Quote from bob on 25th July 2022, 1:13 pm

Hello Ryan,
From your image it looks as though one or two heads could be removed, its difficult to see, the actual plant looks good and healthy, and its possible that the flowers seen may be  the second of the season (how long has it been at the garden centre) one thing I did notice is that the compost in the container looks very good, as in rich of nutrients and moisture, a good dark colour, but lavender does "not" like to sit in wet conditions, so when planting make sure the plant has plenty of drainage and the compost does not hold too much moisture, saying that, young plants in containers do require a bit more water than established plants, moist to dry-ish not soggy.

Lavender is a Mediterranean plant and therefore likes to be in full sun, soil with good drainage, and not planted too deep, as in plant to the top of the root ball, so if you have just  bought your plant taken it home and re-potted it straight into a normal compost I would suggest taking it out, and mixing horticultural grit into the compost 50/50 or 60/40 on the grit side, and place the container where it gets the most sun, standing the container on some bricks or pot feet to assist drainage as well.

One other point, as it is a new plant, give it time to establish its root system in its new home, and by coincidence Lee has a video on watering plants during a "hot weather" spell, definitely worth a watch, hope all goes well.

Bob

Quote from bob on 25th July 2022, 1:21 pm

Worth looking at by all 🙂

https://www.gardenninja.co.uk/how-to-water-plants-effectively-in-a-heatwave-myths-debunked/

Bob

Quote from ryan c on 25th July 2022, 1:46 pm

Hi bob, thanks for the reply, really useful tips. 

I don’t know exactly how long it was in the garden centre but it was bought in a 2l pot and it’s been in the pot that is shown in the picture a couple of days . It was bought around a week ago but when I potted it first time round I planted it in normal compost that did not drain well, also the pot was too small so after a few days I  then mixed general compost with some horticulture grit and some perlite then re planted in the larger pot shown in the picture. 

I might have damaged some roots when re potting but I suppose I will give it more time to re establish itself and grow more roots. 

as for cutting the heads off, I have added another photo from a different angle. I take it the browner smaller ones will need cut. Do I literally cut just the flower and nothing else. 

also if it does need more grit, can I add it without taking the plant out, just in case I accidentally damage the plant as it will not be established into the soil properly? 

Quote from bob on 25th July 2022, 7:35 pm

Hello Ryan, 

Ref your Lavender, when you wish to deadhead, from the flower follow the stem down to the next set of leaves and snip the stem just above these leaves.

Regarding adding an extra amount of grit, using both hands I would suggest pushing them both down into the compost either side of the plant to the root, then cup your hands together keeping the compost and root in a sort of compost ball, leave this to one side, re-mix your compost and grit, and plant again, all should be ok.

Bob

Quote from ryan c on 25th July 2022, 10:15 pm

That’s perfect thanks very much! 

I bought some extra grit so I will give it a try and hope for the best. 

thanks again for replying, you’ve been really helpful.