Mould on lavender soil

Hello,

I have some lavender plants and there is white stuff forming on the soil, I assume it's mould?
Why is it happening and what do I need to do?

Thanks

 

I'm finding it more and more with the peat free composts.

You could stir up the top surface layer and try watering from the bottom.

Lavender likes to be slightly on the dryer side, let the pots dry out to some extent before watering.

 

The higher the percentage of green waste in compost will have this effect, the green waste is still decomposing and it will be more common as we go peat free. Same is happening to my compost but nothing to be alarmed about.

 

Thanks for the replies.

I did wonder if it was caused by the soil being too wet but I literally haven't watered them in well over a week and they aren't drying out.

 

Have they actually grown much in the last week or two ?
They look to be in a largish pot so its so easy to over water which can start to rot the roots if they are not actively growing.

You could try taking one plant out of the compost and see if the roots look white and healthy, potting up into some dry/moist but not wet fresh compost.

As we have experienced, young Lavender plants can be difficult and quickly become infected and die off overnight so do keep them as far apart as you can so things do not spread.

When we had such troubles it was easier and cheaper to buy the punnets of much larger plants from places like the Range in May time.

 

They have grown a little bit, it's the first time I've had them on the bedroom windowsill as usually I try to grow on the conservatory but they always seem to die in there as it's too hot when the sun comes out.
The bedroom is at the other end of the property to the conservatory and is much colder so I thought maybe that's why I haven't needed to water them for a while.

 

Well, yes and no , thats the problem with watering, particularly with such young plants, too large a pot, too much water, too little sun /growth and then you have the lavenders which as said can be very prone to disease etc when so young.

You can see in this pic that even the big boys can get it wrong with this delivery of plug lavenders which we assume were perfect when dispatched; they did replace when we sent them this pic as receieved.

 

I'd put them in the conservatory and ventilate it if the temperature is above 20c.
Lavender is a sun loving plant and likes a fairly dry airy atmosphere.

 

I always feel like they are cooking in the conservatory though as it gets really hot in there if the sun is out for a while.
I have a window in the home office which is South facing so I'll put some pots in there and some in the conservatory and see how they get on.

Thanks

 

Can you not give them some light shading, is there no part that gets just filtered sunlight.
How hot is hot?
Ventilation should keep the temperature down to an acceptable level.

 

It's 32c now on the windowsill, 27c in parts that have a shadow

 

Is that a thermometer in the sun and do you have any airflow.

 

I used an infrared thermometer, I've just got home so have now opened the windows for airflow but usually we are all out during the day so that wouldn't be an option.

 

Oh OK.
When I used to work I would open the windows on my conservatory before going to work, usually at this time of the year you can get away with it being cool rather than it being too hot, the sun is strong now and only needs to come out for a few minutes to raise the temperature drastically as you know.

I always check the forecast, I know you cant rely on it but it helps.

An infrared thermometer gives to the temperature of an object I assume?
Not the air temperature.