Can you plant lavender in a pot

The lavender was watered the day before planting. A dry plant is stressed so I always water 1- 3 days before planting or repotting. Gently massage the root ball to loosen the fine roots. I tossed in a couple of handfuls of compost at this point.

I pressed down on the top of the soil to straighten the plant in the light mix. A light sprinkling of worm compost was applied to the top. I moved my lavender to a spot under the pink grapefruit tree where it gets filtered sun. It also gets good air circulation in this location which is a big plus. I watered it thoroughly right away. In most climates, planting in spring and early summer are fine. Here in Tucson or any extremely hot location , early fall would have been better because the plant could have settled in when the temps cooled a bit but before a 1st freeze night.

I planted in late spring so I could get the video and post done for you! The plant is settling in fine but I do have to water it every few days now that the temps are over F.

Part 1. Select a variety of lavender that suits your climate and space best. There are 45 different species of lavender with hundreds of varieties, so try narrowing your search by what you want lavender for.

Uses for lavender include landscaping, dried buds, culinary, crafts, fresh cuttings, and essential oils. There are different varieties that fit each of these uses differently. Look for large pots. Lavender plants can grow to the size of a small shrub, so a large pot for starting will allow for this growth.

Do not look a pot with an attached saucer as this will limit efficient drainage. Remember that lavender plant roots are susceptible to rot if the soil retains water too long.

You can drill extras if the pot you choose only has one drain hole. Fill the bottom inches of your pot with the packing peanuts or gravel. Pour some of your potting mix into your pot. This mix should fill about a quarter to a third of the rest of the pot, or about 1-inch above the gravel or packing peanuts. You will need well-draining alkaline soil from a garden or department store. This soil is a common product in the garden section, so it should be easy to locate.

Mix the soil with your hands to break up any dirt clods. Part 2. Remove the Lavender plant from its current pot. Squeeze the bottom of the pot your lavender plant is in. This helps loosen the lavender and its dirt ball from the smaller pot. With the loosening of the previous step, the lavender plant should ease out of its old pot. Handle your pot-less lavender gently to avoid breaking the dirt and damaging the roots as well as the foliage above the dirt. Place the lavender plant in the center of the pot.

Nestle it into the dirt that is already in the pot for security. The base of the plant should sit 3-inches below the rim of the pot. This makes the dirt hard and unless the dirt and roots are loosened, the roots will not expand in their new pot and the plant will soon die.

Fill the rest of the pot with your potting mix. The soil needs to stay loose for effective drainage. Spread a half cup timed-release fertilizer over your potting soil. Sprinkle the fertilizer on the soil and then scratch the fertilizer into the soil with a fork. Timed-release fertilizer can be found at any gardening or farm store and will release fertilizer as the plant is watered.

An example of a timed-release pellet fertilizer is alfalfa pellets. They are organic and contain Triacontanol, which is a growth stimulant. Mulch your lavender plant. This is because the pot needs to be big enough to hold enough soil for the lavenders roots to stay insulated from the cold and so that it does not dry too quickly if there has been persistent blazing sunshine.

Lavenders of all varieties love to grow in pots because pots drain a lot quicker then most soils and lavenders need their roots to be somewhat dry most of the time to avoid root rot.

However the pot will elevate the roots compared to lavender planted in the garden out of the ground so that they are more exposed to extreme temperatures. Lavenders need full sun to flower at their best but this will also increase the rate at which water evaporates from the soil, hence the importance of having a good size pot with a good capacity for soil , so that it does not dry out as quickly as a small pot would. Similarly the soil acts as insulation for the lavender roots during the winter.

The English lavender species Lavandula angustifolia are cold hardy and will tolerate frost but a good sized pot with plenty of soil will help protect roots from the worst of the cold.

This will increase the likelihood of lavender surviving winter and help to maintain a healthy plant that produces good blooms and fragrance read my article for more on caring for lavenders in winter. Do bear in mind that it is easy to transplant lavender the best time to do this is early spring into another pot but I recommend reading my article on how to transplant lavenders successfully for all the best practices.

Lavenders can grow in pots made of any material, but some types of pots are more favourable for lavender growing then others. However I have found that the metal pots and containers in particular and to some extent the thinner plastic pots tend to heat up more in the sun, absorbing all the heat. This will then heat the soil up and thus the roots. Lavenders are drought resistant plants that grow natively in the hot and dry Mediterranean region of Europe so they may tolerate growing in metal and plastic pots no problem.

However if the pot is absorbing heat all day, the soil will become dryer much quicker so you will have to be particularly diligent with watering. Established lavenders only need watering once every two weeks unless there has been significant rainfall during the growing season.

If you are using metal or plastic pots you may have to increase this to once every 10 days and check soil moisture regularly. Watering lavenders can be a tricky business because they do not like lots of water but the symptoms of over watered lavender looks superficially the same as under watered lavender. A lavender pot size of 12 to 16 inches is ideal since the plant can grow quite huge and bushy. As a rule of thumb, water your lavender plant when the soil feels dry rather than following a watering schedule.

Start watering when the soil is dry to touch and drench so that water flows freely out the bottom of pots. As a guideline, carry out deep watering every 7—10 days for the first two years and as your lavender continues to develop, watering will be required if there is a drought.

Pro Tip: Lavender is drought resistant so take caution not to over water as this may lead to root rot. Learn how to water your potted plants and keep them healthy. These hours can either be continuous or broken. The more hours your lavender receives light, the better it is for its enhanced blooming and oil production. To maximize the exposure move your plants around during the day and prune back any trees surrounding your landscape.

Getting a bright white colored mulch is good for rapid growth and air circulation so your plants dry out fast after watering or rain. There are several types of such mulches including turkey grit, shells or gravel and straw all at pocket friendly cost. Remove any weed or creeping ground cover regularly to avoid competition for nutrients.

Here's a list of the best weed killers for most gardens. Feed your lavender every week with a balanced water-soluble slow release fertilizer alternatively, you can use fish meal emulsion or compost tea.

Some gardeners use alfalfa pellets slow-release organic food with triacontanol - a growth stimulant and do work well too. Fertilizing lavender too much can hurt it. Avoid fertilizer application during the fall because this will make the plant produce tender new growth that will die in the winter.

Tip: Make sure to read the instructions on the fertilizer label before anything else. Remove all bud shoots as soon as the little green buds start to form in the first growing season of a newly planted lavender plant. This helps your lavender to have a vigorous vegetative cycle which encourages a larger, hardy and strong plant ready for surviving the first winter.

Another reason for removing all bud shoots during the first growing season is that you get to enjoy more yield during the second and third year. Early spring March through May is the best time to prune by removing any dead branches all the way down to the plants bottom.