If you’re looking to grow your own lavender from scratch, there’s one golden rule you need to remember: these seeds are “light germinators.” That means they need sunlight to wake up and start growing, so you definitely don’t want to bury them deep in the dirt.
In this post, I’ll walk you through exactly how to sow your seeds and the best tricks to make sure your lavender garden thrives.
Start with Mature Lavender Seeds
To give your garden the best head start, you need to make sure your seeds are fully mature. Lavender seeds develop right after the plant finishes blooming and the flowers start to wither. If you’re harvesting them yourself, resist the urge to prune those stems! Leave them on the plant until the seeds are ripe. Just keep in mind that different varieties bloom at different times, so keep a close eye on your specific plants.
Before you get planting, I highly recommend “stratifying” your seeds. It sounds fancy, but it just means giving them a little “winter” nap in the fridge. This mimics a natural cold snap and tells the seeds it’s time to sprout. Once they’ve chilled out, you can start them indoors in some seed-starting mix.
Here’s how to prep your seeds:
- Grab a freezer bag and fill it with a little bit of damp sand.
- Toss your lavender seeds into the sand and seal the bag up tight.
- Pop the bag into the veggie crisper drawer of your fridge for about two weeks.
How to Plant Light-Loving Seeds
Once your seeds are ready, fill a pot with a good seed-starting soil. Remember, lavender is a fan of alkaline soil rather than acidic stuff. Since lavender loves a sandy mix anyway, you can just pour the sand-and-seed mixture from your freezer bag directly onto the surface of the soil. Unlike most plants, do not bury them and don’t cover the pot with plastic wrap. They need to see the light!
Use a spray bottle to keep the soil surface consistently moist, but be careful not to overwater—lavender hates soggy feet. Once you see those first tiny leaves poking through, you can dial back the watering even more.
Keep your pots at room temperature. Once the seedlings are sturdy enough, you can “thin them out” or move them into separate pots, making sure they have at least two inches of space between them. Wait until they’re nice and strong before you move them to their permanent home outdoors.
