Lavender is an incredibly popular plant to have in gardens due to its lovely fragrant blooms, and you can encourage it to grow more flowers with three simple items.
Spring is almost here, and it can be a good idea to make flowers their own homemade fertiliser to add more nutrients to the soil without having to spend lots of money or use harsh chemicals.
Stephanie LeBlanc, a gardener and founder of Celebrated Herb, has shared that you can have lavender that is “blooming and smelling amazing all year round” if you feed it the right fertiliser.
One simple organic fertiliser you can feed lavender is made of three natural ingredients that help adjust the pH of the soil so the plant is more likely to thrive.
Stephanie said: “This fertilizer provides magnesium and sulfur from the Epsom salt, alkalizes the soil with baking soda, and supplies additional nutrients with the fish emulsion.”
How to make a homemade fertiliser for lavender
You will need:
- One gallon of water
- One tablespoon of baking soda
- One tablespoon of Epsom salt
- One tablespoon of fish emulsion
Epsom salt is one of the best natural items to feed plants if you want to encourage flowering. It contains magnesium, which helps plants produce energy, which can lead to stronger growth.
Baking soda is mildly alkaline, so it will reduce the soil acidity for lavenders. This will make the plant less likely to be stressed, which will help flower production.
Fish emulsion can be bought as a liquid fertiliser for plants or you can use any leftover fish scraps you were planning to throw away.
It contains phosphorus, the main nutrient needed for flower growth, and it also contains other important nutrients such as phosphorus and potassium.
Method
All you need to do is add the ingredients to a larger bucket or watering can.
Mix everything together in the water until they fully dissolve, or strain any fish parts out of the water so there is only a liquid.
Water the lavender around the base of the soil and be careful not to get any water on the leaves or flowers.
Too much water building up on the foliage does not hydrate the plant and can encourage mould or fungal diseases to grow on the lavender.
Water your lavender with this solution once every season, or every three to four months, and it will give the plant an organic boost to help it grow.
Stephanie said: “It’s important to note that lavender plants do not require heavy fertilisation, so use this homemade fertiliser sparingly, once every few months. Over-fertilizing can actually harm plants.”
