Lavender

Lavandula
Climate Requirements
• Origin: Mediterranean Basin, Arabian Peninsula,
and tropical Africa and India
• Needs ≥6-8 hours of daily sun exposure
• Prefers warm and moderately dry climates, mild
winters and sunny summers.
• Prefers soil temperatures above 18°C.
• The plant can tolerate lower temperatures.
• Thrive in high altitudes (up to 1500 meters).
Lavenders hardness to frost
• Very hardy lavenders
– True lavender: L. angustifolia)
– Spike Lavender: L. latifolia
– Lavandin: Hybrid of L. angustifolia and L.
latifolia.
– They can withstand −10 °C.
• Frost-hardy lavenders
– L. stoechas, L. viridis and their hybrids
– Survive to −5 °C and often lower.
– Most have a camphoraceous foliage, but no
appreciable scent to the flowers.
• Half-hardy lavenders
– Fringed lavender: L. dentata
– Woolly lavender: L. lanata
– Hybrid L. lanata with L. dentate
– Will thrive above 0 °C
• Tender lavenders
– L. buchii
– L.×christiana
– L. minutolii
– Kept warm at around 5 °C
Soil Requirements and Preparation
• Prefer light sandy well-drained soils.
• Soil pH: prefers 6.8-7.5 (withstand 5.5-8).
• Add 8-10 tons/ha of manure and plow well
before the planting of the seedlings.
• In cases of severe nutrient deficiencies, farmers
often apply N-P-K fertilizer 20-20-20 (180
kg/ha) at the same time or a couple of weeks
after planting and irrigate well the seedlings.
Propagation and Growing Lavender
• By seeds, cuttings and layering.

Seed propagation
• used for large scale
• 1 g contains 1100 seeds.
• Successful transplanting: 20-25%.
• To produce 10000 plants, we need 50g of seeds
• Seeds sowing in nursery: the end of winter.
• The temperature indoors should be about 20°C
• Seeds need enough direct sunlight
• Mix the seeds with sand, then place the seed mix
in the surface of the soil mixture and cover
lightly with peatmoss.
• The seeds need 2-4 wks to germinate.
• If the germination is low 3 wks after sowing,
decrease the temperature to 5-10oC for 1 week.
• Planting Distances: 40-65 cm X 120 -150 cm.
• Planting density: 18.000 to 22.000 plants/ha
Irrigation and Fertilization
• Rainfall requirement: > 450 mm.
• 3-4 supplemental irrigations are needed in areas
with hot summer and no rainfall.
• Recommended rate: 318 kg/Ha/Y of N-P-K 20-
10-10 ,
• Split the quantity to 2-3 applications
• The first starting after harvesting or pruning.
• Organic fertilizer: 5-6 tons/ha every 2-3 years
Pests and Diseases
Fungal
• Root rot (Armillaria mellea) (Rosellinia
necatrix)

Insect
• The midge of lavender (Thomasiniana
lavandulae )
Harvesting
• Hand harvesting, especially in the mountains
• Mechanical harvesters cut 7500 kg per day
compare with hand harvesters cut 500 kg.
• The yield of lavender oil is 40 kg/ha and
lavandin is up to 120 kg.
• Spike lavender yields 50 kg/ha.
• The harvested lavender is left in the fields for a
few days then steam distilled or extracted.
Chemical composition
• Camphor
• linalyl acetate
• linalool
• Fenchone
• 1,8-cineole

Main uses
• Food processing and food flavours
• Perfumery: colognes, lavender-waters &
perfumes
• Paramedical spheres: fainting and indigestion
Pharmacology properties
• Analgesic effects • Cardiovascular
• Antianxiety effect effects
• Antibacterial effects • Hypolipidemic
• Anticancer effects effects
• Antifungal effects • Neurologic/CNS
effects
• Antioxidant effects
• Sedative effects
• Spasmolytic effects