French Lavender concerns

cazsophieq2019

Hi again

I hope you're all well.

I recently purchased a couple of French Lavender plants, planted them in the same container with 50/50 horticultural grit and compost, planted out two weekends ago.  One of the two plants appears to be doing ok however the other (if you can see in the picture seems to be floundering a bit.  Perhaps separate containers?  Pix should be attached.



tta

I live outside Belfast, the front of my house gets full sun but is quite exposed to winds etc.

Your help is appreciated.

Thank you

Borderline

They look like plants being 'forced'. Some growers try to bring-on growth to make their plants seem more appealing. It is only the beginning of April yet there are blooms already. This is not the normal flowering time. They normally start flowering around middle of May.

I think you need to harden them off gently by keeping them tucked up against a sunny southerly wall or keep in a conservatory over-night and then bring out in the day-time over the next week or so. They will hopefully slowly acclimatise to the situation. The flowers and sappy growth may not recover, but you can snip them down and soon you should get a second set of flowers a month or so later.

cazsophieq2019

Borderline said:

They look like plants being 'forced'. Some growers try to bring-on growth to make their plants seem more appealing. It is only the beginning of April yet there are blooms already. This is not the normal flowering time. They normally start flowering around middle of May.

I think you need to harden them off gently by keeping them tucked up against a sunny southerly wall or keep in a conservatory over-night and then bring out in the day-time over the next week or so. They will hopefully slowly acclimatise to the situation. The flowers and sappy growth may not recover, but you can snip them down and soon you should get a second set of flowers a month or so later.

Hi Borderline, thanks for your quick reply.  

So to clarify, I can keep two in one container?

Unfortunately I don't have a conservatory or a greenhouse so should I just bring them indoors at night, it's a heavy container :-:wink:

Thanks again. 

Borderline

I think 2 in a pot will be fine, I can see the pot is quite big so enough room for them to settle in. French lavenders are a bit more sensitive to cold and wet weather. I would gently ease them in because they are already flowering, which means they were possibly grown in warm conditions.

Yes, bring indoors at night and leave out against a sunny wall in day time for at least a week. If it's still flopping about after next week or two, snip it down and they will recover and put on new growth eventually.

cazsophieq2019

Borderline said:

I think 2 in a pot will be fine, I can see the pot is quite big so enough room for them to settle in. French lavenders are a bit more sensitive to cold and wet weather. I would gently ease them in because they are already flowering, which means they were possibly grown in warm conditions.

Yes, bring indoors at night and leave out against a sunny wall in day time for at least a week. If it's still flopping about after next week or two, snip it down and they will recover and put on new growth eventually.

Fantastic, thanks for your help, will definitely try this 😀

cazsophieq2019

Borderline said:

I think 2 in a pot will be fine, I can see the pot is quite big so enough room for them to settle in. French lavenders are a bit more sensitive to cold and wet weather. I would gently ease them in because they are already flowering, which means they were possibly grown in warm conditions.

Yes, bring indoors at night and leave out against a sunny wall in day time for at least a week. If it's still flopping about after next week or two, snip it down and they will recover and put on new growth eventually.

Hi again Borderline

Both my French lavenders are now drooping, I know it's only a day or two since I last posted but I'm starting to wonder if perhaps I should prune them now? 

My inexperienced green fingered instinct is telling me I should? 

What do you think? Sorry all the questions 😬

Thanks again 😊

Borderline

No don't be sorry. You have spent money on new plants and you want the best for them. I would personally prune them down and remove all the flower buds. Because it is only spring now, plenty of time for them to re-flower again. It's unfortunate that quite a few places seem to want these plants flowering well ahead of their time, and in that process, plants can sometimes fail or collapse once grown outside.

cazsophieq2019

Borderline said:

No don't be sorry. You have spent money on new plants and you want the best for them. I would personally prune them down and remove all the flower buds. Because it is only spring now, plenty of time for them to re-flower again. It's unfortunate that quite a few places seem to want these plants flowering well ahead of their time, and in that process, plants can sometimes fail or collapse once grown outside.

Thanks again, I really appreciate your quick reply.

I'm going to prune them tomorrow, and give them a good water? Afraid to overwater lol. Mind you they are pretty dry.

Will continue to harden them off until.the end.of next week, then bring them out.

Oops one.more question just flowers buds or good prune of stems.also ?

Thanks again.

Borderline

Prune the stems down too. Don't worry about taking the leaves out, they should re-grow better if you prune back that way.