Germination temperature
About 20-25 °C (68-77 °F) after chilling.
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English lavender is a hardy, aromatic shrub that wants full sun, sharp drainage and poor soil. Its seed germinates slowly and unevenly unless it is chilled first, so stratify it, sow it on the surface and be patient.
About 20-25 °C (68-77 °F) after chilling.
On the surface, barely covered; light helps.
Slow and uneven: about two weeks to several weeks.
Germinates better in light; grow in full sun.
Cold-moist stratification at about 4 °C (39 °F) for 9-12 weeks.
Sow in pots or trays and transplant.
Lavender seed is dormant. Untreated seed that was stored dry germinated only about 4% in one study and not at all in another, so plan a pre-treatment before sowing.
Optional. Rubbing seed with sand gave 22% germination in one trial, against none for untreated seed, but chilling worked far better.
Recommended. Mix seed with slightly moist sand or vermiculite in a sealed bag and keep it in a refrigerator at about 4 °C (39 °F) for 9-12 weeks; in trials this gave over 70% germination. Gibberellic acid (GA3) soaking is a laboratory alternative that gave similar results.
Not needed on its own. Moist chilling does the work.
About 20-25 °C (68-77 °F). Trials used 20 °C (68 °F), and the best temperature for treated seed was 25 °C (77 °F). Avoid hot, humid conditions, which encourage damping-off.
Sow on the surface and press the seed in, or cover with only a dusting of fine grit or vermiculite.
Peat-free seed compost with extra grit or perlite, or a 1:1 vermiculite and peat-free compost mix, in small pots or trays.
Keep the surface just moist by watering from below; never let trays stand in water.
Give light from sowing: germination was about 15% higher in light than in darkness.
From about two weeks to several weeks, and often uneven. Keep trays going for six weeks before giving up.
Prick seedlings out into individual small pots of gritty compost when they have their first true leaves, and grow them on in full sun.
Plant out young, well-rooted plants into fast-draining soil in full sun. Space them about 90 cm (3 ft) apart in groups, or 30-45 cm (12-18 in) apart for a hedge. On heavy soil plant on a mound, ridge or raised bed 20-30 cm (8-12 in) high.
Water new plants regularly through their first season, especially in dry weather; after that, plants in the ground rarely need watering.
Cause: seed dormancy. Fix: stratify moist seed at about 4 °C (39 °F) for 9-12 weeks and sow on the surface in light.
Cause: damping-off in wet, warm, still conditions. Fix: use gritty compost, water from below and give air movement.
Cause: root rot in wet or heavy soil, or in pots kept wet in winter or the rainy season. Fix: plant on a raised bed or mound, grow in pots of gritty mix and keep plants out of heavy rain.
Cause: no annual trim, or cutting into old wood. Fix: trim every year just after flowering, stay within the leafy growth and replace old plants.
Cause: seed from named cultivars does not come true. Fix: accept variation, or propagate a chosen plant from cuttings.
English lavender comes from the dry Mediterranean hills and will not survive long in damp, shady sites. In India it is grown commercially in temperate Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh. On the humid plains grow it in pots of very gritty mix, under cover from monsoon rain, and expect a short life.
Poor, dry or chalky, alkaline soils suit lavender. It generally needs no feeding.
Established plants are drought tolerant. Pots need water once or twice a week in hot weather and should be kept fairly dry in winter.
Cut off the spent flower stems and about 2.5 cm (1 in) of leafy growth in late summer, just after flowering. Untidy or frost-damaged tips can be clipped in spring.
Chill lavender seed before sowing and grow the plants in sun and sharp drainage.
Lavender seed is dormant. Untreated seed may barely germinate; keep it moist at about 4 °C (39 °F) for 9-12 weeks, then sow on the surface in light at 20-25 °C (68-77 °F).
Yes in cool, dry hill areas such as Jammu and Kashmir. On hot, humid plains it often rots; grow it in pots of gritty mix, sheltered from heavy rain.
Not always: seed from named cultivars can produce plants that differ from the parent. Use cuttings to copy a particular plant.