Check out our most recent article of growing lavender from seed.
We have begun the germination process for 5000 English Lavender seeds in our Allegan cabin yesterday! The seeds are supposed to have a 91% germination rate. We will see by the time we put them in the ground (guestimating May 30) what the “success rate” will end up being!
Cold Stratification and Freezing Tests
With approximately 4000 seeds we are utilizing the cold stratification process for lavender plant germination.
First, we soaked the seeds for 24 hours in cold water in a stainless steel bowl. This is per the instructions we were given by the seed company.
The next thing we did was drain the seeds in a small strainer with paper towels to minimize loss! Lavender seeds are TINY!
We lightly moistened 4 paper towels.
We guestimated and added approximately 1,000 lavender seeds per moistened paper towel! Attempting to spread them out a little.
We lightly moistened a top paper towel and then wrapped up the lavender seeds and placed them in a gallon sized ziploc bag. We inserted a straw in the corner to allow air to flow in and out of the bag.
Now the lavender seeds will sit in the refrigerator for 30 days. They will need to stay moist. We will need to check every 3-4 days to make sure they are moist. In a couple of weeks we will need to start unwrapping the paper towels to check the seeds for rot and germination. If any lavender seeds rot or germinate they will need to be removed.
Testing Another Germination Process
I have researched that some lavender seeds may be germinated by a quick trip (24 hours) to the freezer and then may be planted. We put about 500-750 seeds aside to try this because it sounds too good to be true. We will compare germination rates with updates in this blog!
The other 250-500 seeds we are calling a loss because of the handling process and they are SO tiny! If we could have just put the seed packet in the fridge and not put them in a bowl of cold water overnight for the cold stratification process, we would have minimized loss.
