricultural lime. If it is too high, add a small amount of plant litter pine sawdust.[2]
  9. Transplant the lavender plants 12 to 24 inches (30 1/2 to 61 cm) apart. Dig a hole that is as deep as the container the plant currently grows in. Remove the plant from its pot, using a garden trowel to carefully slide it out, and plant the lavender into the new hole.

Daily Care

  1. Water the lavender only when dry. Mature lavender is fairly drought-resistant, but while lavender is within its first year of growth, it needs regular watering. Normal weather conditions often suffice, but if you live in an area that is particularly dry or if you have not received much rain, you should regularly soak the soil. Allow the soil to dry out in between watering, though.
  2. Avoid chemicals. Herbicides, pesticides, and even fertilizers can kill the beneficial organisms that live in the garden soil and help your lavender to thrive. Skip the fertilizer altogether once planted in the ground. If a pesticide is needed, try an organic pesticide solution that contains no chemicals, since this is less likely to have a negative effect.
  3. Prune the lavender. Lavender grows slowly during the first year, and most of the plant's energy goes toward root development and vegetative growth. You should encourage this process by cutting off any flowering stems once the first buds begin to open during the first growing season.
    • After the first year, cut flowering stems after 1/3 of the buds have opened to encourage further growth. Leave behind at least 1/3 of the new growth.
  4. Mulch during cold weather. Keep the soil warm by applying gravel or bark mulch around the base of the plant, leaving 6 inches (15 1/4 cm) of free space around the stem for air circulation.

Tips

  • You can also grow lavender from cuttings. Growing lavender from cuttings usually yields more usable lavender sooner, and many gardeners agree that it is much easier to do than growing lavender from seed.
  • Lavender can be harvested after the first year for decorative arrangements, culinary purposes, aromatherapy, and homeopathic medicines.

Things You’ll Need

  • Lavender seeds
  • Loose soil
  • Seedling tray
  • Small pots
  • Trowel
  • Garden fork
  • Granular slow-release fertilizer
  • Heat tray
  • Spray bottle
  • Garden hose
  • Soil pH tester
  • Shears or scissors
  • Mulch

Sources and Citations

  1. ↑ http://www.burpee.com/perennials/lavender/how-to-grow-lavender-from-seed-article10487.html
  2. ↑ http://www.mountainvalleygrowers.com/lavendercareandtips.htm

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