Help Growing Lavender in the Tropics
Answered by: Inge Poot
Question from: Hew Lim
Posted on: July 12, 2004

I am living in the tropics (Malaysia) and it is extremely hot and humid. Is it possible for me to grow lavender ‘Munstead Strain’ and wisteria ‘hardenbergia comptoniana’ here? I bought a few packets of these from my recent visit to Australia. Hope you can help.

Munstead lavender can survive outdoors in zones 4 to 8. Since you are in zone 11, I doubt that this lavender can survive your summers outdoors. Since it benefits from a winter rest, you may be able to get it to survive in a pot by putting the pot in the fridge for the summer, thus switching seasons. The most heat tolerant lavenders can only take zone 9 summers.

An additional problem for lavenders in general is the high humidity in the tropics. Lavenders prefer drier conditions, and the soil must be well-drained so that the roots do not get water-logged.

We do not carry any wisteria and hence we have not done any research on them. Our focus is on herbs. I suggest you try a "master gardener". Perhaps an internet search might uncover help.

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