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Lavender and coriander issues urgent

Posted: Sun Mar 25, 2012 4:20 am
by Wannabeegreen
So my coriander has bolted, yay (not) so I thought okay let it go for the seeds and try again but no... The whole thing is wilting now and I can't understand why. I chopped off all the dead crispy bits and the bolted bits to leave the leaves, will it return or should I start again?
Secondly the lavender (French variety) is wilting all over the place, it's drained well, sunny position but drooping like crazy, so I chopped off the droopy bits and an hour later more droopy bits. What can I do next? I'll have nothing left of my plant soon :( I'm not sure it will survive the day at moment..

Posted: Sun Mar 25, 2012 4:36 am
by applestar
Is it just those two? Are they planted in the same area? In the ground? container? Was anything applied to them? Did the wilting occur suddenly or gradually?

Posted: Sun Mar 25, 2012 4:42 am
by Wannabeegreen
They are in separate large container pots with holes in bottom and dish underneath but only got issues with these 2 plants, all my others herbs are doing great... I have rosemary that's loving it and shares a pot with lemon thyme... Although the lemon thyme might be struggling it's also going a bit crispy... Oh and there's a garlic plant in the rosemary and thyme pot also... But the lavender and coriander don't share with anything

Edit to add .. They only get watered as they are in compost I figured they don't need extra food and they had these homes for maybe 2 months now..

Posted: Sun Mar 25, 2012 7:42 am
by rainbowgardener
OK... couple clues: in compost in a pot with dish underneath.

Compost does not work very well in containers, too heavy and dense and moisture retentive. You could mix a little bit of compost in with some potting soil, but basically you need potting soil or some equivalent, very light and loose, for pots. And having a dish under the pot, likely means that at least part of the time your pot is sitting in water.

Lavender HATES staying wet. It is basically a desert plant. Even regular potting soil is probably too moisture retentive for it, better would be to mix in some sand or cactus mix. Yours is drooping because it is too wet. Take the dish out from under and don't water for a week or so. Get some faster drying soil for it.

Posted: Sun Mar 25, 2012 8:06 am
by Wannabeegreen
Thanks for the tips I'll give it a go, so will the droopy bits perk back up or should I chops em all off as they come?

Posted: Sun Mar 25, 2012 8:10 am
by rainbowgardener
Don't keep chopping it. If conditions become suitable, it should perk back up.

Posted: Sun Mar 25, 2012 9:06 am
by Wannabeegreen
I took the plant out of it's pot to change it from compost and there was no new root growth at all all still in same place as when bought from store a few months ago and they were brown and very unhealthy looking so I'm thinking that it's probably root rot and already too late too rescue?

Posted: Sun Mar 25, 2012 9:45 am
by applestar
This is lavender right? Try scraping a root near the base of the plant and the stem. If there is white in root and green in stem,mother it's still alive, if barely.

Try potting in 1/3 sand, 1/3 compost, and 1/3 soil.

I don't think pure compost is good for any plant, but do you refer to "potting soil/mix" as "compost" as they do in Britain? If that's the case, use 1/3 sand and 2/3 "compost". :wink:

Posted: Sun Mar 25, 2012 1:11 pm
by PunkRotten
Same thing happened to a cilantro plant of mine. Was flowering and beginning to make some seeds then all of a sudden it started wilting, leaves got crispy and plant turned all brown. Mine was in the ground though. Not sure why this happened.

Posted: Sun Mar 25, 2012 1:45 pm
by Wannabeegreen
Haha yea that's it potting soil ;) they were in that no signs of greenness though... Bool :(

I think the coriander issue happened because of repotting shock