It takes time, effort, and resources to grow a plant whether the plants are grown indoors or outside, that is why it gives serious concern when our plants are not growing well.
Gardeners face certain issues when growing their plants, some of these problems may include; plants changing colour from green to yellow, brown, or even black, plants wilting, curling, and drooping.
Lavender plants are not immune to these issues, in this article we are going to discuss one of the major problems lavender plants face which is the drooping of lavender plants, and how we can solve them.
Why Is My Lavender Plant Drooping?
Lavender loves the sun and because of their native origin, they are drought resistant plants and they usually thrive in sand and grit. When lavender plants start drooping, it could be caused by major factors. Today I will look at the 3 below and how they can be solved.
- Dropping caused by excess water
- Over fertile soil
- Poor soil drainage.
1. Lavender Plant Drooping Caused By Excess Water
Most gardeners are known for making the mistake of overwatering their lavender during planting.
Lavender has an affinity for the sun and they are already used to the harsh weather conditions so they barely need to be watered, most gardeners mistake wilting of lavender as a sign of under-watering.
Sadly, they have no idea that their plant is being overwatered. Most lavenders under temperate weather do not need to be watered, only during the season of depletion.
How To Solve Drooping Caused By Excess Water
- The best way to revive lavender that is overwatered is to allow the plant to dry out, which can take up to 2 or 3 weeks before the roots dry up
- Transplant the lavender if it is overwatered to soil that has been amended with sand or grit.
- Ensure that your lavender is planted in pots during rainy climates, this will enable them to drain water from the soil quickly.
2. Drooping Caused By Excess Fertilizer
An overdose of nutrients always results in problems, this is also the case with lavenders, one nutrient that can cause lavender to drop when in excessive nitrogen.
Nitrogen is a nutrient required by almost all plants, lavender included but lavenders are from the Mediterranean parts of southern Europe, so naturally, they grow in soils that are low in nitrogen content.
The abundance of nitrogen in the soil can cause the vegetation of lavender to droop.
How To Solve Drooping of lavender caused by excess fertilizer.
A few solutions have been given below as to how we can reduce the level. of nitrogen content in the soil, to prevent the lavender from drooping.
- Cut down on the number of fertilizers used on lavender as most fertilizers contain large amounts of nitrogen in them, the soil is already rich in nutrients, so it might not be necessary to add more.
- Most lavender thrives in areas where the soil is sandy and has grit. the sand and gravel will amend excess nutrients in the soil because they do not contribute positively to the soil.
- If the lavender has already been planted, carefully ease the lavender using a fork and protect as many roots as possible. Use the sand to neutralise the levels of nitrogen.
- When sand and grit is added to the soil, it helps to get rid of root rot.
3. Poor Soil Drainage
Lavender plants drooping are a sign of root rot. Lavenders are generally adapted to sandy soils which flow very rapidly and don’t grasp onto the water for very long.
Lavender grows naturally, in countries like Europe, France, and the Mediterranean where the soil is very sandy, and sometimes lavender like the soil to dry out between intervals of watering as the roots do not sustain constant wet soil.
The leaves of your lavender will start drooping.
How to Solve Plant Drooping Caused By Poor Soil Drainage
- The significant element in well-drained soil is airflow When planting yearly plants that prefer well-drained soils, the best thing to do is to create a lifted coating that contains a combination of organic matter, sand and gravel.
- To improve the drainage in your garden soil is to amend the area of planting with sand. Most gardener’s aim for 60% soil and 40% grit. In situations where the soil is slow draining, it can be increased to a 50:50 soil to grit percentage, doing this will help prevent your lavender plant from drooping.
- The soil used for the lavender plant needs to be modified with sand to a depth of around 16 inches as this will adapt to the root network of the biggest lavenders when they arrive at full maturity.
- As an option, if you discover that your soil is normally moist, it is best to transplant your lavenders to pots or build raised beds to recreate the right soil conditions for lavender development.
How Do You Get Lavender To Stand Up?
To help your lavender to get back on its feet and reduce its drooping appearance is to take drastic steps.
Cut back on watering or replant them in soil that has been amended with sand or grit. The sand and grit will help to improve drainage considerably so that the roots remain relatively dry and do not die to root rot.
Why Is My Lavender Floppy?
Lavenders that are watered excessively tend to develop a drooping appearance.
To add to this, some gardeners then compound the problem by assuming the lavender needs more water due to the drooping image and the roots begin to rot due to overexposure of lavender to water.
What Does An Overwatered Lavender Plant Look Like?
An overwatered lavender will look pale, droopy in appearance, the leaves might wilt and the roots might end up decaying. If you notice this, you need to take measures to correct it to prevent the plant from dying.
Why is my Lavender Curling?
If you notice that your plant leaves are curling in, it is you’re leaving your lavender plants indoors for too long and it has no access to sunlight. As we know, lavender requires full sun to thrive and flourish well.
What Temperature Does Lavender Like?
Lavender is a drought-resistant plant, so therefore they require the sun to grow, the normal temperature should be at least 38- 50 degrees Celsius. Even if the lavender is under partial shade, it should be in a warm environment to allow the free flow of air.
In Conclusion, we have been able to see why your lavender is drooping, what the major causes are and how best we can love these problems. Lavender drooping is common when growing lavender plants but that doesn’t mean that it cannot be corrected. Following these guidelines above will allow your lavender plants to thrive!.
