Tips for growing lavender from seeds at home
Lavender is a plant belonging to the Angiosperms division with a wonderful aroma and color. This essential oil culture, which belongs to the category of evergreen shrubs, is characterized by the presence of rather narrow leaves of a gray-green scale and spike-shaped inflorescences.
Depending on the variety grown, lavender can bloom in lilac, blue, purple, pink and white, with numerous shades.
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Characteristics of lavender
Unique scent of lavender sung in many poems and songs. The smell it gives off becomes indispensable for the sensation of bees and butterflies. Lavender is a good honey plant, as well as an excellent decorator of the surrounding landscape.
It is completely unpretentious to care for, practically not susceptible to the destructive effects of pests and firmly tolerates drought.
Modern breeders have zoned so many varieties of lavender that now it can be grown not only by residents of temperate and warm climatic zones, but also by amateurs living in cold climates.
The fact is that you can grow lavender not only in open ground and warm climates, but also by the potting method, where the climate is rather harsh. You just have to adhere to certain rules, and then you can fully enjoy its wondrous aroma. By the way, the lavender plant grows for ten years.
Seed preparation
Growing lavender seeds is considered costly and one of the most reliable methods. You can buy its seeds at any specialized flower shop. For cultivation, it is worth using only those varieties that are zoned by breeders for the climatic conditions of a given area.
Lavender belongs to the genus Lacustaceae and is distinguished by a wide variety of species, as well as artificially obtained hybrids.
The homeland of this marvelous plant is warm India, as well as the Canary Islands. It was their attractive climatic conditions that contributed to the creation of these exotic plants by nature. According to the climatic conditions of the homeland of lavender, gardeners judge the creation of conditions for its favorable growth.
Growing lavender from seed is easy:
- Acquired seeds before planting need to be hardened a little. Dry seeds are also needed stratify.
- The seeds are then placed in a cold environment, such as a refrigerator, for one month. Such a procedure is necessary to create a state of obligatory rest for them, during which they will have time to "rest" a little and prepare for germination.
- After removing the seeds from the refrigerator, you need to mix them with a small amount of river sand. After mixing lavender seeds and sand, you need to sprinkle them with a little water, creating moisture for them in this way. In this form, the seeds must be kept for about a month. Thus, lavender seeds should be purchased in advance so that they can go through the mandatory preparatory measures before sowing, which take two months.
Planting lavender seeds
If you plan to grow lavender in a pot method, then for this you need:
- Prepare a special pot.It should be equipped with small drain holes and filled with plant-friendly drainage.
- To create a favorable drainage layer, the bottom of the prepared pot is lined with a few pebbles or gravel.
- It must be ensured that the holes in the bottom of the pot are always open to allow air to enter and remove excess moisture. By the way, it is worth considering the fact that the lavender plant is very sensitive to moisture and does not tolerate liquid stagnant in a pot.
- Preparing the soil for planting it is best to take a sandy-peat base with a slight alkalinity.
- To improve the composition of the soil, pre-crushed egg shells, capable of alkalizing the mixture, are added to it.
- Seed should be planted with a small amount of sand, thus creating conditions for oxygen to penetrate to them.
Before planting seeds in open ground, you need to choose a site in which there is a sufficient amount of sunlight. Unpretentious lavender can grow in a darkened place, but in this case, you should not expect early and abundant flowering from the plant. The amount of moisture in the selected soil is also very important for lavender. But it is not worth overmoistening the selected planting site, as the plant may die.
In no case should lavender be planted in wetlands with a high level of groundwater.
In the absence of a good dry planting site, small drainage layers should be built for the crop. Lavender loves to grow in slightly alkaline soils. To create such conditions, you can first add a small amount of lime or ash from burning woody plants to the soil. To improve the penetration of air to the roots of lavender, you can add a little compost to the soil, moreover, this event will saturate the soil with macro- and microelements necessary for growth.
Lavender broadleaf considered the most unpretentious care and growing by a species of this genus. But with the cultivation of narrow-leaved lavender, you should pant a little, since it is afraid of cold and frost, and can also die from an excess of moisture or damping.
Growing tips:
- It is best to sow small lavender seeds for outdoor cultivation around October.
- When planting, amateur gardeners place the prepared seeds in the soil to a depth of no more than four millimeters, while slightly compacting the upper soil horizon.
- In dry weather, the sown seeds are additionally watered, but this watering should not be very abundant.
- When planting prepared seeds, sprinkle them on top with a soil mixture of small thickness.
- The container with the planted seeds should be marked in a bright, but slightly cool place. To speed up the emergence of seedlings, the surface of the soil can be covered with a transparent film. Lavender seeds are characterized by a rather weak germination, so it is worth taking more time to wait for the emergence of seedlings.
- When the lavender plant reaches the growth phase, which has six pairs of leaves, it is necessary to pluck the top of the plant in order to increase its bushiness.
- Regular watering is important for lavender, preferably up to twice a day: in the morning and in the evening. In this case, it is worth spraying the leaves themselves, washing away dust from them and improving gas exchange.
- The amount of light is also necessary for the intensity of the process of photosynthesis and the acceleration of flower formation. But direct exposure of plants to direct rays can cause burns to the leaves, so watch out for the angle of the sunlight falling on the plants.
The lavender plant of the first year of life looks rather inconspicuous, since during it it tries to build up its root system. The next year, the plant gains green mass, bush and begins to bloom.Regular airing is beneficial for its growth, but drafts can harm the health of lavender, so they must be avoided.
Lavender plants one year old should be pruned slightly to a height of fifteen centimeters above the soil surface. Such an event contributes to giving the lavender a beautiful and thick form. The procedure for replanting lavender must be done in the early spring or autumn months, so that it can gain strength and take root in a new place.
Lavender care
Lavender care measures should include the obligatory feeding of the plant with potash fertilizers. Nitrogen fertilizers are also good for her. But the use of organic manure is not entirely favorable for the growth of this crop. Manure top dressing stimulates only the growth of green mass on lavender, and not flowers, for which the plants are so fond of many inhabitants of our country.
Watering lavender:
- Watering lavender is necessary when the soil near its roots becomes dry.
- It is also not worth pouring lavender, because this can lead to the reproduction of putrefactive bacteria on the roots and decay of the rhizome itself.
- If lavender is not hydrated enough, the flowering of the plant will also be less abundant.
- Water for irrigation should be at room temperature.
Lavender is demanding to hilling and mulching. These activities should be carried out in the spring and autumn months. Periodic haircut is also important for the plant, which significantly prolongs its life. It is best to prune the plant after it stops blooming. At the end of each season, the stems of the lavender should be shortened slightly.
Among the diseases affecting the lavender culture, gray rot is dangerous. If the gardener notices the manifestation of this disease on the lavender bushes, then he immediately removes the affected parts, followed by burning.
Pennitsa larvae can settle in the structure of gray rot, which give an unpleasant appearance to lavender by forming a white foam that protects them from predators. If such saliva-like foam is found on lavender, it must be washed off with a stream of water.
To keep the plant from freezing during the winter, it is necessary to insulate its above-ground parts. For these purposes, old warm clothes or special covering materials are suitable. Before wintering, lavender plants are trimmed a little and covered with coniferous branches. It is not advisable to cover plants with plastic bags.
More information about lavender can be found in the video.