LorettaNJ said: Farewell coleus!

Oh Loretta! What a lovely assortment of coleus! I see 2 that I would save. You're going to toss them all?

Maybe…Take cuttings and offer to your friends…some are selling cutting online.
Just google…it's a lot of work ..hope Loretta saves a couple cuttings. I'm sure you wouldn't have any trouble getting anyone here to take them.just cut pack in damp moss. Just think what a nice lil business, especially before the holidays…

Thanks! I know it is painful to watch.
Skylark, that one didn't come with a label. It was the one I was going to save but it went early. Probably the roots are still alive. Maybe.
No I let them all go. I have offered cuttings in the past but people don't take them or they don't do anything with them. I help run a community garden so most of my gardening friends are interested in things they can eat or plants with big flowers. So I stopped offering.

most people do not think to overwinter them.
My several cuttings that rooted were in perlite and they completely melted in transfer. We were late for the train and had to stay overnight for next one! it was about 42F at night , the rest of the plants were ok with heaters in boxes. The weird thing is that a few cuttings in water came thru ok! so i only have 1 smallish survivor in pot from last summer and water-rooted tiny cuttings. But they should grow well now that they are warm and sunny.

Too bad, Skylark. All that effort wasted when you were probably extremely busy.

i was super busy, true. But the effort was minimal: i stuck them in water and tented and forgot all about them! then 2 weeks later i found them and transferred them to flooded perlite (like 1.5" in the bottom), still tented. it takes just a few minutes to do it. often they stay like this for 6mo as i am chronically behind on my gazillion propagations.
I chucked my older 'Rainbow dance' after cutting it down (those cuttings are gone!): had no room to take it. It prolly would regrow fast here in Miami. I like them BIG! LOL! But then i can't take them with me...and they might perish.
Fortunately i have 1 yr old Rainbow in 3" pot that survived the xfer. Once it recovers and colors up a bit i'll take MORE cuttings!
I CANT STOP!!!

I can't stop either! A fail isn't a wasted effort to me, just exercise and practice. I need plenty of both. LOL!

I have to confess I'm slowing down. I have probably had more failures than most The gophers and deer are very discouraging. It's also nice to get a winter break… reading all those catalogs all winter rejuvenates my enthusiasm by spring I'm chomping at the bit…

But you know, in So Fl winter is the main growing season :)...We are just ramping up :).

skylark said: But you know, in So Fl winter is the main growing season :)...We are just ramping up :).

How exciting. While my garden is heading toward winter… nice to know there will be some more plants and flowers to enjoy.

Well for me, for everything I do, something else doesn't get done. But I can appreciate the obsession to do it. It is just that I got into so many aspects of gardening, I want to turn my focus for a little while. I am happy to buy them next year instead of taking care of them all winter and having the dried leaves drop all over the floor.

Hooo boy, I stumbled across your forum thread today. I'm a bonafide coleus fan and have taken cuttings and overwintered them for 3 years now.



I'm on the hunt to re-find Velvet Stockings again. These photos are my faves from 2021, a number of which I'm still overwintering to use in 2024, starting with making cuttings this past September and potting them up and putting them in my little greenhouse as I do extensive prep to bring plants indoors for the winter that I generally finished up in December or January.



This January I closed the greenhouse for a few weeks as we went into negative temps and moved my rosemary bush, fig trees and plants into the garage with the overwintering dahlias. Coleus young plants all came indoors in November (and my slow process of prepping plants has cut waaaay back on any fungus gnat problems.)

It's warming back up this week in SE Michigan and back out everything goes, back to the light and 40 degrees or so in our bubblewrapped greenhouse that should keep things ok for February as the light returns, barring any more sub-zeros weeks showing up.

Back to coleus, I no longer overwinter larger plants. Everything I want to overwinter is from cuttings, and then I find some delights at a local farm nursery in April. Looking forward to seeing your 2024 coleus choices.

Gorgeous, Deborah! I can't wait to see what you, and everyone else, finds this year!

In retrospect, I wish this discussion wasn't dated in the title. It's more helpful to have an anthology built-up over time. I hate to be needy, but @Calif_Sue could you please change the title to just say "your new Coleus?" Thank you very much. : )

My few coleus come into their own in winter here - I place them on the north side of the house where it's shady but bright all winter, and have to move them when the sun starts to get to them in spring. They're happy right now.
Florida Sun Rose

No ID

Kong Yellow, I think
When I move them to the shade under the mango tree, and as the weather warms up they change colors quite a bit, either from the deeper shade, or the heat.

I also grow them at my daughter's house in Utah, again a north side shady spot on her front porch. She over-winters cuttings of the ones she likes in the house, but has problems with spider mites on the cuttings sometimes.

Ooooh, ahh, I love seeing these. Yes, just as I was feeling slightly virtuous for conquering fungus gnats (no sticky yucky yellow things covered with bugs this year) as I am overwintering tender plants in Michigan, I find mealy bugs on my echeveria and white fly on my Klachoes that are starting to bloom. Ugh!

Back after the bugs, the downside of overwintering as house plants. At least for now, the rooted coleus are doing well.

I too would love it if the forum names were changed so this thread goes on to infinity and beyond...

OMG… 😳 pics are very nice and the foliage colors are always standouts .
Coleus and Heuchera's are favs with there colorful foliage for filling planters. And hummers enjoy the flowers.

Deborah, we use spinosad insecticide at my daughter's house to keep the insect problems under control. It's organic approved for use on edibles, so not toxic to people or pets which is what my daughter insists upon for using in her house, since most of her plants are in her kitchen with a beautiful south-facing window.

Cap't Jack's Dead Bug Brew - love that name - is the brand they carry at the box stores, and it's available off amazon, too. I don't have any plants in the house but I buy the big jug of concentrate because I use it on my edibles outside. Just had to spray my tomato plants for spider mites yesterday. Naturally it's going to pour with rain tonight . . .

Tomatoes are one of the most popular plants to grow. They seem to be prone to insect and virus issues. Your Florida weather is nice this time of year for tomatoes . I hope you have oodles and oodles of yummy tomatoes.

Been away camping for 2 weeks, a bit behind checking notifications dependent on WiFi access.
Edited out date of thread title. 👍

Where did you camp. Hope you had a good time. It's so nice to get out and spend time with nature. So peaceful and relaxing.