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Lavender is one of the garden herbs that can easily be kept in pots. Lavandula angustifolia, the common lavender, is a robust plant with a characteristic scent that has been used medicinally for centuries. In addition, the essential oils in the flowers are used to make perfumes at home. If you want to keep the lamiaceae as a tub or pot plant, there are a few things to consider that differ fundamentally from the care of planted specimens.
Care of potted lavender
Lavender is an extremely undemanding plant when planted out and presents itself in the same way in the tub. Even if you pot your specimen before each winter, the need for care will not change and you can easily continue care in the same way. Watering requires special attention, as lavender is extremely sensitive to waterlogging. This is particularly important when keeping pots.
location
The location for potted lavender differs only slightly from planted specimens. A Mediterranean climate can be made possible with the following characteristics for the plant:
- Light requirement: full sun
- warm
- protected
- South walls recommended
You don't need to worry about drought or too much sun with lavender plants. The Mediterranean plants prefer hot, dry locations and for this reason the warmth of a south wall is clearly recommended. In the house, on the other hand, she only feels comfortable in well-ventilated conservatories. The real lavender likes to wither on the windowsill, but with a lot of luck you can also place it there. Make absolutely sure that there is no high humidity. Humid air is not ideal for the shrubs.
tip: You can improve the vitality of your lavender by protecting it not only from strong winds but also from heavy downpours. The heavier the raindrops, the more Lavandula angustifolia suffers, as the plant does not tolerate too much moisture.
substrate
The ideal substrate for potted lavender plants should be above all waterlogging maintain. For this reason, the substrate must be lean and well drained, as waterlogging is not tolerated, even for short periods. The following mixture has established itself for mint plants:
- herbal soil
- alternative pricking soil
- Drainage layer: pebbles (fine), grit
The soil itself is not enriched with sand or the drainage agent, but is used as a drainage layer at the bottom of the pot. Since herb and pricking soil is extremely permeable and quite low in nutrients, it is ideal for keeping Lavandula species.
repot
Repotting the lavender is necessary for two reasons:
- a preferred potted plant was acquired
- the substrate is rooted
If you have just purchased a specimen, it is always advisable to repot, as the substrate used is only ideal for the plants in a few cases. It is also typical for lavender to root through the entire substrate after an average of two years. The more roots the plant develops, the larger the shrub becomes and can reach sizes of 100 to 200 centimeters with ideal care. The best time to do this is spring, preferably in April, before the plant is taken out of its winter quarters. It is repotted in the following way:
- Spread a drainage layer on the bottom of the pot
- spread a permeable garden fleece over it
- Half fill the pot with substrate
- Remove Lavandula angustifolia from old substrate
- Shake off soil from roots
- remove rotten, dried roots
- Use clean, sharp scissors for this
- put in fresh substrate
- fill up
- water sufficiently
The garden fleece is not necessary, but prevents the drainage layer from clogging with soil and thus promoting possible waterlogging. The use of garden fleece is particularly worthwhile for large specimens, as the soil can quickly sink into the drainage layer and thus lead to blockages. Do not forget that the pot necessarily over drainage holes should have.
tip: Keeping in pots also proves advantageous if the location of your planted specimens in the garden would be too damp over the winter. You can simply pot the medicinal herb in the same way as when repotting, transport it to dry winter quarters and plant it out again next year.
pour
When watering lavender in a pot, the main thing you need to be careful about is not giving too much water. Although the plant tolerates drought, this can quickly lead to a lack of moisture when kept in pots. The golden mean is in the foreground with lavender plants. It works like this:
- water only when the substrate has dried
- Check the substrate with a finger test
- pour carefully
- Discard the water in the coaster after ten minutes
You can use tap water, as lavender plants need enough lime.
tip: To optimize drainage and retain heat, you can mulch a layer of white colored sand or gravel over the substrate. This supports the absorption of solar heat and ensures that the water does not get into the substrate too quickly.
Fertilize
Fertilizing measures are definitely necessary for the sun worshiper Lavandula angustifolia, since the substrate is quite poor in nutrients. The fertilizer is added exclusively from April to August, the main vegetation phase of lavender, in a rhythm of four to six weeks. The following fertilizers are recommended:
- liquid compost
- vegetable manure
- worm tea
- organic fertilizers with high levels of potassium
- Fertilizer sticks especially for lavender or alternatively olives
Stop fertilizing from mid-August, as from this time the plant is slowly preparing for winter.
tip: Magnesium lime is a miracle cure for the vitality of lavender and should be administered once from April to August.
To cut
Lavandula angustifolia should regularly be cut so that the plant does not become lignified and thus does not become weaker over the years. When cutting, it is particularly important to keep the lavender young and to stimulate flowering. It is best to use two cuts a year, especially if you want to get a special shape or the shrub is getting too big. These pruning measures function as maintenance and pruning at the same time. The first time of year is shortly before spring budding at the end of March:
- use disinfected, sharp secateurs
- Shorten all shoots by about a third or two
- do it evenly
- Completely remove sick and withered shoots
The second cut of the year is after flowering from mid-July to early August. Proceed in the same way as with spring pruning, only shorten the shoots by a maximum of one third. Another cut after mid-August is not recommended, otherwise the plant cannot sprout sufficiently to survive the winter.
When pruning, always be careful never to cut into the old wood, as the shrub has a hard time overcoming such cuts. As a rule of thumb, there must be a pair of leaves on each shoot after the cut so that the lavender can continue to sprout.
tip: You should not discard the removed shoots in spring if you want to grow more lavender plants. Each individual shoot, as long as it is not dried up or sickly, can be used as a cutting.
hibernate
Overwintering the plant is quite easy. Since Lavandula angustifolia can withstand temperatures as low as -25 °C, only the pot itself needs to be protected from the cold:
- Place vessel on insulating pad
- Styrofoam or wood are suitable for this
- Pack buckets
- Use bubble wrap, garden fleece or jute sack for this
The plant is placed in front of a house wall that protects against wind and precipitation. A south wall is also recommended here. Only water the plant on non-frost days.
multiply
Lavender plants are propagated over cuttings, which you collect in the spring by cutting. Cut these to a length of three to four inches, remove the leaves at the bottom and cut off the shoot tip to allow for even branching. Then proceed as follows:
- Fill the seed tray with coarse sand and potting soil
- 1:1 ratio
- Stick the cuttings vertically into the growing substrate
- all leaves must look out of the ground
- Spray cuttings thoroughly with water
- cover with foil or plastic hood
The cuttings are now placed in a warm, bright spot in the garden that is protected from the direct midday sun. The containers are regularly aired and watered until the cuttings have developed roots by early summer. Then repot.
tip: A root hormone works very effectively on the lavender cuttings. Use this to treat the defoliated ends before sticking them into the substrate.
Diseases
Due to the essential oils it contains and its general robustness, lavender is not attacked by pests and does not suffer from diseases. In rare cases, however, stem rot, an infection caused by Phytophthora fungi, can occur. This is caused by waterlogging in the pot. The stalks of lavender become glassy when infected and then turn from a gray-green to a light brown before dying off completely. The entire plant dies within two weeks. Only fungicides have been established to combat it.
Buy pre-grown potted plants
You can grow lavender yourself or buy it as a pre-grown potted plant in numerous hardware stores, from florists and even in the supermarket. If you are interested in a specimen, you should definitely check the substrate for wetness. If this is permanently damp or even wet, you can count on the fact that the plant will not survive long. It should also be noted whether the stems are glassy, gray or brown. In this case, the lavender plant is suffering from a fungal infection and will die within the next few days.