I need some help!

We had to move houses in May and I had to leave most of my garden behind. I took some clippings of my lavender that I planted in memory of my dog. Out of the 100ish clippings that I took with me, about 4 are still alive. They seem to have rooted in the pots that they are in. I took half inside and put under a plant light and the other half I planted up against the house and piled mulch around. It's starting to get cold here… 40F at night. Both the inside and the outside are struggling BAD! I don't know what to do to help them. They both look droopy and the bottom 1/2 of leaves on each stem are starting to turn brown. Any ideas of how I can help them?

Lavender thrives in dry-sh broken soil. I planted some here in arid southern Colorado because my wife likes it in her sachets. But because of the heavy clay here I added pea gravel from a defunct playground to the tune of 1:1 mix ratio about a foot deep. After the first year, and with a decent mulch, nature took over and all I do now is refresh the mulch. So sorry about your puppy, my weirdo Sheltie loved it and would steal my wife's stash when she'd left it out. I miss and think of him when I harvest - the little thief!

I can't speak to the ones you have under lights—no experience with that—but depending on the species or variety of lavender you have (some are more hardy that others) the outdoor plants might be more at risk of rotting under all that mulch than the cold. 40 degrees shouldn't be a problem but extended freezing and below could be harmful.

If they are very young plants, they will need protection, but it's important that you don't allow the soil or plant to remain soggy underneath the mulch or insulation. Dry leaves are good. When they get wet, pull them away from the base of the plant to allow some drying. Rocks or gravel as mulch could be effective. Even if the soft growth dies back, it will resprout if the roots aren't frozen or rotted.

This first winter could be touch and go. When the plants mature they'll withstand winters better. Do research your type of lavender for hardiness.

Good luck