Help! Young potted lavender is drooping heavily

[tokidoki]

I bought a small pot of lavender (lavandula stoechas) only 1 week ago, and watered sparingly as per general advice found on the internet. A couple of days ago, the stalks and flowers were looking rather droopy, and so we gave it a good deep watering (such that water was draining out from the bottom) whilst checking that there was no waterlog at the top of the soil.

This perked up the plant very quickly (minimal drooping remaining), however a day later and the plant is drooping yet again (pictures attached). The soil (including at the bottom of the pot) seems dry.

My instinct is to give it another good watering, however I don't want to overwater it. At the same time, we've been placing it outside facing East (so 8+ hours of direct sunshine) - I've brought the plant indoors to see if it will help (at first glance some 4 hours later, it's not helping!)

Any advice anyone could spare would be greatly appreciated. I don't want the lavender plant to die

Droopy

Soil

Bottom of pot is dry

[imafan26]

The plant is pot bound and full of roots, it is dry.

Pot up the plant. Put the whole pot in a bucket of water until the bubbles stop to make sure the root ball is thoroughly wet. Take the plant out and gently tease or score the root ball so the roots will move into the new soil. Pot up into a well drained mix in a bigger pot. Something that size, I can put into a 10-14 inch pot. Lavender is a large plant, the container will limit its' size. I use terra cotta pots since they breathe and a 50/50 mix of peat lite. I water every 1-3 days. Lavender does not like fertilizer so I only use slow release fertilizer in the pots and I like nutricote type 200 since I only have to apply it once a year and it needs only about a tablespoon.

[applestar]

Yep definitely pot bound. The exposure to the sun is drying it out quicker. Until uppotted it probably needs to be deep watered every say.

Where do you live? I just asked about where to plant my little seedlings, and explained that in my climate, it's better to plant in the ground than in containers.

[SGT Lavender]

This thread is relevant to my interests.


Good luck OP.

[imafan26]

Lavender does like it in the ground better. Mine will become a generous mound about 30 inches tall and three feet wide. It does prefer slightly alkaline soil. Sandy soil is best as it does like to be well drained. I do keep some in pots since I am in zone 12a. Lavender multifeda can take the heat but the lavender augustifolia are zone 8 plants and I need to put them in partial shade during the summer. If I can get them to live past the first year they will acclimate and do better, but they will not get as big and the blooms do not fully open in my climate. I can only grow munstead, hidcote and lavender lady because I am in a relatively cooler area.

I am growing more of the lavendins like Provence, Grosso and Otto Quast. They do live a few years. They only bloom for about 3 months compared to 9 months for multifeda.

[tokidoki]

Everyone,

Thank you SO much for your replies. @imafan26 - once I soaked the pot, the stalks and flowers perked back up within a day. It's been three days since and the lavender is thriving!! I'll post pictures soon.

I live in a flat in the South of England and so can't really plant the lavender in the ground unfortunately. The other annoying thing is there are no gardening centres near where I live, so even looking for a bigger pot and the right kind of soil has been a real challenge!

[applestar]

Look for mason's sand used for laying pavers, bricks, stepping stones, paths. Decomposed granite is another option. Mix about 1/3 of that in proportion with potting mix/compost. Do they sell oyster shell for chicken grit? I like using that for long lasting natural lime.

For containers, use your imagination and you could convert/recycle appropriately sized containers. That's always fun.

Good luck!

[tokidoki]

Happy lavender

[ElizabethB]

OMG - seriously root bound. I understand that you may have problems finding pots - order on line or get creative. PM Applestar for container ideas. She is the queen of indoor gardening. Even if you live in a very remote area if you look around you will find nurseries that you can purchase nursery pots from. You may have to travel a little bit but it is worth the effort. You can water your plant but sooner or later Mother Nature will take over and your pant will fail. If you can not plant in the ground then up plant to a pot at least 12"- 14" diameter.

If you want to garden you have to be willing to do what ever is necessary for good production. Gardening takes work and dedication to be successful.

Good luck

[Susan W]

Oh, the marvelous lavender! To address this person's question, being inside is a strike against (sorry!). And if you are inside, just a bigger pot (8" ish) not huge should help you through, and if it flourishes bump it up a notch.

I tend to read through stuff, comments and books, online, and come up with something. I don't treat my lavender that much different from other herbs. The ones started from seed (peat pellets), then go to 4" using a potting mix (Miracle grow, fafards, whatever's on hand). A few were outgrowing that and bumped up to pt-qt containers, yes more potting mix! When out, gets rain, spot watered when babies or dry spells. These starts are for the market or my use, then go up to 12" + pots

Mine that have made it through are in 12 - 18" pots, larger ones hold 2 plants. I had a couple not make it this winter, potted late summer, 12" pots, exposed. I have one in ground. In ground is hard here with rainfall (50+ inches), unless raised bed. I use my same mix of bagged stuff for the lavender as for the other plants. (mix includes top soil, poo, cotton burr)

I didn't cut them back this spring. Between cold coming up to the edge of timing, new growth starting, holding off. There are a mess of bud stems, smiles! Most of these will go to market, and then may prune the shrublets back.

Rambling yes, but just chatting plants and lavender.

[applestar]

no don't PM me
It's better to discuss on the forum for everyone's benefit.
There ARE a couple of container ideas thread too, have you seen them?

[rainbowgardener]

You've gotten lots of good advice already.

The lavender does look much better with the new soil or whatever you did for it, but it looks like you put it right back in the same pot. It does need a bigger pot! The roots were already filling that one up. Somehow you need to find more soil mix and a bigger pot/container or you will be right back in the same situation.

Lavender doesn't love containers to start with and trying to keep it in one that's too small just won't work. You can get all kinds of buckets for free from restaurants and grocery delis that use them. You can usually get a variety of sizes of nursery pots for free from garden nurseries, or you can get creative with what is around the house.

You can use large size tin cans:


https://www.themindfulword.org/wp-conten ... 3b92_z.jpg

old rubber boots:


https://img.wonderhowto.com/img/34/96/63 ... n.w654.jpg


the kind of concrete blocks with holes in them:


https://www.greendiary.com/wp-content/up ... _ijyay.jpg

or even old switch/outlet cover plates !:


https://1-ps.googleusercontent.com/x/www ... 8DTVyg.jpg

Just be sure whatever you use has drainage holes. Give your lavender more room and more soil!

[tokidoki]

Lavender now repotted, fingers crossed it will thrive! Thanks again everyone.

[rainbowgardener]

Looks great!

I don't think you told us where you are. It should be outdoors now, but in really cold areas it will have to come in for the winter. I leave mine out all winter, but I'm about at the north of its range and in fact all my lavender died in the fierce winter we just had. If it is out, it will turn greyish and go dormant.

If you are in a warm weather area where it will keep growing through the winter, then next year you will need to get it a bigger pot again, because they can get very big when they grow all year.

[imafan26]

Looking good. Remember to check the pot and pot up before it gets in trouble. I am glad you got a pot. I have used 5 gallon buckets and put them in cache pots. Lavender roots like to go deep.

Trim the lavender often to make it bushy. The cuttings can be rooted when the lavender is actively growing to make more lavender. Select healthy non-flowering side shoots. I root everything in perlite. It should root in a few weeks.

Lavender hates being in the rain, it will turn the bottom of the lavender black so bring the pot in if it rains a lot and keep it under lights if you have to.

[tokidoki]

@imafan26 - I'd love for the plant to grow bushier. Any tips for the trimming? - the websites I've been looking up generally advise trimming off established flowerheads and about 1/3 of the leaf shoots...

[LittleNewy]

Hi everyone, I've just discovered this forum here and it seems to be very lively.

Anyway, I've got a young munstead lavender plant now about 10-13 Cm tall the problem is it doesn't grow tall upwards and it curls up a little bit, so I tie it to a toothpick to straightened the plant up. I'm just afraid that this is a sign the plant is lacking certain kinds of soil substances or maybe lacking light, does anyone have any idea why its curling? The bottom part of the stem near the ground is slightly brownish in color is this normal?

[Lj.Evans]

If it wasn't for this posts - my 2nd attempt of growing lavender would certainly fail - so thank you! I am one of those people whose elderly had amazing green fingers - everything they touched, multiplied. Then I came along with an 'impressive record' of killing cacti ...twice. It made me sulk for days , an avalanche of insecurities over growing plants on a window sill, let alone garden I don't have, poured. Then there were some very unlucky bamboos too, my faith of plant-killer seemed sealed. Months have passed before I dared to buy lavender, that I watered religiously, still I managed to kill it too... so I bought another one. This time I spent significant amount of time talking to a garden centre manager on lavender - poor man. I put him through as much pain as I'm putting every one of you who reads my post through.

Anyhow, after seeing my brand new lavender droop the morning after I bought it and re-potted it, while I was getting ready and running late (great timing too), put me in the state of panic and 'oh no, not again..' memories of earlier failures came rushing in. So I came across these posts, read the instructions, filled my kitchen sink with water, pulled that lavender out of the pot and so on, then re-planted it. Went back to put my 'face on' and I swear, it couldn't have been more than 15 mins later, I glanced fearfully at my window sill -> the lavender was perky and alive ! No more drooping, but a happy bunch of flowers, bathing in the Sun..oh joy!! So thank you from the bottom of my heart for making this hopeless gardener into a hopeful one.. you made my day!

[rainbowgardener]

So glad we could help!

[imafan26]

Like most herbs lavender likes to be trimmed often to make it bushier and keep it from becoming woody too soon. Only cut into the soft growth and try to avoid cutting into the hard wood as much as possible. It takes a long time to come back and sometimes it dies when I do that. Once a year lavender should get a heavy pruning again only the new wood.

To keep the plant from dying on me, I like to prune half the plant, and make sure new growth is coming from the mainstem before I do the rest of the plant. I have to do this around January as that is the rainy season here and if the lavender leaves stay too wet for too long they will turn black and slimy expecially on the lower part of the plant.
When you trim back the lavender, you can propagate more from the cuttings.

[amandalee]

I am having a similar problem to the original post and based on the responses think that the soil is not right. My lavender is planted in a raised bed alongside my house (good for drainage, right?) and definitely gets plenty of sun on this east facing wall in Florida.
I planted it about a month ago. For the first few weeks I was finding that it would droop about 3 days after watering and then would perk back up after watering. I started watering accordingly but now it's still drooping after watering and the flower heads look a little brown (even those that are standing straight). As you can see in the picture, it's not the whole plant, and the left plant is definitely worse.
Do you think it's the soil? If so, is it possible to change or add to the soil at this point? Is the brown a sign of disease? This has only been going on for about a week so hopefully there's still something I can do.
I am new to gardening but learning a lot and investing a lot of time. I'd appreciate any advice and will put it to good use.

[imafan26]

Actually, I think it is planted to close to the wall in the first place. Lavender is a large plant, it makes a 3 ft round mound. In zone 12a I do plant it in full sun, but on the east side of the house where it gets morning sun but shade in the afternoon. I plant it on my sloping driveway because it needs to have good drainage.

Lavender likes a slightly more akaline soil. You can do that by adding compost, chicken manure and more grit, sand, cinder,or rock dust. Not too much compost since it will hold on to more water unless the problem is very dry soil. You can also add mulch on top to conserve moisture if the soil is simply drying out too fast.

It is best not to water on a schedule, lavender is a drought resistant plant and it droops when it is too dry and also when it is too wet. Check the soil moisture with your finger and feel the soil a couple of inches down. If you feel that is it dry and the plant is droopy, give it a good deep drink. If the soil is moist and the plant is droopy, it is too much water and your roots may be in trouble. Watering needs will change at different times of the year. In summer, you may need to water more and in the rainy season, it may get too much unless you can get it under cover. I make sure my soil drains well with a lot of perlite in my potting mix and planting lavender on a slope so I can water everyday or when it rains (everyday) the plant can survive that. Lavender in the ground, once established can handle drought better than too much rain. In a pot, you need to pay attention to watering, in a well drained mix you may have to water every day. Lavender needs to be potted up frequently so pay attention to the roots and pot up before it gets root bound. I prefer a pot that breathes like terra cotta. I can water that every day with a peat lite mix (with dolomite lime added) + osmocote and the plant is fine. It is best to double pot the terra cotta or surround the pot with other pots in summer as insulation so the pot does not heat up as much. The large pots are hard to move so dollies help. In the rainy season I move the pots under the house eaves so most of the rain does not fall directly on the plant. The lavender I have in the ground will usually bite the dust in a year when it rains for weeks at a time but will survive after cutting back if there are enough breaks between the rain for the plant to dry out.

Lavender should be trimmed often to keep the plant bushy and keep it from getting woody too soon. Lavender does not like being cut into old wood, so trim only the green wood. I have killed lavender by cutting back too hard. I trim my lavender in the rainy season, too many leaves then will just turn black and rot any way. You can take cutting from young stems that do not have blooms. This is challenging with multifida since it is alway in bloom. When I do rejuvenate my plant, I only cut half at a time and wait for new growth to start on the old stems that I have cut back and opened up to the light. Once the new growth has a good start, then I cut back the other side. I usually do this in the rainy season around January.

Lavender is not a happy houseplant but if winters are very cold you can get the varieties that are more cold tolerant and they can be protected outdoors.

Purple haze changed their site significantly, but it is where I first learned to successfully grow lavender and to choose the right ones for zone 12a

https://purplehazelavender.com/lavender/lavender-varieties/

[rainbowgardener]

20161204_111809.jpg

I am having a similar problem to the original post and based on the responses think that the soil is not right. My lavender is planted in a raised bed alongside my house (good for drainage, right?) and definitely gets plenty of sun on this east facing wall in Florida.
I planted it about a month ago. For the first few weeks I was finding that it would droop about 3 days after watering and then would perk back up after watering. I started watering accordingly but now it's still drooping after watering and the flower heads look a little brown (even those that are standing straight). As you can see in the picture, it's not the whole plant, and the left plant is definitely worse.
Do you think it's the soil? If so, is it possible to change or add to the soil at this point? Is the brown a sign of disease? This has only been going on for about a week so hopefully there's still something I can do.
I am new to gardening but learning a lot and investing a lot of time. I'd appreciate any advice and will put it to good use.

It is a new baby lavender plant. I agree that it is planted too close to the wall, so the wall is shading it. If you weren't in Florida I would say that east facing, meaning morning sun only, isn't enough sun, but maybe where you are it is, southern sun being more intense and your days not being as short. Still something to check on. It should be getting at least six hours of sun a day.

The flower heads browning is just because they are finishing blooming and are setting seed. I wouldn't let it go to seed. Lavender does much better if kept trimmed. And why waste the lavender which is a wonderful tea/cooking herb and for sachets, etc.?

Drooping after watering sounds like either you are over-watering and/or it is developing root problems (could be both, since over-watering will lead to root rot). Lavender likes to stay pretty dry and it likes very well draining sandy soil. Personally, I would carefully dig it up, taking the whole root ball and replant it. Move it farther away from the wall (or to a better spot, if it isn't getting six hours of sun there). Before you replant, mix some sand or perlite into the soil for better drainage. Then don't water until the soil is starting to dry.

[amandalee]

This is all so helpful! Thank you rainbowgardener and imafan!

So if the brown heads are normal (setting seed), then I think the plant on the right is just fine. I've attached another photo where you can better see the difference between the two. Would you agree?

If that's the case, why would one be dying and not the other? Not enough room for both? I measured the size of the planted area and it is 2.5' by 4'.

As far as the sun goes, I think it's getting enough but I'll be able to tell better when I'm off work on Saturday morning.

Thank you so much for sharing your expertise!

[rainbowgardener]

Yes, I think the plant on the right in the photo looks just fine. The other one looks possibly diseased. They are too crowded, but I don't think that is causing this. I would get the sickly plant out of there, before the other one catches it.

[amandalee]

Okay, that makes sense. Thank you so much!

[salhaney]

Just want to say this thread saved my indoor plant, had exact issue as OP and registered to thank everyone here for all the advice.
Thank you!

While I'm here, cement vs terracotta pot? Only reason I'm considering cement pot for my lavender is because we've come across some pots and would only pick them for aesthetic reasons.

[imafan26]

It doesn't matter. I use cement pots mostly for orchids that are top heavy. Cement pot holes are small but the pots themselves do breathe. I use a knife or scraper to expand the drain holes on cement pots. I also will use a piece of hardware cloth or old window screen over the drain hole to keep snails out and it helps keep soil in.
Terra cotta are heavy but not nearly as heavy as cement. Both are breakable but terra cotta is easier to break.

If you are keeping your lavender in a pot, you will need to keep up potting it as it grows. It has a large root system. You will need to fertilize the lavender in a pot, but do so very sparingly. I only use slow release osmocote or nutricote that will last about 6 -8 months (type 200) in my climate. Lavender does not like a lot of fertilizer, but any potted plant will need some.

[salhaney]

If you are keeping your lavender in a pot, you will need to keep up potting it as it grows. It has a large root system. You will need to fertilize the lavender in a pot, but do so very sparingly. I only use slow release osmocote or nutricote that will last about 6 -8 months (type 200) in my climate. Lavender does not like a lot of fertilizer, but any potted plant will need some.

Thank you so much for the reply.

I've never grown lavender before, how often will repotting need to be done, as it grows? I live in zone 6b and would love to eventually plant it out front since my house is South facing.

[imafan26]

Keep an eye on the plant. The roots will fill the pot and the plant will wilt faster. It is better to pot it up before it gets pot bound.

[Friz3983]

I bought this lavender plant recently and very quickly it started drooping. Each day it looks sadder. I am new to caring for plants and unfortunately I have learned the hard way how to care for many of them. I would really like to not kill another plant! I have read about the importance of well draining soil and the effects of overwatering. I watered the plant today with thoughts It was too dry but did not see any improvement. Please help or is it too late!

[applestar]

This type of pot you have it in is not recommended for lavender as the above discussion indicate. It is not typically made with much of a drain hole if any. I’ve seen ones like this that only have a single tiny hole that had been poked through the clay when wet, so that by the time it is fired, the hole shrinks, is irregular, and that could easily become clogged. Then to make it even worse, the dipped glaze could block the hole as well. THEN if the hole is on the bottom, it could become blocked unless the pot is raised up on feet.

[Friz3983]

I did read about the drainage. This pot does have 2 good size holes at the bottom and my husband put stones at the bottom to help with drainage. If you think it is still a drainage issue, then I am replanting! Thank you for your advice!

[imafan26]

Potted plants can be tricky. They will be dependent on you to provide everything they need. The pot needs to have adequate drainage and be sized appropriate for the size of the root ball. You should not over pot and only leave about 2 inches of soil around the root ball or what will accommodate one years' growth. You need to make sure you use potting soil, and not compost or garden soil which will be too heavy. Plants that like dry conditions will need a soil mix that dries faster. You need to have adequate light to meet the needs of the plant. All potted plants will need to be fertilized. A slow release fertilizer will be best. Some plants are not really good house plants. House plants actually have to be pretty tough to tolerate the extreme conditions.

[xdrive30001]

Hello my young lavender is drooping. it is 1 gallon pot. I bought it 14 days ago. watered once. it is drooping not just noon time, it dropping also when the sun is not up. I put it in my balcony. So it is full sun/partial sun. I live in US California San Diego USDA zone 8a to 10b. When I bought them, they were perked up. I think they start dripping from the 5th day. And I watered (not soak, just 1 cup water) on the 11th day. now they look like this. what should I do? this is the 3rd dead lavender if this is dead.

 from the 1st photo, you can see, the size of the pot vs the plant size.

 the 2nd and the 3rd photo show the soil. I think is not to try and it's not too wet. you can also see the drooping.

 the 4th photo shows the bottom of the pot. The are a little root hanging outside. that is not rotten root, is it? that is not root bound either right? because the pot is pretty big compare to the small plants.

[Ritikakhatri]

I’ve a new lavender in drooping condition. Ordered it online and got it like this. I’m new with plants. Can someone help me to fix it please ?

[Tfunna]

Hello, I am having the hardest time with some young lavender plants. They were older then the good looking one I have attached. I originally had my pots filled with miracle grow garden soil, blood meal and Epson salt. They were unhappy, so I scrapped the soil and now it's one part soil mentioned and course sand. When I changed the soil, I watered it, but very little. I don't understand what I'm doing wrong, any help is greatly appreciated. Not sure if location matters, but I reside in Northern Arkansas.

Thank you for reading

[imafan26]

The pot with the roots hanging out and drooping plant. It needs to be potted up. When watering any plant always water it well and let it drain. I am not fond of the 1 cup method. It does not necessarily wet all the soil and dry spots can be hard to re wet. Not watering to flush the pot can also build up salts which only a few plants can tolerate. Lavenders grow best in zones 5-8. Lavender multifida (species) grows and blooms nearly all year in zones 8-10. Lavandins are a cross between lavendula x intermedia. They are sterile hybrids but are more adaptable in warmer zones.

Lavender likes sun and does not like water on its leaves for any length of time or they leaves will turn black.
In the examples above, the pots were chosen more for aesthetics than function. A porous pot dries better. Unglazed terra cotta or cement breathes better. The soil mixes also look really organic, but organic mixes hold water more. I would use a cactus mix or basically one part perlite, one part peat moss. Since lavender does like alkaline conditions more, a little bit of dolomite lime (1/2 teaspoon mixed in the soil does not hurt).

Watering should always be as needed and not on a schedule. The type of pot, potting mix, location, air circulation, if you have a saucer (no saucer is best or at least use pot feet and keep the bottom out of the saucer). Once every 11 days is too long even for a potted plant. If the soil is not drying out in 3 days, the mix needs to be drier, or the pot smaller or both., and the plant needs more air circulation. Lavender has a high light requirement and should be hardened off to an outside location whenever the weather is good.

Lavender does not need a lot of fertilizer so I only use osmocote in pots. I keep most of the lavender in pots because it can rain for weeks in the rainy season and I need to be able to move the pots under the eaves where they will stay drier. In the ground, lavender can be a large mounding shrub three feet high and wide. It does need to be pruned annually to keep it from getting woody. Only green wood should be pruned. I usually prune half the plant and wait for the new shoots to sprout before I prune off the other half. I lose fewer plants that way. My front yard slopes. it is good for lavender to be where it never puddles. I have to work on making sure it isn't where the rain drops off the roof either.

Lavender does not go dormant in my climate so, I don't know about winter care. I grow mostly Provence, MultifIda, Dentata, Otto Quast, stoechas, Fred Boutin, Grosso, and other lavendins which are more adapted to zone 11. L. MultifIda blooms almost all year. The others bloom for a few weeks in summer. Zone 5 lavenders like munstead, hidcote, and lavender lady are more like annuals here.

https://purplehazelavender.com/lavender ... -lavender/
https://www.gardenia.net/guide/planting ... er-in-pots

[Marriottsharpe3]

Might need a bigger container if those are the roots coming out the bottom. Mix of potting soil, sphagnum peat moss , perlite.