A fresh look at Lavandula Mini Blue

Ornamental, fragrant and edible, home gardeners get the trifecta of plant benefits when it comes to lavender. Lavandula Mini Blue is a compact, well-branched lavender that produces strong stems with gray-green foliage and purple-blue flower spikes. Winter-hardy and cold-tolerant, it’s floriferous and offers tolerance to foliage diseases.

FOR MORE: Kieft Seed, kieftseeds.com

Production:

• Maintain soil temperature of 65 to 68°F during germination. Media should be well-drained and have a pH of 5.5 to 6.5, and EC of 0.7 to 1.2 mmhos/cm.
• Germination takes four to five days. Media should be medium-moist to moist. Light is beneficial during this time, and relative humidity should be kept at 95 to 98 percent until radicles emerge.
• For plug production, follow the same guidelines as germination. Lightly cover seed with vermiculite and spray with fungicide for Alternaria/Phoma.
• In stage two, use lighting up to 2,500 f.c., and allow roots to penetrate into the media by keeping it medium moist to medium wet.
• Fertilize at a rate of less than 100 ppm Nitrate/0.2 to 0.5 mmhos/cm EC, using a nitrate-form fertilizer.
• In stage three, keep drop soil temperature to 59 to 63°F.
• Moisture level should be reduced to medium-dry to medium-moist.
• Fertilize at 140 to 225 ppm N/1.0 to 1.5 mmhos/cm EC.
• Keep pH at 5.8 to 6.5.
• Depending on weather, use a daminozide growth regulator at 2,000ppm about two to two-and-a-half weeks after sowing, no more than three or four times.
• If temperature can be controlled, increase light to 5,000 f.c. in stage four. Keep soil temperature, moisture and fertilizer usage the same as the third stage.
• When growing on to finish, follow the same media guidelines, but keep EC at 1.0 mmhos/cm.
• For the Ellegance series, keep temperature between 54 and 60°F at night, and 60 to 72°F during the day. Lavance should have the same day temperature, but night temperature should be 60 to 65°F.
• Keep lights as high as possible while maintaining moderate temperatures when finishing.
• Moisture level should be medium (level 3).
• Fertilize constant at 100 to 125 ppm N/0.7 to 1.2 mmhos/cm EC, or 150 ppm as needed, while maintaining the pH at 5.8 to 6.5, and EC at 1.2 to 1.5 mmhos.cm.

Did you know?
Lavandula Mini Blue is bred for large-scale, overwintered pot production.