Lavender repeated poor flowering

signup · June 2021

Hi, I am growing many different non-stoechas varieties of Lavender and over the last years I am experiencing very poor flowering performance where the spikes can get so bad that on one spike you may have unopened, open and already withered flowers. There is generally no even or full and lasting bloom. Flowers may barely last a week. The soil is chalky and poor, I generally do not fertilise. Although in a sunny position on a slope I still think this may be due to excessive moisture in the endless Winter months of the year. I suppose one should keep any chips or soil covering away!? This helped a bit with the weed problem. The most successful variant is Grosso. The situation is disappointing and I am almost thinking of giving up with Lavender in this country. Too wet, too little sun... (No professional grower could give any advice either so far.)
Any insights much appreciated!
Mike

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Chelseajane · June 2021

The only thing I can think of which may work is to prune them gently in the autumn but you have so many that is probably not practical!

Fairygirl · June 2021

I think it's more likely that they're short of water when producing buds/flowers. Chalky poor soil doesn't hold any moisture, and even plants which like drier, hotter conditions, can struggle to maintain flowering if the ground's bone dry. In even slightly better soil, they can get their roots further down to access moisture when needed. It sounds like your soil just isn't giving them any chance of that moisture when they need it.

Lavender always looks lousy here - we have lots of rain, but heavier soil and cooler conditions, so that doesn't suit them either.

Dovefromabove · June 2021

Whereabouts are you? Perhaps these folk might be able to help https://norfolk-lavender.co.uk/home-page

signup · June 2021

Thanks for your input so far. I don't think it is the water that is an issue, I did water them at times during some of the previous years with the same effects. There is the odd spittlebug but I don't think this is a major contributor. May make an experiment watering selected plants.
It is really a shame and annoying to see that the plants in our company's planters (nobody really cares for them) look lots better than mine and blossom for much longer as well, bohooo..

Need to do a soil alkalinity test maybe. Waiting for the rain now...

I asked pro lavender growers and they had no idea and were not too much interested, but judging by their woody growth I think they were not too concerned about their production stock either. I am in BUCKS so quite far from Norfolk Lavender. Have been there about 20 years ago...

Bijdezee · June 2021

I think it's too little sun. I grow them on a damp clay soil but in almost all day full sun and they do fine. I thought I would lose those in the back garden because of the long freeze this winter but they're fine, a little less clay in that area though.

If you can't find a solution maybe look for something similar? You could try Perovskia, agastache, veronica or some of the Salvia might work.

Fairygirl · June 2021

They certainly flower well round here @Bijdezee [also clay soil, but mainly neutral ] because of lush growth, but it's the cold, wet winters that leave them looking terrible, so they rarely last for long without getting woody or just dying off altogether. They're short lived plants here unless they have a lot of care.
I still think it's the soil that's the main problem. It isn't holding any moisture for any length of time. Despite liking free draining soil, I doubt they're getting anything like enough moisture to get buds opening and sustaining the flowers, especially if there's a lot of them crowded together.
They should do well in slightly alkaline soil though. That's generally seen as their preference as far as I'm aware.

Lavender repeated poor flowering

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