For many plant seeds it doesn't matter whether it is light or dark - they germinate as soon as the appropriate conditions such as warmth and moisture are present. Other seeds, on the other hand, absolutely need darkness to germinate, the so-called dark germinators, or light. The latter are called light germinators. Lavender is also included.
Does germinating lavender require light?
Yes, lavender is a light germinator and needs sufficient brightness to germinate. Therefore, the seeds should only be covered thinly or not at all with soil and the plant tray or growing pot should be positioned in a bright location. Optionally, a plant lamp can provide additional light.
Ensure sufficient brightness
Lavender is usually propagated from cuttings, but you can also grow the flowering plants yourself from seeds from February onwards. The commercially available lavender seeds usually come from real lavender and are rarely pure. This means that the lavender plants grown from seeds can look very different. When sowing lavender, you must be careful not to cover the fine seeds with soil, or only cover them very thinly. Lavender is a light germinator and therefore requires brightness so that the grains begin to germinate. For this reason, you need the brightest possible location for the plant bowl or growing pot. However, since February is usually too dark for the sun-drenched Mediterranean plants, a special plant lamp (€79.00 on Amazon) can provide more brightness.
Sowing lavender correctly
To ensure that you are successful when sowing lavender, we have put together the following tips for you:
- If possible, prefer lavender towards the end of winter/spring.
- Otherwise it can happen that the plants start flowering too late and cannot mature before winter.
- Take a nursery pot, a planting bowl or an indoor greenhouse.
- Fill nutrient-poor potting soil in there. Herbal soil usually works very well too.
- Press the soil lightly.
- Wet the substrate with water from a spray bottle, but it should not be wet.
- Sow the fine seeds on the soil.
- Press them lightly into the moist soil.
- Place the potty in a bright and warm place.
- If necessary, install another plant lamp.
- The seedlings are pricked out and repotted as soon as the first tender leaves have grown next to the two cotyledons.
Tips & Tricks
Unlike many other seeds, lavender does not need a greenhouse climate to germinate, so it is best to avoid bags or plastic wrap placed over the pot. Lavender germinates best at temperatures of around 15 °C.