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I've always planted coleus as an annual. However, my friend tells me I can dig up some particularly pretty ones, put them in a pot, and keep them inside over the winter. Then I can plant them outside again next May. Is this true?
I've always planted coleus as an annual. However, my friend tells me I can dig up some particularly pretty ones, put them in a pot, and keep them inside over the winter. Then I can plant them outside again next May. Is this true?
Yep! They also root really easily in water, so I pinch off parts in the spring and have even more for the garden the next summer.
They do root well and when I had a lot of different ones I didn't dig up any plants. I just took a bunch of cuttings in the fall and, once rooted, put them in fresh pots of soil and kept them on windowsills with medium lighting and had tons of good sized plants come spring. It's easier to control insects when you start out with rinsed clean cuttings and fresh soil than when you bring in whole plants and soil that may have insect eggs and little bugs ready to grow in your house.
With slightly less light indoors they can become leggy so make sure you keep them pinched back a little every month and they will be fairly bushy in the spring when you want to put them out. They sometimes will change the color of their leaves and look a bit paler but they usually survive quite well.
WOW - so glad you posted this thread - I have a gorgeous bushy rainbow coleus in a big pot outside and I was feeling sad it would just be left to die off. May have to get it it's own growlight tho (no south facing windows).
Thanks for the advice re the bugs too. Will get some bugspray before bringing them indoors.
This is great news. So, I'm not good at taking cuttings. Can someone give me detailed steps? I presume you cut off a leaf where the stem of the leaf meets the stem of the plant? Do I dip it in rooting solution, and then stick it in dirt? Should I take a whole bunch on the theory that most will die?
This is great news. So, I'm not good at taking cuttings. Can someone give me detailed steps? I presume you cut off a leaf where the stem of the leaf meets the stem of the plant? Do I dip it in rooting solution, and then stick it in dirt? Should I take a whole bunch on the theory that most will die?
Let me tell you, I don't do well with cuttings either...totally intimidated by the process, but coleus are a no-brainer. All I do is cut off some of the plant and pull the lower leaves off, stick the darn thing in water and set it in a window sill. No soil, no rooting hormone, nothing. I change the water when I think about it. That's it. Now in the summer when I want more plants in a pot, I just take a cutting, take off the lower leaves and shove it in the pot where I want it to grow. I don't think I've ever lost a coleus plant by either method.
...... but coleus are a no-brainer. All I do is cut off some of the plant and pull the lower leaves off, stick the darn thing in water and set it in a window sill.....
You beat me to it. I was going to say the same thing!! LOL Of all the plants to learn how to do cuttings I think it is probably one of the easiest. I would cut from the top of every stem so that I had at least 5 or 6 leaves, strip the bottom couple off and stick them in a small jam jar filled with water and put them on a window sill so I would see them. The roots were usually visible in a couple of days and obvious within a week, plant at anytime and keep the soil from drying out completely. I also was lazy sometimes and just stuck them right into their pots and kept the soil damp.... 99.9% of the time I had plants growing in a week. Every 2-3 weeks pinch the new leaves near the top off and you will very quickly see side stems form and a bushy plant forms. After that pinch back less often, just enough to keep the plant from getting very tall with fewer leaves. Some people cut back to prevent flower formation (they are very tiny) but I just did it to keep the plants full and small enough for planting out later.
The only other indoor plant as easy (maybe easier) was the 60's favorite called "Wandering Jew" . Its one form of tradescantia. Wandering Jew | House Plant Care And Information Note that the tips for rooting and growing are just about the same!
You beat me to it. I was going to say the same thing!! LOL Of all the plants to learn how to do cuttings I think it is probably one of the easiest. I would cut from the top of every stem so that I had at least 5 or 6 leaves, strip the bottom couple off and stick them in a small jam jar filled with water and put them on a window sill so I would see them. The roots were usually visible in a couple of days and obvious within a week, plant at anytime and keep the soil from drying out completely. I also was lazy sometimes and just stuck them right into their pots and kept the soil damp.... 99.9% of the time I had plants growing in a week. Every 2-3 weeks pinch the new leaves near the top off and you will very quickly see side stems form and a bushy plant forms. After that pinch back less often, just enough to keep the plant from getting very tall with fewer leaves. Some people cut back to prevent flower formation (they are very tiny) but I just did it to keep the plants full and small enough for planting out later.
The only other indoor plant as easy (maybe easier) was the 60's favorite called "Wandering Jew" . Its one form of tradescantia. Wandering Jew | House Plant Care And Information Note that the tips for rooting and growing are just about the same!
The fastest one to grow roots, in my experience, is sweet potato vine! I bought two tiny plants at Lowes last spring and now I have it hanging over just about every pot, used as ground cover where things looked bare...it's amazing. They can literally root overnight in a jar with water. All these plants I have for about $3, I love the chartreuse color, and I won't feel guilty when it gets cold and dies!
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