Can you name this plant for me please so I can research it? It got to 1.5 meters in one year and had long stemmed flowers. I'm trying to propagate it. It looks like Coleus (sp?) but I'm not sure... and once again I think it's an outside plant... Thanks! Annie ;-)
Definitely a Coleus and a very beautiful one at that! Coleuses do better outside in the summertime so they get enough sun to make their rich colors come out. They can be kept through the winter in the house. It's best to take tip cuttings, root them and put them in a pot in a sunny location. They will probably loose a lot of their color and revert to mostly green but as soon as you put them outside in the spring they will begin to color up again.
You don't have to beleive me, but they always been this beautiful since I got it one year ago even if they were inside. I am very proud! ;-) I'm been very very lucky with my plants and they are all in pretty good shape. And I know nothing about them! ;-) But I think I will try to make a few of them for next spring and try them outside. Do you think it's a good idea?
If you're having good luck with it inside I would not move the entire plant outside for fear of losing it. I would take tip cuttings, root them and pot them in a separate pot and put the new plant outside next spring. I always move mine outside and have always had good luck, they grow huge and color beautifully. Just be sure to keep them out of the hottest afternoon sun, it will fade the colors and dry the leaf tips. I'm going to try to find a Christmas Candy for myself, I think the colors are magnificent!!
re: I would take tip cuttings, root them and pot them in a separate pot and put the new plant outside next spring. That's exactely my plan! How many different Coleus do you have? Any pics to show me?
I have 3 right now, I'll see if I can get pictures tomorrow although I recently trimmed them so I would have starts to keep inside through the winter so they don't look as nice now as they did. One is almost black with very small leaves. One has velvety deep purplish leaves that I got from starts passed down from my grandmother many years ago. Those two I have no names for. The last one I bought this spring, its a Florida Sunsplash; very colorful green, yellow and red on the leaves.
Well here they are. The sun didn't shine today so the picture isn't as good as it could be. The one on the left is the Florida Sunsplash, the new growth since I trimmed it hasn't gotten the yellow color around the edges yet. The center one is the one that was passed down from my grandmother. I trimmed it severely because I needed enough starts for myself and my neighbor so it's pretty gone. The color is usually much deeper but I took all the good stuff and those are older leaves. Finally the one on the right is the one with tiny almost black leaves. It has so many branches you can't even tell I trimmed it!
So what you did is trimmed your plants by taking cuttings, and put them in water to root so you can have several plants out of it?
Yes, cut off several of the nicer stems; strip the leaves off the bottom, I usually take off the bottom two sets of leaves, and put them in water to root. They root pretty quickly and when they have developed a good root pot them in whatever potting soil you're using for the parent plant. This way you can keep them around for many years to come. The one I have that originally came from my grandmother has been around for ages. My mother got cuttings from my grandmother about 15 years ago. I just got cuttings from my mother last spring. Since my grandmother passed away about 7 years ago, my mother gives cuttings away to everyone, this way she figures if she ever loses her plant she can get it back from someone she's given pieces to.
I know it looks like a Coleus, but something else it could be (just cause you need to see the pics! lol) is Amaranthus tricolor "Joseph's Coat". Google Amaranthus tricolor and select images. They are beautiful plants. Taller than coleus. That's why i thought of them.
Annie, if you like to look at pictures of coleus, here's a site that has 1115 pictures to click on. Look in the upper right hand corner. http://www.coleusfinder.org/ Have fun! Newt
Epsi, good advice for difficult to root cuttings and many softwood and hardwood cuttings, but coleus is so easy to root that rooting hormone isn't really needed. It will easily root in water or a medium like perlite or vermiculite without the hormones. Newt
I have to agree with Newt, I've rooted many, many Coleus clippings and have never had a problem just sticking them in water without rooting hormones.
