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Lavender from seed

Plot75Plot75 Posts: 69
in Plants
Hello you lovely bunch. Just wondering whether anybody has some tips or pros and cons to growing Lavender from seed? I have an extremely large space and for obvious reasons was thinking from seed to be more cost effective. 
Do they take long? are they easy to grow from seed? etc etc. 
Thank you in advance. 
Mix 2tbsp of white,granulated sugar with 1tbsp of water and place on a spoon for a Bee to reach. Sometimes they're too exhausted to reach back to the hives when it's hot and dry. 
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  • LynLyn Posts: 21,383
    Very easy, put them in a little pot or tray, keep in the warm, they germinate quite quickly, not too much water, pot up individual seedlings when they are about 2” tall. Keep in for this winter, plant out next year. 
    I grow them every year, the old ones get quite woody after a while so I’ve always got replacements. 
    Gardening on the wild, windy west side of Dartmoor. 

  • Mr. Vine EyeMr. Vine Eye Posts: 2,257
    I did some end of April - Lavender Hidcote - and I think if I can just about make out the beginnings of a shoot - but I'm not certain! 

    Mind you I'd all but given up on my Rosemary ever germinating after months of nothing, I'd already thrown out one lot and started again. Then suddenly up popped a shoot. Was pleased enough with that but now a second is coming up too.
    East Yorkshire
  • Plot75Plot75 Posts: 69
    Lyn said:
    Very easy, put them in a little pot or tray, keep in the warm, they germinate quite quickly, not too much water, pot up individual seedlings when they are about 2” tall. Keep in for this winter, plant out next year. 
    I grow them every year, the old ones get quite woody after a while so I’ve always got replacements. 
    Thank you Lyn, great advice, I'm coming to you for all things Lavender now ha! When is best to plant out? 
    Mix 2tbsp of white,granulated sugar with 1tbsp of water and place on a spoon for a Bee to reach. Sometimes they're too exhausted to reach back to the hives when it's hot and dry. 
  • Plot75Plot75 Posts: 69
    Mr. Vine Eye said:
    I did some end of April - Lavender Hidcote - and I think if I can just about make out the beginnings of a shoot - but I'm not certain! 

    Mind you I'd all but given up on my Rosemary ever germinating after months of nothing, I'd already thrown out one lot and started again. Then suddenly up popped a shoot. Was pleased enough with that but now a second is coming up too.
    Sounds as though we're those little impatient growers lol. Soon as I sow I'm watching out the corner of my eye for even a tiny glimpse of life and become deflated if nothing happens however, I'm far more relaxed now and get all excited the longer I've waited. 
    Mix 2tbsp of white,granulated sugar with 1tbsp of water and place on a spoon for a Bee to reach. Sometimes they're too exhausted to reach back to the hives when it's hot and dry. 
  • LynLyn Posts: 21,383
    I will plant out this year’s little plants next May. 
    At least you can be sure slugs won’t eat them 😀
    Gardening on the wild, windy west side of Dartmoor. 

  • LoxleyLoxley Posts: 5,060
    Never tried from seed but they're dead easy from cuttings. A couple of years ago I planted hardwood cuttings in situ during Autumn, most of them had struck by springtime. So I would buy a few potted lavenders as mother plants and do cuttings.
  • Plot75Plot75 Posts: 69
    WillDB said:
    Never tried from seed but they're dead easy from cuttings. A couple of years ago I planted hardwood cuttings in situ during Autumn, most of them had struck by springtime. So I would buy a few potted lavenders as mother plants and do cuttings.
    Thank you, I’ll try both methods. 
    Mix 2tbsp of white,granulated sugar with 1tbsp of water and place on a spoon for a Bee to reach. Sometimes they're too exhausted to reach back to the hives when it's hot and dry. 
  • wild edgeswild edges Posts: 9,057
    "Mix 2tbsp of white,granulated sugar with 1tbsp of water and place on a spoon for a Bee to reach. "

    What do you do with the other 2 spoonfuls of sugar water?

    Tradition is just peer pressure from dead people
  • Pete.8Pete.8 Posts: 9,979
    I collected and immediately sowed seed from the dead flowers in my garden last year in early sept. using John Innes with lots of extra grit. I covered the seed in grit too and left it in the cold frame over winter.
    By Feb this year I had a lawn of seedlings in the box - I had sown much too thickly - but I thinned them out then transplanted the few I wanted into modules.
    Here they are today-

    Knowledge is knowing that a tomato is a fruit.
    Wisdom is not putting it in a fruit salad.
  • LynLyn Posts: 21,383
    Mine look much like yours Pete, I sowed seeds in March, they are outside now but will come into the GH for the winter. 
    Gardening on the wild, windy west side of Dartmoor. 

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