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Grow Next Year’s Coleus from Cuttings

If your current coleus plants are your favorites and performed well this growing season, its worth continuing their lifespan with cuttings.  Some plants, like coleus, are extremely easy to root that it makes sense to try if you have some time and the space.  As long as you get your cuttings taken care of before frost hurts their leaves, and cut them in the right place and way, the plants that you prepare, should be able to thrive. Learn how to grow next year’s Coleus from cuttings.

Use these tips to grow next year’s coleus plants from this year’s plants.

Gather Your Materials

To create cuttings you are going to need a couple simple tools and supplies to make the job go faster. Sharp pruners are important because it ensures that you do not harm or damage the delicate stems of the coleus. If they become damaged they will be ruined before you have even begun. A cold container filled with water by your side as you begin and small cups or containers to hold the pieces are the only other supplies you need.

Cut At the Right Time

Getting this done mid fall, well after the weather begins to change, but before the first frost is important. If frost hits and you have not secured them, the plant cells are can be damaged and already dying. Therefore, there is a chance the snippings could fail. When you are ready to get your coleus snippings done, make sure you do it on a cool day, at the coolest time of the day– in the morning is best.

Where to Cut

Cutting at the right point of the plant is important because if you do not cut enough, the piece might not survive.  Cut too much and there is more plant to support. Start at the top of the coleus plant and snip four inches down, right above the point where the leaves split. You want at least the bottom two stems to be free of leaves so remove them by pinching them off.

Hold Cuttings in Water

As soon as you have created a cut, put it into the container of water that you have prepared. The water should not go above the two inches that have been cleared for water. Get all of your pieces into the water so that nothing dries out and make sure that they are standing up so that they do not get bent or damaged.

Place Cuttings in Winter Homes

The extra cups that you gathered earlier are going to serve as the winter homes for the snippings that you have prepared. Place two to three inches of water into the cups and line them up near a sunny window that does not get any wind or have a strong breeze. Place three to four cuttings max into each cup.

Within two to three weeks roots will begin to show up in the water. Any cuttings that have failed to grow roots and is dying from the stem up should be removed from the cups and thrown away. Make sure you keep replacing the water in the cups every week and pinch off any new growth which would necessitate planting now. Keep them in the window until you are ready to plant them in soil for the spring.