Cuttings

Even though it is still August, here in the high country I have to get started on overwintering the Coleus that I want to keep for next year. The forecast low on Sunday is 44, and our average first frost date is September 12. Watch any YouTube video about Coleus propagation and usually it will recommend rooting cuttings in water. So I started yesterday with three Coleus I have in the planting beds at the greenhouse.

Today I tackled the one that is at the house in our bedroom. Actually it is two. I started most of the Coleus (except ColorBlaze 'Wicked Witch') from seed, and two seeds sprouted close to each other. I didn't notice that there were two different types of leaves until perhaps a month ago. I want to keep them both, so I did cuttings today. I ordered a dozen glass bud bases from Amazon, and they are bigger than typical bud vases. They will be able to handle anything I throw at them. Here are the before and after images.

I also did two tunia cuttings, another Coleus, and even a Sedum 'Wildfire,' so I have eight cuttings going right now. I don't know if the Sedum (or anything else) will work, but this is all part of the grand experiment. I figure I need 24 tunias next spring, so will try to save the existing plants in smaller pots and fill in the blanks with cuttings. (I might order 12 more bud vases.) If there is anything I learned this year from the tunia baskets it is that one or two plants per basket probably will produce a lopsided basket. (The Vista Jazzberry/Vista Bubblegum basket was the only exception.) Three plants per basket * eight containers (six baskets and two pots) * $7 per plant = $168. (Supertunias were $7 each at Nana's this year.) The downside is I will have to spend nine months taking care of the salvaged plants and cuttings to display them for three months.

Right now I have six Coleus cuttings and eight pots. Not all of the pots will be overwintered. Among those I started from seed, the healthiest, bushiest plant is in our kitchen, but the coloration is absolutely boring. The leaves have a muddy brown interior blending into drab green edges. As plants got moved between the greenhouse and house several months ago, it ended up inside the house and happened to thrive. It is not an interesting plant. I will probably keep five pots (three 'Wicked Witch') and the six cuttings, and will take 2-3 more cuttings. Complicating matters, I need to keep the pots and cuttings in the house instead of the garage as Coleus do not tolerate temperatures below 50.

I also have two variety seed packets, a Burpee that I used this year and a Botanical Interest that I just got. Around next March/April, I will start two 6-cells of seeds from the two seed packets. I have determined I cannot plant Coleus in the ground unprotected, but I will cage a few, keep some in the house, and have a bunch in the greenhouse. I also might buy more ColorBlaze, with 'Golden Dreams' at the top of the list. If I get one of the three 'Drop' trailing varieties (Strawberry, Chocolate, Cherry), I could put Coleus in hanging baskets to compete with the tunias. I don't have a number in mind for 2027 Coleus plants, but it is certainly more than a dozen.

Right now I am teetering on which direction I want to go with the greenhouse. Do I want to grow things to eat (strawberries, tomatoes, peppers), or do I just say to hell with it and have one bed of Coleus, one of hardy succulents, one of herbs, and one of sunflowers/other flowers? I still would put some tomatoes and peppers in grow bags, and strawbs in baskets, but I am souring on the idea of maintaining a greenhouse to grow fruits and vegetables that are readily available at the grocery store or farmers market. Right now I have four very large tomato plants that have grown to the ceiling in the greenhouse, but they have yet to produce a single ripe tomato. The only tomatoes I have harvested came from a grow bag at the house. The strawbs have been underwhelming in the planting bed and grow bags, with the hanging baskets producing the best results.

When people visit the greenhouse, they don't say, "Look at those tomatoes." They say, "Look at those succulents!"

Writing these posts helps me make decisions. I would rather have a bed of Coleus interplanted with impatiens, or a bed of Sempervivums doing their bizarre stuff, than tomatoes and peppers that take forever to produce fruit. That stuff can go in grow bags on the south side of the house.