Learning how lavender grows can be your ticket to a calming and fragrant home. While lavender is frequently planted outdoors, it can also grow successfully in containers inside. If you’re interested in growing a lavender plant indoors as a houseplant, here are the most important things to know:
Growing lavender requires plenty of direct sunlight. Lavender plants thrive where they can get at least six hours of full sunlight per day. When growing lavender indoors, place your plant in front of a south-facing window. Otherwise, you may need to move the lavender around to follow the best possible sun exposure.
Lavender plants genuinely like “poor” quality soil without any organic matter. Lavender likes to have well-drained soil that’s more sandy than soft. This makes normal indoor potting mix perfectly fine for growing lavender, especially formulas meant for cacti and succulents. You can always add sand or other amendments to improve drainage.
Lavender plants typically grow best in hot, dry environments. When growing it indoors, this means you’ll want to keep it somewhere temperatures are consistently high but with plenty of airflow.
Too much humidity is more of a risk than lower temperatures, however; keep your lavender somewhere with good air circulation and out of steamy areas like bathrooms and kitchens.
Because too much moisture can cause problems for lavender plants, it’s best to water only when the soil feels dry. You can use a moisture meter to test below the surface to ensure the soil is draining properly.
The only exception to this is when the plant is brand new and first becoming established: during the first growing season, water frequently instead of letting the soil dry out too long in between.
Lavender flowers and buds will grow naturally as long as the soil is sufficiently lacking in organic matter. Adding fertilizer or compost will instead encourage the plant to focus energy on its gray green foliage and structure rather than blooms. For the best lavender flowers, prune every spring to encourage new buds to form.
If you want to plant lavender and enjoy its aromatic blooms inside your home, following these tips will help you achieve your goals. With the right balance of warmth, light and well drained soil, you can grow lavender in containers just as well as outside in your garden.
Nicolette is a full-time licensed real estate agent working with residential and commercial buyers, sellers, and renters. Growing up in Eastchester, graduating from Marist College and branching out to Manhattan before returning to her roots has created deep ties to Westchester while understanding what a NYC buyer wants when relocating to the suburbs.
Bringing nearly a decade of extensive experience in sales, interior design, marketing, and customer service from her Manhattan career while working with esteemed companies such as Elle Décor Magazine and various companies under the Herman Miller brand, Nicolette encompasses an effective fusion of suburban warmth and city tenacity. Her enthusiasm for helping others combined with her determination to close deals helps her simultaneously connect her with clients on a personal level while conducting business in the most professional of ways. It’s this connection that leads to a seamless and successful Real Estate transaction.
When not working, Nicolette enjoys spending time with her family, friends, and puppy. Professionally, she prides herself using those same personal values of loyalty, honesty, attentiveness, and being detail-oriented. She values all client relationships and makes it her goal to provide exceptional service and guaranteed satisfaction. Her intimate knowledge of the area, having lived in Westchester all her life, gives her enthusiasm and a desire to make her home, your home.
In July 2015, Berkshire Hathaway Home Services (BHHS) acquired Tri-Crest Realty and Prudential Centennial Realty and has been one of the most successful offices in lower Westchester County since 2000. With over 1,800 Realtors in 55 offices in the Northeast and 51,600 agents in 1,600 offices in 47 states nationally, BHHS is the #2 company in Barron’s ranking of the world’s most respected companies; ranking #3 in Fortune Magazine’s 50 Most Admired Companies survey.