Coleus (growing, containers, yard, spring)

[Sillypups]

I have some beautiful colelus this year.

I know it won't survive the Winter...so if I cut it & put it in water to root...will it survive in water until Spring ???

I did this earlier in the year & the pieces root in water, but I think I re planted it too soon, like maybe the roots weren't tough enough.

I know some cut plants can survive living in water until Spring.

Thanks

[Luvvarkansas]

I've read that you can do this, but my experience has always been that they rotted before spring. Maybe you have to change the water more often than I did, I don't know. That's just my experience....may not mean a thing.

[Hartwell Girl]

cuttings from coleus are pretty easy. My neighbor clips her coleus from this year and puts them in her greenhouse... Sometimes I even just snap the tops off my coleus in the yard and stick them right into the same pot, they always take and start growing.

[Luvvarkansas]

Yes, they're very easy to get rooted, especially in water, but the rotting has always been a problem for me if they're left in water too long. It is very easy also to get them to root in soil, and maybe it would be better for the OP to just get some leftover 6- or 8-pack containers and stick the cuttings in there (in potting soil, of course!) and keep them in a sunny window over the winter.

[paperhouse]

I'd stick them in damp soil and root them that way. You might want to put a plastic bag over the container for a couple weeks to maintain humidity, keep them away from the sunlight, and just treat them as a houseplant til spring. Harden them off after the last frost.

[Sillypups]

I had the same problem...they rooted (is that a word?) in water really well, but when I put them in fresh potting soil this Spring as an experiment to see if I could do this over Winter...they died.

I will have to try cutting off the tops & living them in their soil, haven't done that, yet. I will wait until Winter gets a bit closer.

I also thought about rooting the cut coleus in a damp paper towel (not so much water imvolved) maybe that will be better.

I just hate to toss the plants when Winter gets here, they are all so darn good looking.

Thanks again...

[data_des]

Root cuttings in water or moist seedling mix - then pot up and keep them growing inside. Don't forget to pinch tops for bushier plants.

For more information about coleus see:

http://www.annualplants.info/coleus.html

[Towhee]

I have left the rooted cuttings in water all winter, and they don't always rot, but they do get pretty tall and tacky looking. I take additional cuttings from them when they get that way. They do better in potting soil, either to root, or to grow after they root in water. You can even dig up the plants from outside, cut them back, and pot up for over winter. They are very easy, and forgiving.