Lavender Light Requirements – Full Guide

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Lavender or Botanical name lavandula – an herb that can be used in food or flowers that can be used as an essence. The fragrance of the lavender flowers makes this plant really popular in gardens and pots indoors. However, there are some growing requirements that you need to know about when you want to grow lavender successfully.

One of these requirements is the light that these plants need to grow and flower each year.

This is why this information is so important when you are considering planting your lavender plant at home.

Why Is Direct Sunlight Essential For All Lavender Plants?

There are two main reasons why light for lavender plants is essential. Any lavender plant needs at least three or four hours of sunlight to ensure growth and flowering. Lavender requires a lot of sunlight to thrive because it is essential for photosynthesis.

Lavender produces energy using sunlight as its source. Similar to all other plants, this herb uses photosynthesis to produce the sugars it needs to survive. However, this is also to ensure that diseases and pests aren’t a problem with your lavender plants.

It is vital to make sure that you always turn your pot lavender once a week so that all the sides of the pot are getting sunlight.

Otherwise, only one side of the pot will grow healthy and have flowers. Your lavender will likely grow leggy and weak without 6 to 8 hours of daily full and direct sunlight, and you won’t get the full, dense appearance you may have anticipated.

Growing lavender in the wrong spot increases the risk of root rot and other pathogens. Because of this, having the right amount of sun is essential for growing a robust plant that will come back year after year. Furthermore, sunlight exposure has a direct impact on the flowers’ ability to produce lavender oil.

Soil fertility is another consideration.

It may seem odd, but your lavender may be in overly fertile soil if it is in full sun but still failing to produce fragrant blooms.

What Is The Main Light Requirement For Growing Lavender?

It doesn’t matter if you are growing your lavender indoors or outdoors. There is one thing that you need to know. Lavender wants light. Full sunlight if you are planting the lavender in your garden, and if you are planting your lavender in pots indoors, it needs at least 8 hours of direct sunlight.

If this isn’t possible for your indoor lavender plants, you should consider artificial lighting. This will ensure that the lavender plants are getting all the required light to grow and flower successfully.

But, with artificial lighting, there are some requirements as well that you need to know about.

Artificial lighting for lavender plants

An option that you have for growing lavender plants in pots is to make use of a growing light or artificial light. This will ensure that the lavender will get the right light requirements to grow successfully and faster.

There are different LED bulbs available that are suitable for various plant needs and specifications.

Most of these growing lights are available in red (600 to 700 nm waveband) and far red (700 to 800 nm waveband) light spectrum. Then about 5 to 20 percent of the bulbs being in the blue (400 to 500 nm waveband) light spectrum is also great for growing plants in general.

For lavender, you should combine all three light spectrum bulbs to benefit your plant ultimately. If buying all three light spectrums aren’t possible for you or is too expensive, you can always consider the full-spectrum LED light fixture that includes all three different spectrums in one light.

These lights should be on the lavender plants for 12 to 18 hours. And, you need to know how close or far the light fixture should be from the plant.

An example is to hang a 450-watt fixture 30 to 36 inches from the plants and a 240-watt fixture at 24 to 30 inches.

Don’t worry, the plants will not burn, because these lights aren’t hot at all.

Light Requirements For Growing Lavender Indoors

As we already mentioned, growing lavender indoors in pots still requires the same amount of light as with the lavender growing outside in your garden. But, because there is limited sunlight in your home, there are a couple of things that are essential to know.

Firstly, it is recommended that you are putting the lavender near a south-facing window. This is the window that will get the most sunlight for as long as possible.

You’re probably not providing your lavender plants with enough light if you start to notice spindly growth. You will need to rotate the pot every week to ensure that the whole plant is getting sunlight.

To support uniform growth, turn your plant about once every 4–7 days, especially when growing under LED lights. If you have a home that doesn’t get any sunlight, you can use artificial lighting to give the plant the necessary light it needs to grow successfully and healthily.

The best thing you can do is put the pot outside in the sun during the day and bring it in at night. You just need to remember that a heater and aircon aren’t good for lavender.

If you can’t give the plant sunlight, don’t consider putting direct heat on it. This isn’t the same as a growing light. Growing lavender indoors is simple if you have the proper lighting, whether it be natural or artificial.

Light Requirements For Growing Lavender Outdoors

When you are growing your lavender outdoors in your garden, you need to consider a couple of things as well. The best place in the garden is the space that has full sun. The more sun the lavender has, the better it will grow. However, if you don’t have a spot that provides full sun throughout the day, you should choose a spot that will give sunlight in the afternoon.

This is when the sun is at its warmest and when the lavender plant will benefit the most. With outdoor lavender, the plants will grow tall and have lots of flowers if you consider the amount of sunlight that the lavender plant is going to get.

The less shade it gets, the better. Just one thing that you should remember is that there are different types of lavender plants. Some prefer less sun than others. Make sure to research the one that you are going to plant in your garden before you are planting it.

There is a lavender plant that prefers cooler weather, and all this information will kill it. To recap. Lavender plants need sunlight to thrive. Without enough sunlight or artificial light, lavender will not grow and have flowers.

The good news is that you can plant lavender in pots and have it indoors. However, then you just need to make sure that it’s getting enough sunlight.

You can also make use of the artificial lights we discussed in the article for growing the lavender without any sunlight in your home.

Lavender is a great-smelling plant, and with light sunlight, it will grow into a large, beautiful plant with great-smelling flowers.

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