Among the best-known to any person flowering plants is lavender. People like the shade of its flowers so much that it even received the same name - lavender.
Lavender fields
Many people dream of having this perennial in their garden, but not everyone knows how to grow lavender from seeds.
Lavender as a flower culture
Lavender, or Lavandula, is a non-herbaceous plant. This is a shrub, representative of the species Iasnatkovye, which unites about 30 species. You can meet them in Africa, Arabia, southern Europe, India, Australia.
Interesting. Lavender is a symbol of France, more precisely one part of it - Provence. All because in the time of the Roman Empire it was precisely those lands that were used to breed this plant. It was considered very valuable and was sold almost worth its weight in gold.
The first name of the flower came from the Latin "lava", which means "wash". This is because the ancient Greeks used it not only for medicinal purposes, but also for washing and washing their clothes. A little later, the French christened the fragrant flora lavandre, it was this name that spread throughout the world.
Types of Lavender
In total, this genus unites as many as 30 species. Of these, only two are most often cultivated. Namely:
- Narrow-leaved lavender (it is also English and medicinal);
- Lavender broadleaf (or French).
French lavender
English lavender is the most common throughout the world. It has narrow leaves and spike-shaped inflorescences. It is cultivated on the streets in the middle lane. That's because she is able to calmly winter in open ground, she does not have to dig out and transplant into the house.
The French look is much more moody. Its leaves are wider, the inflorescences are shorter. The most important difference is that French lavender is killed by cold below -10 ° C. Because it is often grown at home, when grown in the garden for the winter, they must be dug up and transferred to the room.
Interesting. Russian gardeners use two more species (albeit much less frequently than the first): Dutch, or hybrid, and toothed.
Benefit and Application
Even the ancient Greeks noted the benefits of this flowering plant. Time passed, the boundaries of people's knowledge of the world expanded, and doubts about the useful qualities of lavender still do not appear.
The most important thing for medicine in this flower is its essential oil. This can be obtained by squeezing the entire aerial part of the flora (and not just from flowers, as some believe). The oil has a rich composition: it contains linalool, coumarins, geraniol, borneol, and other useful elements. Thanks to them, lavender ether can be used as follows:
- For healing abrasions, cuts.
- With dizziness, headaches.
- With insomnia and nervous disorders.
- With toothache.
- To get rid of edema.
- With discomfort in the stomach and intestines.
- As an anthelmintic.
The flower is used in folk medicine in different ways: the seeds of lavender, and its sprouts, and flowers, and leaves are used. From it make teas, poultices. It is added to ointments, baths are taken with it. Lavender oil can be used for aromatherapy.
Aromatherapy oil
Moreover, the official, scientifically proven medicine also uses this flora. True, in that case, flower extract is more often used.
Lavender Varieties for Home Growing
Lavender is a flower that can be grown both in the garden and at home. Moreover, for the second purpose, the French type of flower, notched or hybrid, is usually chosen. They are small, afraid of frost, because in the middle lane they are best grown immediately at home. Among the variety of varieties, the following are especially interesting:
- Helmsdale. This is a variety of broadleaf lavender. It is distinguished by the color of the flowers - it is not lilac, rather burgundy.
- Alba This variety is a variety of Dutch lavender. Its difference is white flowers.
- Sawyers. This is also a hybrid lavender, the flowers of which have a purple hue.
Sawyers
- Royal Crown - a variety of jagged lavender with delicate lilac flowers.
How to collect seeds for sowing
Gardeners prefer the propagation of lavender through seeds. They can be obtained in two ways: by collecting them yourself and choosing in the store. In each case, there are subtleties that you need to know.
Collection
You can collect completely blossomed inflorescences in the garden (or by buying a bouquet with them in the store) and dry them. After that, small seeds showered.
Lavender seeds have one characteristic feature - amazing germination. Even after five years from the collection, they can shoot. But only with proper storage (in a sealed container) and germination.
Purchase
By the seeds themselves, it is difficult to determine whether the variety is sold in a paper bag or not. In order not to be surprised at replacing the flower after the sown seeds have sprouted, you first need to look at the price. The more interesting and beautiful the plant, the more expensive its seeds will cost. They are not cheap.
Lavender seeds from the store
The second point that you should definitely pay attention to is the information on the package. It should contain:
- Variety name;
- Manufacturer;
- Care recommendations.
Seedling Care
In order for the lavender seed to give strong healthy seedlings, a number of rules for caring for it should be observed. In particular, these are:
- Shine. Lavender is an extremely photophilous plant, therefore in no case should you put it in the shade.
- Heat. The flower will not like neither heat nor cold - temperature indicators should vary between 15-21 ° C.
- Pick Diving is the transplanting of sprouts into a larger container. Germinating seeds is more convenient in a shallow box. As soon as the lavender sprouts release the first pair of real leaves, they need to be transplanted into the pot deeper. It can be separate or general (with a large distance between seedlings), but quite spacious in any case. This is because the small-looking sprout has sufficiently strong roots, which are crowded in the vessel for germination.
What you need for seed germination
When the seeds of odorous flora are sown in the ground, they still do not need replanting, fertilizing and many other conditions. So far, they have only two requirements, but they will have to be followed:
- Lighting. Lavender seeds need about 10 hours of light per day. If the weather does not allow the condition to be fulfilled naturally, the seedlings will have to be lightened.
Dosing of crops
- Temperature. For germination, it is necessary to strictly observe the temperature regime specified above.
Instructions for sowing seedlings
With a flower such as lavender, English seed cultivation at home requires compliance with a certain order and rules. However, with other species, everything is the same.
Seed selection
Seeds can be collected either on their own or purchased at a store. In any case, they must meet the following criteria:
- Be harvested from fully bloomed inflorescences.
- Correctly stored in medium temperature (not in frost or heat), in a closed container.
- Do not be damp or spoiled pests.
- When buying - do not be cheap.
Seed stratification
Even with the right choice, lavender seed will not sprout on its own. He needs stratification. This is the natural “trigger” of the seed growth mechanism by exposing it to critical temperatures. Moreover, it can be carried out both at high degrees and at low. In the case of this particular flora, stratification is carried out only by cold.
And there is one feature. It is not enough just to put the seed in the refrigerator for a minute - the effect of frost should last quite a long time.
What is stratification?
Stratification is carried out in two ways: natural and artificial. The first is sowing the seed immediately into the open soil before winter.
To grow lavender from seeds to seedlings at home, you need to know how to stratify seeds artificially. This means that they should be kept in the cold for at least a month and a half before sowing. More is better. This procedure is carried out as follows: the seed is mixed with sand or earth and placed in a resealable container. One goes to the refrigerator for at least 8 weeks, at a temperature of about +5 ° C. But the seed will not survive freezing.
Stratification of seeds in the refrigerator
What to sow seeds
In addition to other preparations for sowing, the gardener is faced with the question of choosing the capacity and soil.
Earth lavender needs loose, nutritious. The easiest way to buy in the store is a ready-made mixture for seedlings or universal for indoor plants. But before germination it is recommended to calcine it in the oven.
The capacity should be wide, spacious, and shallow - no more than cm deep. It will not work to make life easier and sprout a flower in the cassette - this method does not suit him.
Sowing
Sowing itself should be carried out according to the following step-by-step instructions:
- The calcined substrate is spread in the container. It can not be crushed, it must be loose.
- The ground must be well sprayed with water from a spray bottle.
- Flower seeds are laid out over the ground quite rarely - with indents of 2 cm at least from each other.
- From above they need to be covered with soil, too, sifting it from above. Topsoil should be 2-3 mm.
- After sowing, it is imperative to make a greenhouse by covering the container with cling film.
Transplanting seedlings in open ground
The first year from sprouting from fragrant flora you should not expect flowers and, in fact, smell. She will spend this time on the formation of roots and will bloom only next year. With the onset of heat, the sprouts can and should be transplanted into the street. How to plant lavender seedlings according to the rules:
- The place for the sprouts needs a sunny, warm.
- Perennial prefers sandy clay soil.
- The soil for lavender must be fertilized with mineral fertilizing before planting.
- The indentations between the bushes should be at least 30 centimeters (better - all 40).
- Lavender seedlings before transplanting need hardening. Pots with it should be taken out for a few hours during the week.
Lavender seedlings on the street
Sowing seeds directly into the ground
Lilac flower can be grown easier, without preparing seedlings. You need to know how to plant lavender with seeds.
Landing time
In order for lavender seed to begin to grow, it must be stimulated by cold. For seedlings, you have to keep the seed in the refrigerator. When sowing in open ground, you don’t have to bother with this directly - it is carried out in the autumn, in October, stratification will take place naturally in winter.
Loosening and top dressing
After wintering during the growing season, lavender must be fed. It is better to choose fertilizers with a high content of potassium, rather than nitrogen. Otherwise, the bush will stretch upward, but will give few buds.
Still this flora needs cultivation of the earth. It needs to be loosened after winter, and also mulched. Mulching is the creation of a layer on top of the soil, which helps moisture to evaporate less quickly. Fallen foliage is suitable for these purposes. Under the very root of lavender, the earth is not mulched.
Mulching lavender bushes
Watering
This flower loves water. It must be watered regularly, preventing the soil from drying out. However, due to the mulching of water, the plant will not need so much. Watering, most likely, is not necessary to carry out daily.
Young plant care
The first year of life in the open ground, lavender should not be allowed to bloom; all inflorescences are recommended to be cut off. All because at this time the root of the flora should grow stronger, it must adapt in a new place.
Preparing for the winter
English lavender can withstand frosts down to -25-30 ° С. But without additional shelter, the flower may not survive such low temperatures.
First, you need to trim the bush. Only 4-5 young shoots are left on it, the rest is cut off.
Secondly, even before the first frosts, the bush needs to be tightly covered with lapnik. Fallen foliage cannot be used - there is a good chance of rot. Crop leaves can be covered. When the first snow falls, it is recommended to separately heat it with a dense layer on improvised shelters. So the plant will have the opportunity to safely survive the winter.
Pot Lavender Care
This flower can also be grown as a houseplant. Growing lavender from seeds in this case will be similar to how it is done for seedlings. In the future, there will be only a few special items for flower care:
- Indoor odorous flora will tolerate dry land more easily than excessive humidity.
- A room with lavender will often have to be aired. In winter, you should definitely take the flower to another room. Frosts will kill him.
- At the bottom of the pot, you must create a layer of expanded clay drainage.
- A home plant needs daylight hours of 6-8 hours. It is best to place the pots with it on the sunny side. In winter, you may need additional lighting with a special lamp.
Lavender potted at home
In general, lavender is a capricious plant. Subject to all the necessary conditions, the seeds will quickly delight the seedlings, and those with time - lush bushes. Soon, a bush with incredibly fragrant flowers will decorate a person’s apartment or cottage.
