How to Plant, Grow, and Care for Coleus Plants
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Known for its colorful foliage, Coleus is a wonderful, low-maintenance plant that adds color to outdoor containers. Take cuttings in the fall to keep this tender annual growing through winter.
About Coleus
With hundreds of varieties displaying many different vibrant shades of numerous colors (e.g., nearly black, bronze, burgundy, cream-color, green, orange, pink, red, yellow, and white) in dramatic ways (e.g., borders, dots, splashes, splotches, streaks, and veins) on large to small leaves with wild shapes and styles (e.g., crinkled, elongated, fingerlike, lobed, ruffled, scalloped, twisted, and webbed), coleuses always liven up drab spaces.
Although coleuses have square stems like other members of the mint family (Lamiaceae), they display none of their cousins’ invasive qualities. Native to Africa, India, Sri Lanka, and Southeast Asia, coleuses take three plant forms— upright, rounded, and trailing—and range in height from 6 to 36 inches.
Also known as flame nettle, painted nettle, and painted leaf, coleus is a winter-hardy herbaceous perennial in Zones 10 and 11 that is treated as an annual elsewhere. While traditionally shade-tolerant, some modern varieties will thrive in the sun, too. Be sure to check with your garden nursery on the variety.
Growing
Provide proper light exposure for the variety. Although coleuses were once considered shade or dappled-sunlight plants only, breeders have now developed full sun–tolerant varieties. Generally, dark-leaf varieties are more sun-tolerant, while plants with lighter foliage need more shade. For all, avoid deep shade.
Water when the soil is dry at a 1 inch depth. Water the soil and base of the plant; avoid wetting the foliage.
Slow-release balanced formula fertilizers are suggested at half strength every 2 weeks. Excess fertilizer can weaken the leaf colorization.
Pinch back flower spikes to maintain bushiness and plant vigor. (Trailing varieties are the most likely to bloom.) Note that the tiny flowers are not without appeal: They appear in shades of blue, purple, and white on spikes that lure hummingbirds. Spikes gathered in a bouquet can be attractive. Many new cultivars have been bred to be slow bloomers, almost eliminating the need for them to be pinched back.
Overwintering Coleus
- In cooler regions, take cuttings from your plants before the first frost in the fall and place them in water to root.
- Plant the rooted cuttings in small pots and keep them near a sunny window for the winter.
- Come spring, once the danger of frost has passed, plant the coleus outdoors.
There are more than 600 varieties of coleus to choose from!
Coleus for semi-shade:
- ‘Brilliancy’ has bright red leaves with green scalloped edges.
- ‘Fishnet Stockings’ has lime-green leaves with dark purple veins.
- ‘Mardi Gras’ is compact and has red, green and yellow leaves.
- ‘Japanese Giant’ has big burgundy leaves with pink and violet highlights.
- ‘Black Magic’: velvety, dark purple foliage with chartreuse scalloped edges; rounded form; 18 to 24 inches tall
- ‘Dark Star’: deep purple foliage; upright form; 24 inches tall
- ‘Freckles’: bronze and orange splashes on pale yellow leaves; upright form; 12 to 24 inches tall
- ‘India Frills’: lime-green foliage with splashes of orange, pink, and purple; compact, trailing form; 6 to 12 inches tall
Coleus for partial to full sun:
- ‘Pineapple’ has bright lime-green leaves with burgundy stems.
- ‘Solar Shadow’ has green leaves with dark red serrated edges and tips.
- ‘Alabama Sunset’ has brick-red leaves with yellow edges.
- ‘Burgundy Wedding Train’: heart-shape burgundy leaves outlined in lime green; trailing habit; 12 to 18 inches tall
- ‘Redhead’: bright red foliage; rounded form; 18 to 24 inches tall
Catherine Boeckmann
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west central fl. in winter will the leafs fall off. thank you
How do I prune my coleus so it will get bushy
Hi Regina,
You will want to prune your coleus plants by removing any stem at the point where two stems or two leaves are growing from it. You can either pinch them back or cut them with pruners. By doing so, your coleus will grow two new branches from that point on the stem to give it a bushy appearance instead of having those stems simply grow straight up. Depending on the size of your plant, you can be aggressive when pinching it back to stimulate lots of new growth.
I pinched off a few stems and put them in water. I thought they would root?
Hi Chuck-
Generally, coleus is easy to root in water. How long have you had the cuttings in water?
I seem to have a white fungus on my plant cuttings that I have in small pots, how do I remedy this? Do not want to lose them
