How to Take Coleus Cuttings
The brightly colored leaves of coleus light up shady containers and borders. Making cuttings of coleus is an easy (and free!) way to make tons more plants. Cuttings are also a great way to save coleus plants over the winter. You can grow the plants as houseplants during the colder months and then plant the big plants outdoors in spring. Taking cuttings of coleus is a very simple propagation technique, even for beginning gardeners. Here's how to do it! Does this Spark an idea?
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Things You'll Need
- Sharp knife (like an Xacto) or a razor blade
- Perlite
- Potting mix
- Plastic planting tray
- Chopsticks
- Plastic bag
- Four inch pots
Instructions
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Select a healthy, non-flowering stem that is about 4 inches long and has at least three leaf nodes-the swollen spot where the leaf adjoins the stem. Use a knife to remove the stem. Make the cut right below a node. Remove any leaves from the bottom inch of the cutting.
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Cuttings grow best in light, fluffy soil. To make a nice, lightweight growing medium, mix together perlite and soilless potting mix in a 1:1 ratio. Pre-moisten this soil by adding water until the mix is damp, but not soggy. Fill a plastic planting tray (they are available at nurseries) with the mix, leaving at least a ½ inch of space between the top of the soil and the rim of the tray.
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In the tray, space the cuttings about 4 inches apart in two rows. To plant, make a hole that is 1 inch deep. Pick up a single cutting by its leaves and stick it into the hole, making sure that no leaves will be buried in the soil. Gently press the potting medium around the stem. Repeat this step until all cuttings are planted.
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Place a label in the tray that includes the name(s) of each coleus variety and the date the cuttings were planted. Place a disposable bamboo chop stick in each corner of the pot and slide a plastic bag over the sticks, tucking the edges of the bag under the tray. This helps keep the humidity high around the cuttings and prevents them from wilting.
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Place the tray in a bright south or west facing window. To speed up rooting you can place the tray on a special seeding heat mat (these are available at nurseries and online). The mat warms the soil from the bottom. If you don't want to invest in a mat, no worries, the seedlings will grow roots without it.
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Check the moisture of the soil in the tray daily and make sure that it stays evenly moist, but not soggy, which could cause the cuttings to rot. Roots should develop within two to four weeks. To find out if your cutting has rooted, give it a gentle tug. If you feel a bit of resistance, roots have probably started to grow.
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When your cuttings each have two new sets of leaves you can transplant them into individual four-inch plastic pots. Fill the pots with potting soil and water the soil in. Using a chopstick, make a hole in the center of the pot. Pick up the cutting by its leaves and stick it into the hole. Gently press the potting medium around the stem and then water the cutting in. Keep the pots in a bright, sunny window. When the cuttings have grown three new sets of leaves, you can transplant them outside or into larger pots (as long as all threat of frost has passed).
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Tips & Warnings
If you're using recycled planting trays or plastic nursery pots, be sure to disinfect them by scrubbing them out with hot water and soap and then soaking them in a 10 percent bleach solution for half an hour. Rinse the pots in clean water and allow them to air dry before planting.
