What Kind of Soil is Used for Lavender Plants?: With Easy DIY Soil Guide

Lavender is one of the trickiest plants to grow with the right geographical location and season yet the easiest, but the trick is to know what kind of soil is used for Lavender plants. Grow lavender this season in your garden to feast your eyes with lavender is relatively low-maintenance. Lavender Plants are useful for many purposes as decorative, healing, and such. 

We will walk you through a complete guide on selecting the right soil for Lavender Plants along with tips on growing them. You will also get the perfect DIY recipe for your Lavender Plants in this read.

Types of Lavender Plants

Lavender Plants are shrubs with linear leaves and purple flowers. The lavenders are found in herb gardens for their attractive smell. They are mainly used for oils and perfumes for fragrance. Their flowers are lavender but also found in different colors like pink, and white.

The main types of lavenders are:

• English lavender: the strongest of all. They have a much lighter and sweeter scent. This variety is often considered an herb because of its uses.
• French lavender: the stronger notes of scents. Preferred to use for home products.
• Spanish lavender: a short plant with smaller leaves than any variety. This variety is best for decoration in the garden or pot.
• Portuguese lavender: pungent a smelling plant. This type is commonly used in culinary dishes and drinks

Can I Use Any Soil for Lavender Plants?

Yes, you can use any soil for Lavender Plants but the soil should be well draining. Lavender Plants work well in well-drained and aerated soil. Avoid garden soil as it does not have the right drainage for Lavender Plants or mix it with drainage components to use. Also, avoid clay soil as they fill the soil with water with less drainage. Potting soil which is used for other plants also can’t be directly used for Lavender Plants. A special potting mix should be used for Lavender Plants. Using soil that gives the right drainage, gritty and well-aerated place is the best soil for Lavender Plants.

What is the Soil pH for Lavender Plants?

The Ideal soil pH for Lavender Plants is 6.7 to 7.5. Lavender Plants like to grow best in slightly acidic to alkaline soil. If the soil is too alkaline, it may affect the plant. To make your Lavender soil acidic, add peat moss to it. To make it alkaline add lime to the soil.

pH is tested to find the potential of hydrogen and uses a chemical scale to identify the nature of the soil. Testing for soil pH is the first step in getting to know the soil. Ph can range from 0 to 14. Any soil with a pH higher than 7 is alkaline and less than 7 is acidic. Do a pH test to find the soil pH level. To know about all soil test services in details, read here.

What Kind of Soil is Used for Lavender Plants?

The best kind of soil for Lavender Plants is sandy loam soil. A soil that is sandy and has some loam organic matter in it makes the best soil. Potting mix can be used to grow Lavender Plants but the nutrient, minerals, and pH should be checked before planting in the soil. 

Cactus or succulent soil can also be used for Lavender Plants. Adding some organic matter is necessary with it. Making soil for a Lavender Plant on your own is easy and is all organic soil.  Lavender Plants love soil that holds enough or the right amount of moisture, and nutrients in the soil.

Components of the Best Soil for Lavender Plants

These are some of the components for the perfect Lavender Plants soil:

Well Drainage

A well-draining soil is essential for the Lavender Plants. If grown in a pot, it needs a drainage hole for proper drainage. Water sitting in the pot may lead to fungal disease and destroy the root. Adding pebbles to the pot with soil will help solve the problem. Add coco coir to improve drainage in the mix of the plant.

Good Aeration 

Lavender Plants like light soil that should have good aeration. As they love dry and porous soil to get the proper aeration, giving that will help them grow. Providing extra aeration to the soil will boost the growth of the plant.

Texture

The texture of the soil for Lavender Plants should be coarse to light. The Lavender Plants soil prefers a very light and loose soil that also holds enough moisture which helps in root growth. The texture of indoor and outdoor soil can vary as one will be in a pot and the other in the land.

Did you Know?

• Lavender Plants are Herb types, which attract butterflies.
• Lavender Plants are known to treat insomnia as lavender oil can induce sleep.
• Lavender Plants have more than 400 different varieties of plants.
• An English Lavender Plants variety named melissa blooms mellow purple flowers and the named Melissa Lilac.

What Kind of Potting Soil is Good for Lavender Plants?

Lavender Plants need a well-draining potting mix that is light and provides aeration to the plant root. A potty soil with loam compost is perfect for the Lavender Plants soil. Lavender Plants grow best in an indoor potting mix. To make the soil more porous add coconut husk, pumice, and perlite. Lavender Plants need little to no organic matter in them. So providing them with a potting mix with pebbles in the pot is ideal for the plant. Keep a check on the acidity level of the soil and don’t miss out on any change in soil which may affect the plant.

How to Prepare Potting soil for Lavender Plants?

To prepare the potting soil for the Lavender plants, add One part each of minerals such as sand, perlite, and gravel or rock. In the case of using potting soil depending on the clay in potting soil, add one or two parts of coarse sand to it. This sand will help to make better aeration. Adding perlite (volcanic rock) or gravel or marbles increases the drainage of the soil. Coconut coir and barks from wook are also added to improve drainage and aeration in the soil.

The Preparation of Potting soil for Lavender Plants is easy with getting the right ingredients. Succulent soils for Lavender Plants are quite opposite to potting soil. Potting soil loves to hold moisture but having that for succulents might be a wrong idea. Adding potting soil directly for Lavender makes the soil unsuitable for the plant. But adding the minerals and mending the soil to improve drainage and aeration will make the potting soil doable. 

DIY Tips to make Soil for Lavender Plants At Home (Complete guide)

Soil for most plants can be made by mixing potting soil or some minerals and organic matter. But the Lavender Plant needs a soil-less mix. Lavender Plants need a soil-less but sandy light mix with no compaction. So, making a Do-it-yourself soil is your best choice. To make your own DIY soil for your Lavender Plants:

• Collecting all the ingredients before making the soil.
• Take time to mix the ingredients.
• Learn other items like reading a pH tester, types of nutrients, and their uses.

Now you can start making the DIY with the below-given ingredients and follow up:

Tools

• Gear up with gloves to avoid dirt from the soil.
• Measuring cup or instrument to measure the ingredients.
• Bucket or vessel to make space to mix the soil.
• A small shovel/ Trowel to mix the soil.
• Dust mark (must).

Ingredients

Organic matters:

• Potting mix– The potting mix with the soil makes the potting soil. Potting mix has peat moss, perlite, vermiculite, and many others. 
• Perlite– Perlite is formed from volcanic emission. They make the best aeration for the succulent soil.
• Pumice– Formed from volcanoes when they erupted explosively. The liquid explosion is formed to pumice rock making the aeration for the soil.
• Coconut Coir– The coconut fiber is an all-rounder made from coconut husk used for many purposes. They are used in soil to improve soil texture, drainage, and aeration.
• Peat Moss– It is made of decomposed organic matter from peat bogs. For sandy soil, it helps to retain moisture for the plant.

Mineral matters:

• Coarse sand– The sand is added to give a loose texture to the soil. The coarse sand is added to reduce the clay content in the soil.
• Volcanic rocks– These are rocks from volcanic lava. The rock contains many minerals which help in plant growth.
• Gravel– Gravel is rock fragments that are formed from the breakdown of rock. They are used in decorative and to provide aeration to the soil.

Recipe

Our recipes for the best Desert Rose soil:

Mix 1

• 1 part Potting mix
• 1 Part gravel

Mix 2

• 1 Part Perlite
• 1 Part Sand
• 1 part rock or stone

Follow-up

After collecting all the required ingredients and tools add the measured organic matter or potting soil to the bucket with the help of a trowel. Add One part potting mix to 1 part gravel to make the first mix. Add one part perlite to 1 part sand and 1 part rock or stone to the soil and mix all well to make the best soil for your Lavender plants. 

Where to Buy Soil for Lavender Plants?

Soil for Lavender Plants can be bought in a commercial store or online. In stores, you can get opinions from expert people in the field to explain and give soil according to the plant. But the chances are there that chemical fertilisers will be added to the soil. Online, you can make your choice based on the review, rating, and the right mix mentioned on the label. With whatever way of buying the soil, adding some soil conditioner will help for the betterment of the plant as well the soil.

Best Commercial Brands to buy Soil for Lavender Plants

Fox Farm

One of the best soil for both indoor, outdoor, and container plants is happy frog potting soil. These are ready-to-use soil with a pack of nutrients. It also contains humic acid and mycorrhizae which gives the right pH for plants. The benefits of this premium select potting soil are strong plant structure, and vigorous vegetative growth, with enhanced fruit and flower production. This soil can be used directly to replenish the existing soil. Added bonus of a free pair of gardening gloves is provided with this product. 

Espoma

Espoma is a leader in garden fertiliser and a trusted brand that gives good results. They are fortified with earthworm castings with myco tone which gives the right pH for cannabis. This product is all-natural and organic making it best for ground plantings. They have a pH of around 6 which helps the plant thrive. They also contain peat moss and feather meal in them. The direction to use is mentioned on the label and on its website too.

Can I Use Garden Soil for Lavender Plants?

No, you can’t use garden soil for Lavender Plants. Garden soil will have lots of clay and nutrient content in it which is not suitable for Lavender Plants. Garden soil will be heavy, damp, and moisture retainded which is quite the opposite for Lavender Plants soil. Garden soil should be avoided at any cost because it may kill the plant and they only need low fertile and sandy soil.

Can Lavender Plants grow in Cactus soil?

Yes, Lavender Plants can grow in cactus soil. Keeping a check on the sand in the soil will only make the difference. Cactus plants need sandy soil like Lavender Plants. Often the term cactus and succulent are used indifferently. You may find labels in soil bags stating cactus and succulent soil. As the characteristics and needs of both cacti and succulents are common, they can be used for one another. Since the Lavender Plants is a deserter, cactus soil can be used but for better result cactus mix with no soil will do best. Lavender needs a soil-less mix to grow.

When and How to Repot Lavender Plants?

Repotting a Lavender Plant once a year during spring will encourage the plant to have potential growth and reach full blooming. Repotting can be done at certain times,

• When the plant has outgrown the container in which it grows. The plant growth will become shun if a large plant is grown in a small pot.
• If the plant is Broken or externally damaged, it needs to be repotted. For such plants to recover it needs more nutrients from the new soil.
• Fungal or bacterial infection can damage the soil too deep to hurt the soil, at that time there is a need to repot the plant.
• Root rot is not a major problem and the plant can recover on its own. But at times, when it gets severe repotting should be done to save the plant and root. Root rot is caused because of over or under-watering.
• When the store-bought plant is in a small pot disregarding its size, repotting is a must. 

To repot Lavender Plants, selecting a container or pot regarding the size of the plant is the first step. Choosing a pot that is good porous is a must i.e., terracotta. The two factors which determine the pot size are Water requirement and growth space.

• Loosen the plant from the pot with a shovel and dug it out. Make sure the soil is dry during repotting.
• Remove the soil rock and remove any debris from the root to add it to the new soil.
• Place the plant in a new pot with a ⅔ new soil and fill in the sides to make the plant straight.
• Add water and potting mix to make up for the lost nutrients.

Pests in Lavender Plants

Some of the pests that are found in Lavender Plants are whiteflies, Thrips, and aphids. Aphids and white flies can distort the plant and misshapen the leaves. Thrips may shun plant growth. The Desert roses pest affected leaves will show changes and signs. If they are leaf unnoticed, they may lose strength and die. The immediate remedy is to spray high pressured water in the plant as they wash off and then eliminate the infected leaf. Use an insecticide to remove the pests or natural neem oil. 

Common problems with Lavender Plants

Some of the common which Lavender plants will show with the change in the plant are:

• Yellow leaf– The cause of yellow leaf is too much drainage in the soil. It also indicates the bacterial problem in soil.
• Brown Spot in leaves– This could be a sign of overwatering that too much water is not available in the soil.
• Dry leaves– This sign is for the dehydration of plants. Providing enough water will solve this issue.
• Dropping leaf– This could be the reason the root is getting too much or little water. Keeping a check on soil texture will help prevent the problem.

Conclusion

With the right care, the Lavender plants will grow to have green leaves and vibrant flowers. Making the best soil for the Lavender Plants will help your plant for full and healthy growth which can also aid the plant to have good aeration, drainage, and nutrients. You make your own DIY soil for the Lavender plants with proper guidance. Follow the above-mentioned steps to grow a healthy Lavender Plants. Also, keep checking the plant and soil to avoid pest problems. If there is any problem with the plant, follow the repotting steps and swap it for better soil.

FAQs

Do Lavender Plants grow well in pots?

Yes, Lavender Plants can grow well in pots.

How do I make lavender soil better?

To make lavender soil better, keep them slightly alkaline and make it sandy.

Can I use Potting soil for Lavender Plants?

Yes, you can use potting soil for Lavender Plants along with draining components such as pebbles, and pumice.

What is the best place to plant Lavender Plants?

The best place for a Lavender plant is full and direct sunlight for at least 6 hours.