I have several lavender plants. It does not need sixteen hours of sun a day. Mine get 9 hours max, (on sunny days) and there doing great. I water them once a week, except if it rains.

"I read that they need 16 hours of light a day" Just to germinate the seeds?? Not true!! I can't think of anywhere that gets that much daily sunlight outside of the Arctic circle in midsummer :-) If this were the case, there wouldn't be too many natural seed-grown lavender plants in this world!!

They do need some cold stratification before planting and some bottom heat after. Once germinated, they only need bright light - a grow light or even a south facing window sill should work fine.

There are lots of accurate online sources with instructions for growing lavender from seed. I'd suggest you hunt down and review a few others :-)

Can lavender be grown inside in pots during colder weather? Or do they grow better outside?

The answer to your question, ind1go, depends on where you live and how cold your winters are. On the whole hardy plants like lavender are best left outside but if you have very cold winters pots may need some protection to prevent the soil freezing.

During winter you just have to water the soil if they are dry to touch about 1 inch.It would be better to grow them indoor if the winter is too cold.Terracotta pots would be best.

I think that this article can help you.

Growing Lavender from seed

I have saved seed from my Munstead lavender & obtained a number of seedlings that I eventually plant outdoors. I was experimenting the first time, but have had success since then as well.

I use standard soilless mix, usually in a square 4" pot (or pots), scattering a pinch of seed across the surface of the pre-moistened mix, then I lift the little pot and, using 2 hands, carefully shake it sharply and rapidly back & forth 6-8 times in order to settle the seeds into the mix, then very lightly pat the surface. Next I bottom-water the pot(s) by placing them in a shallow container of Maxi-Crop solution (one can certainly use just plain water, but I like this seaweed derivative). Once the soil is just moist, I put the pot(s) into a container that I can cover with a clear dome or lid and set it under lights (though you would not have to have light until the seeds germinate). Be sure to remove the cover for a while if condensation forms under the lid or you can have a mold problem and damping-off.

I cannot recall offhand how quickly tiny seedlings appeared, but I do recall that I was rather happily surprised the first time I tried it, so I'd guess it was not more than 7-10 days, possibly less. I am not the most patient person when waiting for seeds to show up!

Once the seedlings form their true leaves, I allow the soil to get a bit on the dry side (of course, one never should over-water lavender anyway!!), then knock the soil/root ball out and gently separate the individual seedlings, planting them into into cell packs. From that point on, they will benefit greatly from 16-hour days.

Once they have shown good growth there for a few weeks, I pot them on, each into its own pot (2 1/2 - 3" square ones) of Pro-Mix organic mix to which I add some of my worm compost. They remain happy in these pots until they reach a nice size for planting out into the ground. I also pinch them back by about 1/3 when potting on, to encourage them to branch out.

Hope this helps. Nothing like a row of lavender in the yard to make people & bees very happy!