Looking for a houseplant that will give back? Why not try lavender (Lavandula angustifolia)? It calms you when you’re stressed and provides a stellar flavor profile in desserts and cocktails. What do you have to lose?
Lavender is native to Europe and the Mediterranean, but it can be grown in a variety of different zones and climates. It isn’t a traditional houseplant, but that doesn’t mean you can’t succeed. With enough love and attention, you’ll have a thriving, delicious-smelling lavender plant growing in your home before you know it.
The biggest problem you’ll find when growing lavender indoors is light. Lavender needs hot, bright light to produce the beautiful foliage and scented blooms that everyone knows and loves. If you don’t have enough natural light, try investing in grow lights.
Keys to Success
Growing lavender inside isn’t ideal, but if you create the best possible conditions, it can be done, especially if you’re simply trying to keep plants alive through winter before setting back outdoors when weather warms in spring.
Sunlight
Most indoor lavender plants don’t display ideal growth and leaf color, let alone colorful blooms. The problem is light—or lack of it. Indoor settings have a tough time delivering sufficient sunlight. This is especially true in northern regions in winter.
Place indoor lavender plants near a bright south-facing window. Most plants won’t fit on a window ledge, so use a small table or plant stand to get your plant near the sun. You can also use supplemental light to mimic sun. Standard fluorescent tubes suspended 6 to 12 inches above lavender provide sufficient light for growth. Or try high output fluorescent lights (T5 type), which yield twice as much light as traditional tubes.
Containers
When growing lavender indoors, using the right size container is important. A pot for lavender should only be one to two inches larger than the plant’s rootball. In a larger pot, there’s excess soil that doesn’t have any roots in it to help absorb moisture. That soil can easily become waterlogged and lead to too-wet soil where the lavender roots are. The end result is root rot, which is how many indoor lavender plants die.
Soil
Lavender is a Mediterranean plant, which means that it loves lean soil. Fill the bottom of your pot with an inch or two of limestone gravel topped with a basic soilless mix made for containers. Blend a tablespoon of lime into soil to give it more of an alkaline edge. Monthly, blend dried and ground eggshells into the top of soil to add lime.
Temperature
Although lavender loves heat, indoors you’ll have better success, especially in winter, when you locate it away from hot or cold air drafts. In winter, consider growing lavender indoors in a room that’s cooler than the rest of the house. Aim to keep roots alive through winter, but not to push heavy new growth.
Water
Water your lavender after planting, and then pull back on the water. During cooler winter months, water only when soil is dry to the touch about 1 inch deep. Consider using a terra-cotta pot for growing lavender indoors. The porous clay pot sides lose moisture, which can help prevent root rot.
Plant Type
Choose smaller lavender varieties for indoors. They adapt better to pot growing and also fit beneath a grow light. French lavender (Lavandula dentata) varieties grow well indoors. They’re not as fragrantly potent as English lavender (Lavandula angustifolia), but they adapt better to interior conditions. Other good types of lavender to grow indoors include Canary Island lavender (Lavandula canariensis) and fern leaf lavender (Lavandula multifida), which tolerates wet conditions better than other lavenders.
