It’s already late summer but there is no sign of flowers on your lavender?
Lavenders do not usually need much care but when it comes to blooming they are very choosy. They will only flower if you replicate the environmental condition like their natural habitat of the Mediterranean region. Otherwise, they fail to bloom during late summer or spring
You might be wondering why your lavender is not flowering!
Well, there are 10 reasons why lavenders don’t produce blooms. Fertile soil, excess fertilizer, lack of sunlight, overwatering, wrong soil pH, high humidity, transplant shock, wrong pruning, immature lavenders, and wrong kind of variety are the main reasons you need to deal with.
but don’t worry! Here you will get the actionable solutions. Once you have made some changes your lavenders will bloom every year.
So, let’s get this show on the road-
Why The Lavenders Are Not Blooming
1. Fertile Soil
Yes! You heard right. If you plant your lavenders in very fertile soil they will not be flowering. Because lavenders are adapted to the soil that is sandy and low on fertility. Moreover, high fertile soil only produces more leaves rather than flowers.
Control Measure
Since fertile soil prevents lavenders from flowering, you should amend the soil to a low-fertile condition. So, you need to dig the soil and get your lavender out of the ground. Then mix some sand and gravel. The best soil for lavender has 30% of sand and 70% of normal soil. You can be a little more generous with the sand if you like. Trust me, it won’t do any harm.
But remember that you need to avoid transplanting your lavender during the winter. Because lavenders cannot establish their roots very well in cold winter soils. So, the best time for transplanting your lavender is in spring.
2. Too Much Fertilizer
Lavenders do need nutrients like Nitrogen, Phosphorus, and Potassium. But they are not heavy feeders like other plants. If your lavenders aren’t flowering right after you’ve fed them with fertilizer, then you know the reason why your lavenders won’t bloom.
Control Measure
Lavenders are native to countries like France, Spain, and Italy. So, you need to replicate the soil condition of these areas. Do not feed your lavenders more than once a year. And simply avoid high nitrogenous fertilizer. Feed your lavenders with a little amount of blooming fertilizer once a year just before spring (our pick: Espoma PT18 Plant Tone).
If you have added too much fertilizer to your lavender then move it from that soil and replant it in another location where the soil is poor infertility.
3. Lack of Enough Sunlight
To produce flowers with the best aroma your lavenders need plenty of sunlight. So, if your lavenders aren’t getting their fair share of sunlight, they won’t be flowering at all.
Control Measure
Make sure your lavenders are getting at least 6 hours of direct sunlight every day. The more sun it gets, the more flowers it will produce.
You see, sunlight is so important for the lavenders that without enough of it the lavenders can even die. So, if you have planted them in shade, relocate your lavender to a sunny location at once. I am sure your lavenders will be producing flowers next year.
4. Over Watering The Lavenders
Lavenders require very little water. When you overwater them, they become very leggy and produce very few blooms. Sometimes no bloom at all. Moreover, overwatering also brings fungal diseases like root rot. You can be sure that your lavenders are overwatered when you see the leaves start turning brown.
Control Measure
Be very careful while watering the lavenders. The amount of water they need depends on the environmental condition of your area. It’s best to check the soil with a moisture meter to know exactly how much to water your lavenders (Our pick: Atree Soil Soil Tester Kits with Moisture, Light, and PH Test for Garden).
If there is rainfall then no need to water until the soil dries out. Otherwise, water once every two weeks. During the rainy season make sure they are not getting too much water.
Lavenders do not like their roots to be wet. So be sure to plant them in well-draining soil. You can also plant them in raised beds to avoid water-logging conditions.
5. Wrong Soil pH
Lavenders require soil that has a pH of 6.5 – 7.5. That means, lavenders need neutral to slightly alkaline soil to produce nice blooms. They cannot tolerate acidic soil conditions.
Sometimes your garden soil can be a little acidic. This will prevent the lavenders from producing pretty flowers. Also in acidic soil, the lavenders will struggle to stay healthy.
Control Measure
Check your garden soil with a pH meter to see what the condition is. If the soil is acidic then amend it with garden lime (our pick: Jobe’s Organics Garden Lime) or some wood ash to bring the soil to an alkaline condition. But while applying wood ash make sure they don’t come in contact with lavender roots.
6. High Humidity
Lavenders like low humidity and breezy weather. Trust me, lavenders don’t flower at all in highly humid conditions. So, if the humidity of your area is high then this is more likely to be the reason why your lavenders are not flowering.
Also, humid conditions cause many fungal diseases and make the lavender sick. This creates a stressful situation for them. As a result, the lavenders fail to produce flowers.
Control Measure
There is not much we can do to control nature but some measures will help your lavenders to fight off this highly humid situation. Make sure you plant your lavenders 2-3 feet apart from other plants. This will help them to get the breezy wind occasionally.
Also, allow them to get plenty of sunlight. Because if they are shaded in humid conditions many fungal diseases will attack.
7. Transplant Shock
When a plant is transplanted in a new place it takes time to adjust to the new situation. Sometimes your lavender can go under shock when they are transplanted at the wrong time of the year. Again, if the condition is not optimum for them, they’ll still be in shock.
Control Measure
In this case, there is nothing much to do. But beware of the fact that the lavenders should not be transplanted during winter. Because their roots cannot adjust to cold soil. Also if you plant them in moist soil then they can suffer from root rot.
Add sand or grit to improve the soil condition and wait for the lavender to revive itself naturally.
8. Wrong Pruning Of Lavender
Pruning is sometimes necessary to facilitate the airflow in the lavender. But the wrong kind of pruning and over-pruning will reduce the blooms drastically. Also if you prune just before the blooming period then lots of flower buds will get cut off from the plant.
Control Measure
Do not cut back into the old stems. Because this will affect the blooming a lot. Always keep a few inches of the softwood stem while pruning. Prune in the late summer when the lavender has finished blooming. And prune very little in the spring to encourage new growth.
9. Immature Lavenders
Mature lavenders flower during the spring and summer seasons. But all the lavender varieties do not mature at the same time. And they do not flower until they are mature enough. So you need to know which variety of lavender you are growing. You might be expecting flowers from lavender which hasn’t matured yet.
Control Measure
Depending on the variety the lavenders can take 1-2 years to mature. For example, English lavenders bloom during the late spring to early summer. But French and Spanish lavenders bloom from spring to late summer even sometimes until fall.
Wait for your lavender to be mature. But if they already are mature but still not flowering then look for other reasons to blame.
10. Choosing the Wrong Kind of Lavender
Sometimes the reason why your lavenders aren’t blooming can be the lavenders are not suited to the climate of your area. All lavenders need similar conditions to bloom but still different varieties can tolerate some situations. For example, English lavenders can tolerate frost but others cannot. On the other hand, French and Spanish lavenders do well where the winter is very mild.
Control Measure
Make sure before planting the lavenders you choose the right kind of variety. If your area has frost seasons then try the variety “vera” which is extremely cold and hardy.
If the climate of your area has mild winters then you can choose from a lot of varieties including “Buena vista”, “Grosso” etc that will produce a good bloom.
How Do I Get My Lavender Plant to Flower
There are some combinations of measures you can take to get your lavenders to flower. Start by making the soil sandier, and gravelly. Also, don’t feed your plant extra doses of fertilizer more than once a year. Water very little depending on the weather conditions.
Lavenders bloom best in a sunny location. So, you can use some white mulch like white gravel or limestone over the ground to help reflect sunlight. This will also help to prevent weed growth.
Once your flowers have bloomed and after a while, it starts turning brown. Remove the brown flowers to encourage more blooms. Also, prune your lavenders carefully during spring when they have finished blooming. If you take the steps mentioned above properly, then you are sure to get nice blooms during the season.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
How long does it take for lavender to flower?
A lavender flower takes 1-2 years to start flowering depending on the variety. English lavenders flower within a year but French lavenders take 2 years to mature before they start flowering.
What month does lavender bloom?
Lavenders flower from mid-spring to late summer depending on the variety. Different varieties start flowering at different times. Usually, the blooming season starts from March to July.
Do all lavender plants flower?
Yes, all kinds of healthy lavenders flower during the spring and summer seasons when they get optimum flowering conditions.
Conclusion
Lavenders are very easy to take care of because unlike other plants they thrive in poor growing conditions. But unfortunately, they are very particular about the soil and water. They don’t want fertile soil or generous watering. So when the lavenders are not flowering you have to change their living conditions
The most important thing to do is to place them under full sun and water very little. With just a little adjustment your lavenders will flower abundantly from the next season.
I hope this article guided you through the whole process and helped you find the solution. The good news is you can try the same measures with any variety of your lavender.
