Can I divide lavender in Spring or should I wait until Fall?
It is a fairly mature and large bush. Can I saw through the middle? Is there a more appropriate or less savage way to do this?
Thank you.
Dividing lavender in Spring
Hi drop -- do you know which kind of lavender you've got growing?
i got english lavender in a pot and i just take cuttings and root them.
(actually i do hydroponics so i put them in the aero cloner )
This lavender was given to me without a name. But it looks very much like a Munstead. Smells like one, too. :-)
Thanks.
I would *not* saw the main stem through the middle! Dividing generally seems to work best with multi-stemmed plants, and my lavender generally seem to have just the one main "trunk." You might try propagating by cuttings or by layering. I haven't had much success propagating lavender, so I just bought the dozen plants I wanted for my "hedge," but I didn't make a really concerted effort to figure out a way that would work. If you don't have an aerocloner like Sparky, hopefully somebody else will post to give you advice on another way that worked for them. I just wanted to stop you from mangling your big plant! savage approach, indeed! LOL
you can make a aero cloner easy ....
small pail and lid ... aquarium air pump , air stone.
some net pots and perlite or growrocks ..
cut some holes in the lid to hold the netpot.
you want the water level in the bucket so it dont touch the stems
of the cuttings but high enough where the bubbles from the air stone
splash up on the lid and stems.
it took almost 2 weeks for roots to show on the lavender.
you can try the hard wood or soft new growth.
scrape the hard wood sections with a razor some.
I cant remember what i gave me the best rootings.
Thanks for the description, Sparky! I had no idea what an "aerocloner" was; sounded too high tech for me! :-)
So, if I make some sort of bag out of netting (like maybe a piece of tulle fabric?), is that a "netpot" that I can fill with perlite?
Do I want the water level to touch the netpot in order to moisten the perlite but not to submerge the cuttings? Or should the water level be just barely below the netpot?
I would love to learn this method, as everyone who sees my lavender hedge wishes they could take a plant home with them...
Here are some pics of my cloner and cuttings..
Lavender , peppermint and a ivy vine ..
I use a 310 Gallon per hour water pump and sprayers in mine.
(pond pump at walmart) sprayers i got from online, the drip store
I think was the name of the site.
This message was edited Apr 4, 2005 10:35 AM
Lavender cutting ..
Peppermint cutting
a pic of whats inside the cloner..
Thank you for all your help.
I also have no luck rooting lavender. I didn't even know there is such a thing as "aerocloner". Thanks, VbSparky, for the photos and explanation.
I guess I would leave this lavender alone. I don't want to harm it in any way.
Thanks for the photos, Sparky! Now I have a much better grip on the concept. Sounds like you want something that will make a good mist or spray of water around the cuttings to keep them constantly moist but not drenched..... I will play with the ideas you've given me & see what happens. If/when I put a rig together, I'll post pics & see what you think!
Are you going to try rooting cuttings this way, drop? It won't harm your lavender a bit to take cuttings, in fact it's good for herbs to be cut or pinched back a bit, as they will branch out and get bushier.
I have to pull the cloner apart to clean it and get it ready for
another run, I'll take more pics and make a "how to make a aerocloner"
thread in the propagation forum sometime this week so keep a eye out for it.
The one i made is from a rubbermaid 18 gallon storage tote found at general
dollar , family dollar and i think walmart has them now.
using the netpots and clay grow rock the lower parts of the lavender got soaked
but they stood up to all the water, just lost a few lower leaves on the cuttings.
There is a commercial unit but there like 300 bucks "EzCloner" and they use
a neoprene insert to hole up the cuttings. there like 50 cents each if you buy
them seperate. im still looking for a deal on them.
if you can find them foam swimming pool logs that are solid you can make them
with that . just slice them into 1 inch thick pieces and put a slot in them and slide them
around the cutting and pop in the holes.
I would look out for your thread in the "Propagation Forum".
I usually give my lavender a good trim in the spring. That's why mine is getting a bit too big and bushy for its allocated space. But I could move other things around to give it some space.
I've had good luck using rooting hormone gel with my lavender. I have two Lavendula dentata that are now nice little plants that I started from cuttings last fall. They rooted very quickly.
Just a note - white flies don't seem to like them!
neither do my spider mites
Kathleen,
Do you give the rooted cutting any light? What about moisture?
I tried to root lavender cutting and failed. I used rooting powder. I did see the rooting gel from Gardener Supply catalog, may be I should give that a try.
Thanks in advance.
Here is a new pic of my cuttings from above
I'm laying new floor tile down in the plant room
so havent gotton to a full photo how to on the cloner
yet .. now to move all the stuff back from the other side
of the room ..
The spider mites don't like mine either - thank goodness!!
About rooting, I used to use the powder and had moderate results. I've had better results with the gel. I put my cuttings under my grow lights and keep moist but not soaking. I noticed yesterday that both cuttings have buds. I'll try to remember to take a picture when they bloom.
It has been my experience that lavender roots about as easily as most things. If you want to root one before frost this year, try the layering method outside - knick a stem, apply rooting hormone and pin it down in the soil. when it resists being pulled, clip the stem to the mother plant, dig it up and pot it for the house.
Thank you very much. I don't have grow lights and may be that was part of the reason why my first rooting attempt failed. I would try the layering method.
Any reason I would want to move the successful rooted plants indoor? Is it because the newly rooted plant are still too weak for the elements?
No, I just thought you wanted one as a houseplant - duh! They are actually hardier if you layer them and then move them to the spot in the garden that you want them.
I rooted the L. dentata inside because they aren't hardy here. The L. stoechas is iffy at best. I didn't root a cutting of it, and while there is some green on it, I'm not sure yet that it's survived. I think I may cut it back today and put some more mulch around it and do the wait and see. The L. Munstead and Hidcote survive very nicely and are quite large now. I think they have been in for 8 years.
What kind of conditions does Lavendar like? Soil type? Acidic, Lime? dry, wet? I wintersowed some Munstead and Hidecote and seem to have germination, so.... :)
Diann
Tom DeBaggio says lavender prefers a somewhat alkaline soil, which means a good dusting of lime in most areas. He recommends mulching lavender with pea gravel, which will keep a little moisture around the roots (they don't like it soggy) while reflecting heat/light up into the plant to keep the foliage dry. I followed his directions and have a lovely "hedge" of lavender plants (more like bushes) running along the side of the driveway..... :-)
hmm, mine are in fairly acidic soil and seem quite happy. They do not like soggy, that is quite definite. Mine are in a raised rock bed.
Ok, well, I plan on planting these in the bed that sits on a limestone shelf. It's will probably be a challenge to fit them in and between the rocks.... But we'll give it a shot. Thanks!
Diann
I've read that some lavenders smell piney and some smell sweet and the sweet ones are those that you use in edible recipes but I'm having a hard time finding which ones are sweet. Anybody got a specific name of a "sweet" lavender?
-Juli
A couple of the most common culinary ones are Lavandula angustifolia 'Munstead' and Lavandula x intermedia 'Provence'.
"French" lavenders are usually used for perfumes, soaps, and that sort of thing.
I have English Lavender, True Lavender, and Lavender Lady.
-Juli
here is a close up pic of mine, I think its English Lavendar.
What are some of the French ones Called ? Eventually i want to
extract the oil from them.
French lavender is usually some sort of Lavandula dentata.
Some of them get to be really big plants here.
Toothed Lavender, French Lavender (Lavandula dentata var. candicans)
http://davesgarden.com/pf/go/78260/index.html
Fringed Lavender, French Lavender (Lavandula dentata)
http://davesgarden.com/pf/go/288/index.html
The English Lavendar I bought from Mulberry creek doesn't look like that at all. Mine looks more like rosemary. Hmmm, I wonder if I got what I was supposed too.
-Juli
There are this many Lavender plants listed at DG see if you can find yours Juli64.
Family: Lamiaceae, Genus: Lavandula
Viewing all plants of:
* Family: Lamiaceae
* Genus: Lavandula
85 plants found:
http://davesgarden.com/pf/b/Lamiaceae/Lavandula/
~* Robin
I think I'm gonna have to wait until they bloom cuz they didn't look like the English Lavender pic there or any of the foliage pics that I could see. Most postings don't have pics and the ones that do concentrate mostly on the blooms. Is lavender supposed to smell like rosemary? I have some seed of True Lavender and some Lavender Lady that I'm trying to get to sprout.
-Juli
I planted Lavandula angustifolia 'Munstead' and Lavandula x. intermedia 'Provence' last summer with an eye towards culinary use.
Been shearing these guys back and making bouquets. Boy do they smell great.
This weekend I am experimenting with a couple culinary uses, one savory and one sweet. Comparing the flavors and scents, to me the Munstead has a much sweeter scent almost reminiscent of honey, so I'm using that in a Lavender/Lemon Sorbet. The Provence doesn't have as intense a smell and seems a bit more appropriate for savory use, so I am using the flowers from that in a Provencal melon soup.
It is the first time I've made the sorbet and it seems pretty tasty. I've made the soup before; but, never with lavender. That is still cooking, so the verdict is still out.
It sure is a pain pulling those little petals out of the flowers individually. Good thing most recipes don't call for much.
I'm pretty sure that dried lavender blossoms include the flower buds and petals both, so just strip the blossoms off the end of the bloom stalk as if you're stripping thyme from a stem.
That sorbet sounds yummy! I'd love the recipe, and I know BassetMom would love it if you'd be willing to submit it for Ellie's Seeds of Hope cookbook (see her request in the recipies forum).
It's not my recipe, so I probably can't submit it; but, will be glad to give you the link:
http://whatscookingamerica.net/SorbetLavender.htm
Note that there appears to be a typo in the recipe. The ingredients list calls for 2 cups of water; but, she only mentions 1 cup in the method section. I checked a bunch of other sorbet recipes, and they mostly seem to be 2 parts water to one part sugar. I think the first sentence should say, "In a medium saucepan over medium heat, combine sugar and 2 cups water until the sugar dissolves." Also, since you usually double amounts from dry versus fresh spices, I probably used closer to 2 tablespoons of lavender petals.
I wasn't sure about the petal thing so tasted both the petals and the calyx, and to me the calyx was pretty bitter. Probably doesn't matter in this recipe, where it doesn't steep for long and you strain out the lavender; but, I think it might taste a bit nasty in a recipe where you left them in. It could be different since I'm using fresh lavender?
I'm not sure, but my lavender is just coming into bloom, so I'll get a chance to find out! Thanks for the recipe link!