Lavender is a beautiful perennial plant that is easy to grow in a garden or lawn if you own your own, albeit a small plot. And what if you live in an apartment, but crazy about the violet beauty of a flower? Try to grow it at home. However, be prepared for the fact that this process is rather difficult and, unfortunately, does not always end in luck. But nobody prevents you from trying. So we will tell you how to grow lavender at home in a pot.
Lavender - planting and caring for seeds
It is checked that a flower grown in a pot unfortunately regains smaller inflorescences during blossoming. And the process of flowering itself lasts shorter than the bushes that grow in the open ground.
Immediately we go to warn that for planting it is necessary to take a container deep and wide at the same time, since the lavender root system is well developed. Optimum fit pot with a minimum of 2 liters and a diameter of about 30 cm on the bottom of the tank necessarily place a drainage layer. As usual, they use claydite, stones, shards, gravel. The pot itself is filled with suitable earth, namely alkaline. It can be sand mixed with peat and perlite .
Seeds before planting for 4-5 weeks are placed in a cold place for stratification. Since the germination capacity of this decorative culture is small, prepare a large number of seeds. Take a cotton sponge or a piece of cloth, soaked with water, and then put the seeds and cover them. All this is placed in a plastic bag, and then sent to a refrigerator. Well, after a month has passed, the seeds are extracted and scattered on top of the soil and covered with a layer of 2-4 mm. The container with seeds is covered with film before the shoots and sent to a cool but bright place.
When the shoots have about 6-7 pairs of leaves, the plants need to gently prick the tip. This simple action will promote the development of the bush. The procedure is repeated when the lavender reaches a height of 15-17 cm. Prepare for the fact that the first year your plants will develop slowly, and therefore look rather unattractive.
Lavender on the balcony - planting and caring for the seedlings
After planting, the pot with a beautiful plant is placed on the windowsill, which is located on the south or west side. If you do not have a window overlooking this side, you will have to use artificial lighting. Otherwise, flowering just does not wait.
Note that the bush of lavender react poorly to drafts, becoming sluggish and stunted.
The roots of the bushes react negatively to incorrect watering, so treat this procedure with all seriousness. First, use only standing water, not cold, but at room temperature. Water from the tap can lead to the decay of the roots and, accordingly, to the death of the flower. Secondly, do not overdry the earthy coma. Ideally, if you soil will be wet almost always, but without overflow. Thirdly, the watering in the summer season, either in the evening or in the morning.
Lavender for flowering is necessarily a top dressing. Concerning what to fertilize lavender in a pot, then liquid complexes for flowering plants are suitable for it. Feeding is done after sowing the seeds, and after planting the seedlings for two to three months, every two weeks. For the winter the plant falls into a "hibernation". So in the autumn prepare him for this: remove the dry leaves and cut it. Lavender in the pot of the house is better to transfer to a cool place, in extreme cases, put it away from batteries. Watering is extremely rare, if necessary, but about fertilizing with mineral fertilizers, forget it altogether. This wintering will ensure a beautiful blossoming to the summer, and not just the development of greenery.