Most of the lavender plants that you buy for your garden are from the lavender cuttings. Cutting will give you the clone of the mother plant. This is the only way to know what you are getting. In spite of this, you must know how to take care of lavender. The Greeks and Romans used lavender for stomach remedy. The only way to propagate good growth of lavender is through the traditional method of stem cutting and layering. Here are some simple steps on how to take care of lavender.
Things Required:
- Lavender plant
- Sharp scissors or pruners
- Pot
- Potting soil
- Plant label
- Marker
- Sunny and warm area
Steps:
- First, you will have to look for a healthy full-grown lavender plant. Always remember that you must choose shoots with new growth and which are ready for cutting.
- Now, use sharp pair of scissors or some bypass pruners and start snip cutting from the parent plant. Always make sure that the cuttings are nearly three to five inches long. You will have to cut them at an angle of 45 degree. Check for bumps on the stems, these are known as nodes. Remember that cutting will have a better chance of rooting from the node.
- Take a clean pot and prepare the pot. If you have used the pot before, then you must soak it in a solution of bleach and water and rinse it properly for killing it bacteria from the previous plants. Once you have rinsed the pots, clean, dry and fill it with some sterile potting soil.
- Now, take the cuttings with the bottom of the stem from where you have made the cut inside the soil. You will have to bury the cuttings from an inch under the soil level and expose some leaves on the outside. Take several cuttings and place them in every pot. Pat down or tamp the soil slowly with the fingers of your hands. Remember that while rooting hormone will not be necessary, if you have got it then you can use it. Hormone is a powder, which is used for encouraging the growth of the plant.
- You will have to make plant markers for making every pot easy to identify. Keep these pots in sunny location, but always make sure that they are moist. You will have to keep a clear plastic bag, the ones, which you get at the produce section of the supermarket. Make sure that you keep it loose, so that air can circulate and if it starts looking wet, then you can uncover the pot and allow it to dry for sometime.
- Always check your cuttings and never disturb them. Whenever your cutting starts growing new shoots or leaves, they are ready to be shifted in a new pot of your garden. It is always a best option for your plants to send out many leaves, just to make sure that they are happy and can be transplanted into a new pot. [KG1]
Tips and Warnings:
- You must always layer the lavender during the fall or spring season. If you layer the lavender in fall, you must sever the connection but leave the new plants besides the parent and then you can transplant it in spring. Take the cuttings around May or August.
- Some gardeners prefer planting the lavender plant during the deer deterrent.
- If you current location is in the northern regions, then the best option will be to mulch the lavender if they are growing in an exposed area.
Give your lavender a little garden gypsum, because it will give the plant the necessary calcium that it craves for. Remember never keep the plant too dry or wet, otherwise your lavender will die.
Related Tags: how to take care of lavender, how to clone lavender, lavender gypsum, cloning lavender, preparing lavendar for spring, lavender and gypsum, lavender clippings care, can lavender be cloned
Related Content: