8/04/2010

Lavender in a Pot


Lavender is a trendy plant these days in Hungary but it is cultivated usually in the garden, not in a pot. Having no garden I have been grown it for some years in a 20 cm crock pot. But I have to be very careful, especially with this old plant, to water it regularly, just like every other perennial. 


During dog days it could look rather sad when not watered for a few days. Lavandula angustifolia is drought tolerant in the garden not only because its leaves which are narrow and covered with hair but also because its roots go very deep in the soil and search for every drop of water. Living in a pot they can't apply this strategy of surviving. So I water it every three days. The surplus of water can flow out at the bottom (we live on ground floor :)).

I cut it back every year. In the first two years I made this after flowering, but I lost a plant this way. It did not made any new shoots after cutting, the remaining leaves also died. So, from this failure learning, the other, surviving plant gets a haircut in spring. After flowering I cut only the flower stems. As you can see on this picture, the stems become more and more woody. I think this plant turns too old for a pot and I should give it to somebody to plant it out in a garden.
I learned that it can be easily propagated with cuttings at the end of Summer, maybe I should try it.
I will come back to this subject when time comes for cuttings.

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