How large of a cutting do you take when taking in the house in the fall??? Just the tip or several inches?????
Fall cuttings
About three inches. Some stretch for the light outside so the internodal distance is greater but I try for four inches or less.
I've already taken a few hundred cuttings and potted them up in large (wide) planters to reduce the fall job.
If you have done this already then through the winter you will be doing it again??? Do you have a greenhouse or put them in the house in the large planters????
Yes, I'll be doing it several times but hope to just discard the cuttings and pinchings and not try to keep them as I've done in former years.
I do have a (very) mini greenhouse that stays on the indoor, unheated porch all year long and that's where the cuttings overwintered last year but it's just too much work and too much care. The containers have a big bay window in the kitchen, another in the bedroom and an 11' window in the bedroom for the winter. They'll have plenty of space, I hope. I bought 20 containers for just coleus and have 10 done.
Pirl, you are really ahead of yourself this year! I have all to do with keeping up with my dozens and dozens of Coleus and seem like I am forever putting them into bigger pots and pinching! The ones in the ground are easier but I ran out of room :-D
I couldn't take the pressure last year, Carol! Now I have to start pinching (again).
How I relate to this cutting and growing. I travel from Zone 6 to Zone 10 during the winter and take six flats of newly rooted coleus with me, and then do it all over again in April! Last winter, despite protecting them from the deep south frost, I lost half of them and am trying to rebuild . Can't wait for Rosy Dawn to reopen.
Do you have mealy bug problems with your indoor coleus?
I did in one long planter box that I made in advance to "get ahead" for spring. In the end I did have to toss all of those coleus.
Sorry to hear you lose half of yours due to the cold and frost.
Hey, Tappy, does your yearly migration south take you anywhere near the Bay Bridge in Annapolis, Maryland? If so, maybe you could stop by for some cuttings of my Rosy Dawn order, etc.
Coleus cuttings in soil take best when soil is warm and there is active as opposed to slowed growth in the mother plant. Taking advantage of these conditions or creating them (supplemental bottom heat) gives the best chance for cuttings that will winter over if you can also create the conditions necessary for their survival while the weather outside is frightful.
Keeps Rosy Dawn and other growers in business and that's a good thing!
Tappy,
Do you come down and go back on I-95? If you do I'd love for you to stop by en-route. I live .7 mile off of I-95 in Jacksonville and am a coleus addict. As a matter of fact my coleus picture is the Coleus Forum header here at DG. Ya know up there.
Sidney
sidney- you're back!
Yes, I got a reprieve. How long until you have the new baby?
;)
Sugarweed and coleup, Just learning how to navigate and respond to this group. Thank you for your thread. We do go up and down I95,but not near Annapolis. Thank you both for the invitation. What fun to see other coleus addicts' gardens! Too few people appreciate our cultivation or really care. I've just begun my migration potting, and do think that small cuttings planted directly in a good medium works best. This year, I'll not bring the entire flats, but rather remove the small rooted cuttings and layer then in one boxl. Takes alot less room. I hate Florida soil, so all my Florida gardening is done in containers. Thank you for your interest. Tappy
sidney-
3 more weeks until boy #3 is here... more or less. i can't wait until the weather cools down. our "heat wave" has lasted pretty much the entire summer. not fun during pregnancy...
i hope i get some overwintering cuttings rooted before then. between 10 hour workdays, 2 little boys, and the new one on the way, it'll be a miracle LOL.
not the way babies are a miracle though... i love my little boys so much...
What is pinching? why do you take cutting and then not save them? Once you take a cutting--then what do you do?
Im a beginner,,, I took some cuttings from the top of my plants...was that a big NO-NO?
jm
Taking a cutting from the top of a plant equals pinching. You did the right thing. You pinch plants so two stems will grow instead of just one, giving you a bushier plant.
Many people pinch plants or take cuttings and discard them because they have enough plants.
After you take a cutting you plant it.
Sounds as though you're doing just fine.
I've been dipping mine in gel hormone then into dirt,,,,I've had some root with water.....
They are so easy to root than many of us don't use hormone powder. Just plant them directly in a basic soil-less mix and water lightly, always from the bottom. Inside an east window is best. Try not to put new cuttings outside unless they're in a very shady spot.
They will root in water but will form water roots, not roots adapted to soil.
I've had good success keeping starts on the dark side of my little greenhouse, even with temps that drop down to 50º.
Mine were in the house where night temps in the 50's and day temps in the 60's, just made them unhappy.
Many of mine are in the indoor porch, which is not heated, so we leave each bedroom door opened an inch or two to allow heat to escape to the porch or else it would be less than 60 degrees and that would not work for my coleus at all.
One good thing about the cooler house.The coleus growth rate is cut way back.At least thats the story here.
You can avoid mealybugs indoors by using a systemic insecticide just before you bring them in for the winter. Most systemics are sprays, and last only a few weeks, but the easiest to use in my opinion and experience is Bayer 12-month Tree and Shrub Protect & Feed. Up until this summer the company didn't recommend it for potted plants, but on a tip from a DG'ner last winter, I used it on my coleus and other indoor potted plants with absolutely wonderful results, i.e. no mealybugs or scale! This summer, I noticed that the label has added directions for containerized plants (1 2/3 tablespoons for each 5 gallon container). If you're not adverse to using non-organic solutions, it's great!
Thats a great tip.
A nother use for the Bayer product is a drench for iris borer and spray for Red Lily beetle in spring.
Hoosier - the problem we in NY have is that the Bayer Tree and Shrub ingredient Imidacloprid (the ingredient to prevent mealybugs and scale) is banned here. I'll try and find it in MA but have previously found it in Maine. Thanks for the advice.
Bummer! Although I try to be as organic as possible (I have a large completely organic vegetable garden) I find it terribly frustrating to lose indoor plants over the winter when relying on insecticidal soaps, neem, etc. It's ironic that when we have to order new "tropicals" every spring, they come from greenhouses and growers who, with extremely rare exceptions, use all types of chemicals to keep insect infestations under control. I would imagine that Gephart's and Rosy Dawn both use some sort of systemic on their huge coleus stock plants.
Good luck, pirl.
I agree - Rosy Dawn and others must use something to control mealybugs that isn't organic.
According to Chris Baker the real enemy of the coleus collector is thirps.
The last time I was at Baker's Acres, July 2007, they were installing a special wall of screen on the new coleus building
The screen was manufactured to keep those teeny tiny thirps out.
The only way to check for them is to hold a piece of white paper under the plant and tap on the plant.
Chris has written here how he has learned over time to get rid of these beast.
He has always been very generous with his knowledge.
;)
That's interesting. I have never noticed thrips on any of my coleus. Maybe it's more of a problem in southern climes?
I've never had them either.
I work at a Garden Center, and we have coleus and impatiens in the same greenhouse. Thrips are never a problem on our coleus, but every year they are a huge problem on our impatiens. They don't seem to show up until the weather really warms up, which is usually late June or early July. Don't know why they don't move over to the coleus.
I was cleaning up the garden shelves and checked 2 Bayer products
Rose and Flower insect spray and
All purpose insect controle.
Both have Imidacloprid in varying amounts.
I noticed the 'ready spray" has a more dilute amount than the other Bayer product" AllPurpose Insect controle" which has a Hose attachment. I believe I am paying for over 98% water buying Rose and Flower Insect spray product.
Very interesting!
On this site the product Bithor SC (Imidacloprid + Bifenthrin) they mention the states it cannot be shipped to and that includes New York.
http://www.pestcontrolmart.com/store/27-bithor-sc.html
"Cannot be shipped to: California, Colorado, Washington DC, Delaware, Idaho, Maine, Michigan, Minnesota, Montana, New York, North Dakota, Nebraska, New Hampshire, Ohio, South Dakota, Vermont, Wisconsin, Wyoming"
I buy my Bayer products at HD and Lowes.
Cant explaine the problem. Imidacloprid is the only ingredient in Flower and Rose insect spray.
We sell the Bayer products at our Garden Center. Is it the Bifenthrin that's not allowed? I know there was a fuss a while back about Imidacloprid and Bees in France. I thought it was disproved. I was going to try the Bayer Rose systemic on my irises in the spring. The borers destroyed my 'Batik' iris.
Imidacloprid was the problem ingredient for France. I, too, thought the idea that it was the cause of bee colony collapse was disproved and yet, as far as I've searched, the Imidacloprid is still banned for sale in NY. I'll contact Bayer - they should know best.
You can see it is allowed in Nevada. With all the left over atomic bomb dust what is a little Imidacloprid. LOL
Broke a record yesterday. 104 degrees. Hottest ever in Las Vegas on that date.