Lavender is one of the most popular garden plants in the world. The grayish foliage with purple hues is impressive, but the benefits don’t end there. They also smell great, have a million uses around the home and garden, and attract a variety of pollinators to help the rest of your garden and the environment at the same time.
It’s hard not to clutter your garden with these beautiful plants, especially when grown as a hedge.
However, your budget may get in the way. Instead of buying large quantities of lavender plants from your local nursery, grow your own lavender plants.
It might be faster, but how much does it cost to buy dozens of lavender plants from a nursery?Propagating lavender from cuttings is an incredibly simple process and will give you plenty of flowering plants after one propagation session. Find out everything you need to know below.
Related Reading: How to Propagate Basil in Soil or Water
The process
1. Prepare the ground
When rooting cuttings, it’s always best to make your own potting mix rather than using garden soil. Young cuttings trying to develop roots need plenty of drainage and a good consistency in the soil. Garden soil is unpredictable and can harbor disease or pests, making it less likely that you will be growing lavender from cuttings.
Any well-drained soilless potting mix is suitable, using components such as peat, perlite, sand or vermiculite.
We chose a 50/50 mixture of coir and sand to root the cuttings. A more sustainable alternative to peat, coir helps cuttings develop roots quickly and retain water. Sand improves drainage and is more compatible with the soil conditions the plant will eventually settle in, reducing the potential for transplant stress later on.
Coir is shipped in compacted stones which must be soaked in water before use. Replenish the coir just before you begin, as this extra moisture will allow the coir and sand to mix better. You should still start with moist potting soil though, it will give you a head start.
You can also use a mixture of peat with perlite and vermiculite to improve drainage, depending on what you have on hand.
Put this mixture in a saucepan or container of your choice, leaving a little space under the rim. Press gently to remove large air pockets.
2. Remove the cup
Lavender can be propagated by hardwood or softwood cuttings. Softwoods tend to reproduce faster and have a higher chance of success, but both are viable options.
Remove a piece about four inches long from the base of the plant. Choose a stem that hasn’t flowered yet so the cutting can focus on root growth, or remove the flower before rooting. Always remove cuttings with a pair of freshly cleaned pruners to avoid the potential spread of disease.
3. Remove the bottom leaves
Remove all leaves from the lower half of the cutting to facilitate root growth. The cutting needs a few more leaves for photosynthesis in the upper half.
If you made a longer cut, you can also remove some top leaves by cutting the stem. It’s not a necessity, but it can speed up root growth, especially if the stem you chose was about to flower.
While you’re at it, remove any woody growth from the bottom of your cutting. This leaves the softwood rooting much faster.
4. Dive into rooting hormone
Rooting hormone is not always necessary when rooting softwood cuttings. This also applies to lavender cuttings, which will quite often last without the aid of rooting hormone. However, its use greatly increases your chances of success and limits possible disease problems.
Rooting hormone works by stimulating root growth at the cutting point. This not only makes root growth more likely, but also improves root growth to give you stronger plants overall.
Rooting hormone is usually sold in powder form. It is available in nurseries and online. It’s carrot powder. Usually I
Always place a small amount of powder in a separate container before use, rather than immersing it directly in the bath to avoid possible contamination. Then dip the cutting end in a little water and rooting hormone before planting.
Discard excess powder; never put it back in the container.
5. Plant the cutting
Poke a small hole in the mixture with a skewer and place the cutting in the hole, leaving a small piece of the stem visible for the first set of leaves. Gently press around the soil to hold the cutting in place.
You can plant several cuttings in the same pot to develop roots, as long as you transplant them into separate pots once the roots have grown.
6. Coverage
Once the cuttings are planted, it’s time to create a mini greenhouse to recreate the perfect conditions for root growth.
If your soil was not moistened before planting, be sure to water well before beginning this process or moisture will not build up and the cuttings will dry out.
Take some of the skewers you used to make a cutting hole and place them around the edge of the pot. Then place a clear plastic bag (sandwich bags work well) on top of the pot. The skewers should hold the bag in place and keep it from touching the clippings, causing them to rot.
When placed in a warm location, this blanket creates a very humid environment around the cuttings, which promotes growth. You will need to lift the bag every few days to check the progress of the cuttings and possibly mist the soil if it starts to dry out.
When you’re done, simply replace the bag and return the jar to its original warm spot, away from direct sunlight.
Label the plastic bag with a marker with the name of the specific variety of lavender and the date the cuttings were planted. This will help you accurately track growth progress without worrying about when the cuttings should be ready.
The cutting should have developed roots within a few weeks. Be patient though, it can also take more than a month. After about three weeks of growth, gently tug the cutting. If there is resistance, the plant has developed roots.
Related Reading: How to Propagate Rosemary – Step by Step with Pictures
sprinkle lavender in the water
Lavender can also be propagated in water, which requires far less equipment. However, propagation in water is generally less successful in the long term, as the cuttings will have difficulty rooting firmly in the soil when transplanting.
Fill a clear glass or vase halfway with room temperature water. Or invest in a stylish and practical grow station to integrate your grow into your home. Here are 13 of the best.
Follow the same process as above for removing and cleaning cuttings, except for the rooting hormone step.
Depending on the height of your glass, you may need to remove a few extra sheets to make sure they don’t touch the water. Leave the glass in a warm place out of direct sunlight.
Change the water every few days or when it seems cloudy. Leave the cutting in water until the roots have grown several inches before planting in individual pots.
To acclimate the cutting to soil conditions over time rather than all at once, you can slowly add teaspoons of coco to the water each day once the roots are visible. This limits transplant shock and root growth problems once the cutting is planted.
When should I transplant my lavender cuttings?
Lavender cuttings can be potted up in individual pots or planted directly in the garden once the roots have reached an inch or two in length. In the middle of the pot, it will take a few weeks. In water, root growth will be faster.
Whether you plant in a pot or in flower beds, make sure the soil drains very well. Lavender is native to the Mediterranean region and likes sandy or rocky soils. Although you can increase watering while your cutting is well established, limit watering once new growth emerges – lavender prefers soil on the drier side.
Make sure the cutting is in a very sunny location and it should grow into a full plant in no time.
Why not propagate lavender cuttings to start your own lavender hedge without the expense of dozens of established plants? Here’s why every garden needs a lavender hedge and how to grow one.
Alternatively, you can train your lavender cuttings to grow into a lavender bush with a single main stem. It’s absolutely beautiful. Here’s how to make and care for your lavender tree, or where to buy your own ready-made lavender tree.