Why is My Lavender Dying? 7 Reasons & How to Fix

Many planting lovers many ask: why is my lavender dying? This article will assist you in determining the problem that your lavender plant is experiencing and in restoring it to full health.

The most frequent causes of a dying lavender plant include inadequate watering, excessive fertilization, an acidic soil pH, diseases, pests, and insufficient sunlight.

Fortunately, the majority can be quickly fixed. Learn more about it by continuing to read!

Table of Contents

Why is My Lavender Dying?

7 most common reasons are listed below:

1. Improper Watering

For Lavender plants, both overwatering and underwatering are harmful. If lavender plants completely dry out, they will droop and develop dry, yellow leaves. Those that stay in wet soil are susceptible to root rot. Your lavender plant may die due to either condition.

How to Fix:

The roots’ color and smell should be examined after the plant has been dug up. Healthy roots will be a pale, whitish-yellow color, and will not have any smell besides that of earth. Infected roots will be moist, dark, and musty. By cutting the diseased parts of your lavender plant off and repotting it in soil with good drainage, you can try to save it if the roots have become infected. If you do not take action soon, the plant will probably still perish.

Related Post: How Often to Water Lavender?

2. Incorrect Soil

Lavenders are prized for their propensity to thrive in subpar soils. When planting, you should keep in mind a few crucial qualities. Acidity is the second, while drainage is the first.

Lavenders are accustomed to growing in extremely well-draining sandy or rocky soil. The plant will start to wither if the soil has too much clay or becomes compacted, which causes water to collect near the roots. These plants, as previously stated, cannot tolerate being submerged in water and will start to droop and turn brown as a result of root rot.

Improve the drainage of your soil prior to planting by incorporating a sizable amount of sand and rocks. To prevent any new root growth from sitting in wet soil, the mixture should be placed just a little bit deeper than the planting hole.

How to Fix:

You can buy a testing kit, which is accessible at most gardening supply stores, to determine the pH of the soil. Liming agents, such as agricultural limestone, can be added if the soil is too acidic. The substance should simply be spread and carefully incorporated into the ground.

3. Lighting and Temperature Problems

Bright sunlight is ideal for lavender plants to flourish. These plants should, in a perfect world, get six to eight hours of sunlight each day. It is best to plant new plants in the early to mid-spring if they are to be grown outdoors because they cannot withstand the intense summer heat. This will allow them to mature before the summer heat hits.

During the winter, many growers move their potted lavender plants indoors. If you do bring your lavender inside, placing it close to a south-facing window will yield the best results. To encourage symmetrical, balanced growth, make sure to rotate the pot every week.

When given enough sunlight, outside-planted ornamental lavender plants thrive. By passively increasing sunlight as the seasonal amount decreases, you can promote the growth of your lavender. To achieve this, prune, apply mulch in a light color, or make the plant’s surroundings more cheerful.

It’s crucial to be aware that lavenders enter a dormant period in the winter when sunlight is at its lowest. When a plant is only dormant, some growers may mistakenly believe it to be dead. The stalks and branches of a dead lavender are completely devoid of any green or white pigment. The branches will be hollow and brown if they are dead.

Dormancy is not the time to cover your lavender plant. Lavender plants in dormancy are unaffected by snow. Snow’s moisture content meets the winter water needs of the dormant plant.

An additional important factor is the temperature your lavender is exposed to. When fully grown, the majority of lavender plants are tough perennials that can withstand low temperatures as low as 10°F (-12°C). However, newly transplanted lavenders struggle to survive at nighttime temperatures below 40°F (4°C).

How to Fix:

The important thing is to make sure your lavender is receiving the right amount of sun. It’s also critical that the temperature is just right. Although lavender can tolerate cold and drought, it is not advisable to subject it to extremely high or low temperatures. Well-established lavender can handle temperatures of as low as 10 degrees Fahrenheit. Young plants will need protection from the cold, though, as they can’t survive temperatures below 40 degrees Fahrenheit.

Related Post: Does Lavender Need Full Sun?

4. Fertilizer Problems

Little fertilizer is needed for lavender. They don’t require constant feeding, despite the fact that they grow quickly in direct sunlight. Overfeeding lavender plants damages their developing branch and leaf extensions and increases their susceptibility to seasonal factors.

Whether the plant is an indoor houseplant in a pot or an outdoor ornamental will determine the appropriate fertilizer. Because they have little chance of obtaining nutrients from the soil, indoor plants require fertilizer.

Monthly applications of a balanced, water-soluble fertilizer at half the recommended strength will be more than enough. During the winter, there is no need to fertilize your lavender plants.

Lavender plants used outside thrive better without artificial fertilizer. High nitrogen plant food may promote greater plant growth, but it also weakens the branches and reduces the plant’s ability to survive.

How to Fix:

Take care to follow packaging instructions carefully. Asking a more seasoned gardener who tends to lavender plants for recommendations on particular fertilizers may be a good idea if you are familiar with their needs. Your time, effort, and resources will be wasted if there is insufficient fertilizer applied because it won’t have any noticeable impact.

5. Pest Problems

Plants that grow lavender can withstand most insects. Nevertheless, these plants are infested and harmed by a variety of insects.

Spittlebugs

The spittlebug, also known as the frog-hopper bug, is one of the more frequent pests in lavender plants. The lavender stems are covered in a foamy substance by spttlebugs, which start as early as spring. Spittlebugs typically only cause a portion of a plant to die; the entire plant is rare.

It is frequently possible to get rid of the foam and the insects by giving the entire plant a strong water spray. Commercial insecticides may be necessary in some situations of heavy infestation.

Whiteflies

Whiteflies are an additional insect pest that harms lavender plants. Whiteflies assemble at the base of the lavender leaves and consume the sap of the plant.

Infestations of whiteflies alter the plant’s appearance and weaken it. The whitefly’s accompanying substance that they leave on the leaf, which can lead to mold infection, poses the bigger threat.

Whiteflies are not easily eradicated by commercial insecticides. Using a strong stream of water, you can manually remove them from the plants. Placing aluminum foil or other highly reflective, bright materials close to the plants discourages whiteflies.

Aphids

Also infesting lavender plants are aphids. While the aphids themselves are not particularly harmful, they carry a disease called alfalfa mosaic virus, which we will discuss in the next section. Growers must, however, discourage aphids in order to stop the infection.

Aphids can be controlled with the help of gardening oil, neem oil, or diatomaceous earth (DE). Remember that when you use commercial pesticides to get rid of aphids, you’re also getting rid of other beneficial insects, like ones that eat aphids.

How to Fix:

When trying to get rid of pests, you should probably leave the commercial pesticides as a last resort. Starting with milder techniques is best. You can choose to dab at the bugs with an alcohol-soaked cotton swab a few times a week until you start to see results. You might also try giving the plant a vigorous watering. Simply repeat for the best results; this will get rid of any bugs stuck on the plant.

6. Disease Problems

As mentioned, alfalfa mosaic virus is a fairly common disease in Plants that produce lavender can be identified by the presence of bright yellow patches on the underside of the leaves. The leaves frequently curl under the yellow patches.

Although alfalfa mosaic virus usually does not kill the lavender plant outright, it does stunt the growth of the plant. Since the virus is contagious, growers should get rid of infected plants to stop it from infecting healthy Lavender plants.

The best defense against this virus is the removal of aphids from nearby plants as well as lavender plants.

Lavender plants also experience infections from Septoria lavandula, a fungus that causes dark splotches to grow across the leaves. The spots eventually coalesce to create masses that resemble eggs (source).

Of itself, Septoria lavandula does not kill the lavender plant. The key to preventing and treating Septoria lavandula is making sure the plant is not in soggy soil.

Make sure the area around the plant’s base is properly ventilated. Check the plant’s bottom leaves frequently for brown, gray, or purplish splotches because those are where the fungus will first show up.

How to Fix:

The key to preventing this virus is to get rid of the aphids that spread it. For a few weeks, every two to three days, you can apply an insecticidal soap spray. Until the pests are exterminated, repeat the process. When working with plants that have any kind of infection, always remember to thoroughly clean your tools. Using caution when using your tools will keep the rest of your plants healthy.

7. Natural Life Cycle

The last possible explanation for why your lavender plant appears to be dying is a straightforward natural process. Your plant’s natural life cycle as a perennial will have it go into dormancy when the weather gets very cold, around the wintertime.

The plant will start to lose its leaves and flowers as soon as the temperature drops. If it is that time of year and you’re certain there is no other reason for this happening, then it’s simply time to let your plant rest for the winter. There is no reason to worry.

How to Fix:

Lavender plants grown outdoors will not need frost protection. They will be fine being covered by the snow for the most part. Actually, this will cover their water requirements all winter. They will return in the spring, eager to welcome you with fresh growth that will eventually bloom into lovely flowers.

Final Thoughts: Why is My Lavender Dying

Your worries about the health of your lavender plant should be alleviated by reading this article, we hope. Despite the fact that it can be upsetting to see your prized plant struggling rather than flourishing, the key is to provide it with the care it needs to recover.

It is crucial to carefully examine your plant before deciding what to do because many lavender plant issues share similar symptoms. Consider the environment your plant has been growing in as well as the attention you have been giving it.

In general, overwatering, overfertilizing, and lighting problems are the most likely causes of a Lavender plant dying. Before looking for other causes, check these first.