The Latest Management Methods for Home-Grown Potted Lavender

1. How to water potted lavender

Lavender dislikes standing water around its roots. When the water has soaked through, you should wait until the soil dries before watering again, aiming for the surface growing medium to be dry and the interior moist, and for the leaves to be slightly wilted. Water in the morning, avoiding direct sunlight, and do not let water splash on the leaves or flowers, otherwise they easily rot and breed red spider mites.

A continuously damp environment leaves the roots without enough air to breathe, causing poor growth and even the sudden death of the whole plant; this is often where lavender cultivation fails.

2. How to give potted lavender sunlight

Lavender is a full-sun plant and needs ample sunlight and a suitably humid environment; a full-sun environment is better, while in half sun a single plant will grow, though it blooms rather sparsely. In summer, at least 50% of the sunlight should be shaded out, and ventilation increased to lower the ambient temperature. In winter, lavender grows well on flat ground and should be cultivated in full sun.

3. Temperature requirements for potted lavender

Lavender is semi-heat-tolerant, prefers coolness, and likes warm winters and cool summers.

Suitable growing temperature: 15-25 degrees C; it can grow at 5-30 degrees C.

Limiting temperature: above 35 degrees C, and if long kept above 38-40 degrees C the top stems and leaves turn yellow and wither.

In the north, when winter stays below 0 degrees C for a long time it begins dormancy; during dormancy, mature plants can withstand low temperatures of -20 degrees C to -25 degrees C.

4. Pruning potted lavender

Lavender flowers are rich in essential oil, and when used it is mainly the flowers or flower spikes that are taken. For convenient harvesting, some small flower spikes in the early cultivation stage may as well be trimmed flat with large scissors, so the newly grown flower spikes are uniform in height, which helps with harvesting all at once.

Some varieties can reach 90 cm in height; this method is also used to keep the plant low and encourage more branching and blooming, increasing the harvest. After flowering, pruning must be done; the plant can be pruned to two-thirds of its original size, which makes the plant shape more compact and benefits growth. Prune in a cool season such as spring or autumn; generally prune in spring, as pruning in autumn will affect cold hardiness. When pruning, be careful not to cut into the woody part, so the plant does not weaken and die.