The Trick to Grow Lavender from Seed

Lavender has a reputation of being difficult to grow from seed. Much is made of their need for refrigeration or high light levels, but in truth the greatest difference you can make to seeding success comes with your choice of seeds! Here I'll go back through the basic conditions, but also recommend what you should be looking for in a seed supplier to help ensure fast, even germination.

I've made loads of other videos on lavender. BTW.

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[jingmoshanshui]

I saved some lavender seeds from my garden about 8 years ago. I tried to plant them last year. The germination rate was 100%. 😊 This year, I bought a grow light to see if they can grow faster and better.

[scallywags]

Great tip! Lavender self seeds in my yard so I am always finding young plants each year. No need to seed. Nature is wonderful!

[Myhandleishenry]

I am about to start planting lavender and peppermint plants mostly for their repellent properties… this is very useful. Thank you

[SlaughtaWitLove]

Totally makes sense! I bought a lavender seed starter from a thrift store and have been wondering WHY it’s taking so long to grow. Thank you for explaining!

[plantsoverpills]

I’ve had lavender in my garden for 35 years. I love to cut the blooms, dry them and make lavender sashes. One year, I didn’t get around to it and all my blooms went to seed. So imagine my surprise when the year after, I literally had hundreds of lavender seedlings growing in the gravel of the driveway. Since that time I top dress my lavender with grit and stones and this is how I get my lavender to seed…transplanting them when they are large enough.

[ilsekestemont]

I weed my garden by hand, and this year I noticed a lot of seedlings of my lavender plants! I carefully moved them into flowerpots. So now I have more than 150 seedlings by the window, and they are thriving! Now I look for them in the garden and I discover new ones every day 😀 Your advice is awesome. Ordered some seedtrays (a bit premature, I know), I'm going to collect the seeds of my lavender. A new hobby is born

[Dahliaismypassion]

I have tried the Munstead and Elegance Purple this time. I have stratified the Munstead for about 3 weeks and had 50% germination, the Elegance Purple was stratified for about 2 months and germinated in 4 days with almost 100% germination rate. The seeds were purchased this season from a reputable source.

[hersheyqueenlisa]

I winter sowed my seeds last year in recycled milk jugs. I also planted some under grow lights with a cover in a very warm room and they both germinated well. The winter sown plants seemed to do a little better initially, but by fall they were both doing well. I harvested the seeds from my Munstead plants that had been growing for 3 yrs. I don’t really need more plants I was just curious which method would work both. My experiments go to friends/neighbors/family and this year I’m also donating some to a local nursing home. The elderly love them. I guess I should mention that I’m elderly too. 😊 I’ll garden and grow as long as I’m able!

[samiam]

I learned so much about germinating lavender seed and germinating seeds in general. I understand now the mistakes I've been making. Thanks so much for this!

[SteenkampG]

Hi, Jason. So, I have started growing lavender from cuttings and seed 3 years ago and learned most about lavender that there is to know. I have grown thousands of plants the past 3 years. I grow my lavender on my house's roofs since I am limited by space, but they grow very well in pots. I harvest them twice a year and make lavender oil with my distillery I had custom built. My journey began by watching your lavender from cuttings and lavender from seed videos. Today I am quite the expert in growing, maintaining and harvesting lavender for oil and hydrosol. My next step is to buy a small farm and begin by planting 4 Hectares and start my own lavender business. I have documented my journey from day 1 and have thousands of videos and photos. I would like to share some with you if you are interested. It's been quite the journey so far and I am excited for the next phase. Although I have studied many many people's videos over the years, your videos really got me started and was by far the easiest to understand. I would just like to thank you for all the advice and teachings you passed along with these videos. PS: I am distilling 20 lavenders I harvested as I am writing this message, oil flow is looking good so far 👍

[alligator_pie]

Not compressing the seedling mix into the cells makes so much sense the way you explain it. I got only 4 dwarf Munster seedlings after about 60 days, I was about to chuck out the tray. Definitely will do things different next year. 😅 live n learn!

[Christie-gpcy]

Jason, so happy spring is here and we can enjoy all of your great videos and gardening tips. Thanks for sharing.

[Kamila_q]

We would love to see a video of the whole process of germinating as well as transferring to bigger cells

[oceansoul]

this is a great video, thank you very much for sharing. I wonder about the seeds this year-all the pansies, petunias and herb seeds I've sown failed. I've gardened for 65 years, I have 2 greenhouses, and always get 90% germination but wow, this year is really frustrating. You are a great teacher, I wish I was your neighbor ~ I'd work for free & knowledge!

[LGarbuio]

Love that you recommend William Dam - I have had a lot of luck with their seeds and they are my main supplier for my home garden 😊

[jayteaman]

I'm about to start some lavender from seed for the first time, thanks for the tips!

[clivesconundrumgarden]

We used a seedling heating mat for or Vermicomposting, it got up to 43°C !! Obviously not happy and returned the mats.
Excellent as always Jason
Cheers 🌱

[gwbuilder]

Absolutely right Jason!👌
Fresh seeds are critical to quality germination.
A simple way to test that idea is to take the seeds from a fresh ripe plant, fruit, vegetable and plant those seeds within a week or even the same day. The amount of seeds that will sprout can be quite amazing. Of course some companies sterilize their produce to prevent people from doing that, but usually only the major producers.
On the other hand, if you are like me and like to see just how long a certain plants seeds can remain viable, I have actually had some seeds sprout after 10 years, but that is certainly NOT a "normal" thing to do.
However, I have had lavender seeds sprout that were 5+ years old.
Like you said, the germination rate was greatly reduced to around 20%.
Interestingly I have noticed that larger seeds do tend to have a longer span rate. I wonder if that is because the larger seeds have a great energy storage?
I know that some mustard and pak choi seeds can be viable for quite a long time as well as chili pepper.🤔
At any rate, the better the seed quality and fresher they are, a much better result will certainly be achieved.😉🤙

[carmenbailey]

Unfortunately I’ve never been very lucky going with seeds, so opt to go with garden supply sources. Thanks for sharing your thoughts. 👍❤️😊

[Kamila_q]

Thank you SO MUCH for sharing the name of the suppliers, I did exactly what it said on the package and I got maybe 1/20 that sprouted :/
I did follow instructions on the package