Q.How can I revive my indoor dried out and root bound lavender? Should it stay under its grow light, or rest and recover under its
west facing window that only gets a few hours of light during the winter Dear Gardening,
I have been growing Munstead English Lavender in small pot in my office, under a grow light. It was doing quite well for 3-4 months, grew to about a full, wooded, and robust leafy 6 inches tall plant, then I after watering it last Friday I came back from a weekend and all the leaves and a lot of the stems seemed to have dried to crisp.
I took it out of the pot and saw that it was incredibly root bound, and did not expect that given that the plant was only 6 inches tall.
To try and revive it I removed all the dried out leaves and the damaged stems and repotted it (see attached photo). Although the top looks really bad the roots still looked strong.
Should I keep it repotted under it’s grow light? Or instead let it sit under the natural light of my office’s west facing insulated window, and let it rest for the winter and hope it will revive with the upcoming spring? Or is it dead and is this a fruitless endeavour?
Any tips and advice is worth while. Please and thank you.
-Jake
Certified GKH Gardening Expert
This may not revive. Lavender will grow fairly fast and will not stay in small container for very long. They are a fast growing and heavily mulitplying species that will quickly take over any container that it is given. Each time that you repot, you will want to trim off 1/3 of the roots and the top part of the plant. This will help it into its new pot and give it a bushier stature.
For now, keep it out of the light until you see new growth. This will mean that it is ready for the light again. Once it takes over that container, you will want to divide the plant into smaller portions, each with a top and roots. Keep what you need and give away the rest. This will start the process over so that you can keep the same plant for quite awhile.
This article will help you to keep these indoors: https://www.gardeningknowhow.com/edible/herbs/lavender/growing-lavender-in-pots.htm
