Lavender is a beautiful, aromatic and valuable member of the mint family, and is usually easy to care for indoors and outdoors. Although lavender is elastic and drought resistant, like all plants, lavender is also affected by common problems such as disease, pests, over watering and lack of optimal conditions. The following content also has some reference value for raised garden beds.
Why do your plants die?
The first step in dealing with lavender plants is to identify their problems. Overwatering and poor drainage are common causes of plant death, as they can lead to root rot. This is most obvious in the soil where the leaves turn yellow and wither, and the stems are pasty and moldy.
Poor soil mixture will also affect the drainage of plants, which means that the roots cannot obtain the required air or nutrients, leading to leaf browning or withering. Lack of sunlight, incorrect soil pH, too much pruning and too much fertilizer can also cause these problems. According to the way you deal with plants, it should be simple to infer the reasons that affect plants.
Note: There are many kinds of lavender plants, each of which is cold resistant in different areas. If your outdoor plants die when frost strikes, your area may not be cold resistant. You can wait until spring to see if it will rebound or replace it with another variety.
Tools you need
You need some tools to restore your lavender plants. Fortunately, necessities may already be in your collection!
Pruning shears
Gardening Glove
Well drained soil
Growth light or sunlight
Watering can
Pot with drain
Fertilizer
Soil pH meter
How to revitalize your lavender plant
The steps needed to restore lavender plants depend on the problem. Once established, saving your plant is very simple!
Trim
Lack of pruning can have a very negative impact on your lavender plants. In the first year of planting lavender, remove any new flowers when they bloom, and use sharp pruning scissors to cut 2 inches above the cork to form a mound shape. Continue to harvest flowers as plants to bloom each year, but avoid pruning all leaves as this will kill the plant.
In spring, cut off one third of the leaves to stimulate new growth. Only trim the old wood when it is completely dead. In colder seasons, only the dead leaves and stems are pruned
Lighting
Lack of light can lead to growth chaos and long legs, and flowers are rare, making plants look like they are dying. Insufficient light and too much water mean that the soil will dry more slowly, leading to root rot. Fortunately, this is a simple solution, especially if your plant is in a flowerpot.
If you plant plants indoors, you can move them to a sunny place with at least eight hours of sunshine every day, or install growth lights nearby. If the plants are outdoors in the flowerpot, you can move the flowerpot to a sunny place. But if it's underground, you need to dig it out and transplant it to another place
Watering and improving drainage
Excessive water and improper drainage are the most common problems of these drought tolerant plants. If the plant is in an outdoor area with excessive rain, consider planting lavender in a flower pot in well drained soil or in a raised garden bed. In this way, you can have a designated asylum location.
Otherwise, you should reduce the frequency of watering plants. As a general rule of thumb, water when the first inch of soil is dry. Sagging and brown leaves are signs of over watering. If this is the problem, it is time to re pot the plant and remove any damaged roots. If the soil is clay based, it is better to re pot and replace it with sandy loam mixed with perlite.
Soil testing and re potting
Yellow leaves, together with the accumulation of salt on the soil surface and the lack of flowers, are signs of excessive nitrogen or excessive fertilization. This means it's time to adjust your fertilization program. If you are not sure that this is the problem, you can test the soil pH value.
Lavender plants prefer a pH value of 6.5 to 7. If the pH value is too low, you can add compost to improve the drainage of the soil.
Sandy soil with few nutrients is most suitable for planting lavender, so please avoid adding fertilizer or compost too frequently. If fertilizing with granular fertilizer, remove the beads and wash the plants with water. Otherwise, you need to re pot plants with fresh soil.
Bring back lavender!
Lavender is a kind of cold resistant and elastic plant, which usually does not need much attention. If your plant is in a downward spiral, you need to identify and resolve the problem. As your way of caring for plants has changed, you should be aware of new growth and recovery.
