Enjoying reading about Coleus cuttings. I root mine in water then plant in small pots after the roots develop. I kept probably close to 50 or more in the house last winter under small grow lights and sitting in bright windows. They all did well but it takes up a lot of room so I am curious about what you said Tiffany about keeping your Coleus in water till spring. Am I understanding you correctly that they can live in water all winter without being put into pots ? That would sure take up less space for me !

Can I butt in here ?
This cutting question is all over the place. I wanted to read something just to satisfy my cureousity and see what others do and post this link.
http://forums.gardenweb.com/fo...

I had taken cuttings rooting in soil for 3 years and stopped,just personal ,too much work for me. DD ( who I live with ) takes cuttings and puts them in soil and keeps the little pots pretty wet for many days ( just like water rooting I guess )
On another websits someone said keeping rooted cuttings all winter in a water situation is dangerous as the roots inter twine while growing and are hard to separate without damage at planting time.

I usually loose quite a bit rooting in water.. the ones that did live down the road.. I took new cuttings of later on and rooted in soil.. and tossed the water roots out.. a lot of them rotted in water.. good for a quick fix to get some done but not in the long run for me

Hi Allison,I agree ,water rooting has its down side.
DD took a cutting from Mahogany Giant and stuck it in a houseplant. It was happy there all winter and was transplanted outside in spring.

that's great

Yes, there are pros/cons to any method, many of which are conditional, so personal judgment in comparing anecdotes to one's situation should be very helpful in recognizing what meshes well.

Since keeping cuttings in water works fine for me and allows me to have many individuals on windowsills where pots don't fit anyway, that's what I've done and will continue to do. With so many possible variables, I can't say why some cuttings done in water (or soil) have failed for some people before. But, with about anything garden-related, there's many ways to do it. So if one way has failed, try another. All of the methods seem to have many advocates and successful anecdotes, so I would hesitate to say any is better than another as a blanket statement for everyone. Everyone would have to have the same conditions to make that possible.

The only thing I know that's missing is actual hydroponics. Maybe someone who's grown anything that way, or even Coleus, might have something to add in that direction.

There is no question it must be done before frost, as far as Coleus goes. What to do after that is sure fun to talk about. This is the most comprehensive discussion I've seen or participated in about that, really cool, options are good. Few plants can tolerate such a range of weirdness being done to them.

Linda, if I have more than one individual in a jar/bottle, the roots become hopelessly entangled. I've left them in clumps, ripped them apart, cut them apart, the plants don't seem to care but it's hard to separate them without snapping the fragile stems. And look at how I treat them, and what do I have to compare to? People who are 'nicer' to the cuttings would likely have different tales to tell. This is the level of effort and space I can devote, and the results I've had. Not cheerleading for followers at all, just relating anecdotes for folks to judge against for their own. Might sound horrible to some, that's fine with me, glad to help in that way.

Wishing many happy leaves to everyone!

Thank you for your thoughts on this Tiffany ! Very helpful. I may try keeping some in water all winter then also plant some of them in pots after they root like I did last year. I will be careful to untangle the roots from time to time. Will be interesting in the spring to see which way worked better. I have never had luck planting a cutting right in potting soil before it had a root. They always rot on me, probably to much watering I suspect.

It has been my experience that wintering cuttings dont need much watering.
I have had some leaf wilts to the point where I thought they were dead. Watering made them perk up in a day. Mine have not needed watering to the point where the soil is damp all the time.This attracts mealy bug.I also water from the bottom.

Thank you Jo for the info.

These cuttings were rooted in water for a few weeks to replace a group of bluebells that had to be killed. You can see the line of XXXX at the right, bottom. The roots retained the shape of the cup where I rooted them. What a mess to rip them apart and get them planted. Still, they did grow, but I wouldn't recommend the method.



Any cuttings you have potted do want to spend the winter in sun and they do not demand much water at all. Only water from the bottom, as Jo Ann said, unless you're fond of fungus gnats and mealybug! The roots are at the bottom of the pots so don't be concerned that the top of the soil is dry. It doesn't benefit the plant to have the top of the soil wet. It does more harm than good.

At this point in the season there isn't too much available sun and they won't get the sun they need until February - that's a good time to take more cuttings. Those who grow under lights have the best light of all since you control it.

Now I see I selected the photo without the row of x's to show the roots. Just to clarify, here's the correct photo. Sorry for the error.

they do look happy

They grew very well. I had some concerns that the poison I used might have remained in the soil. My fears were unfounded.

If one doesn't want to worry about tangled roots, one cutting per jar/bottle will fix that. I always intend to separate them more after I get them in the house, but usually don't (for the ones that got grouped when I cut them.) One could plant the whole clump w/o separation, and/or take more cuttings. Compared to last winter, I have about 80% fewer cuttings this time. A lot of that is due to a freak late frost about 2 weeks after I planted most of last years' cuttings in the yard this spring. I spent most of this years' garden money on tiny succulents for mini gardening & postage for trading.

Time for some progress pics, good idea. Here's the good the bad, the ugly at my house. A few stragglers here'n'there not pictured, but this is most of them.

Some leaves are not happy on the left, that's normal. At that end of the row, the light is a lot less. Trying some rex Begonia vine this way this winter (Cissus discolor.)


Up on a high shelf I was worried wouldn't be enough light, so far so good.


I didn't notice in person but looking at the pic I see the water in that middle jar should be changed. A leaf has fallen in there & is rotting. If not cleaned/changed, the water will turn rancid enough to kill the 'plant.' A good comparison though, you can see the water should stay clear unless something like that happens. The others look fine (and brown bottles make it hard to tell, wish more beer came in clear, but I don't drink it at all & beggars a few nights before frost can't be choosers. A more fastidious person would change them as something else becomes available. I'll probably ignore it & just see what happens, I know how I am.)

will tell Randy to drink up

LOL! It's 'for a good cause.' Beer does do nice conditioning things to hair, if it comes to that though I never know what to do about the fact that I smell like a brewery. (Should someone make hair beer that smells like jasmine?) My fav jars are the ones with a much larger opening though. It can be crazy trying to get roots out of a beer bottle after a few months.

Just spotted this on Pinterest today and immediately thought of Allison forcing Randy to drink another bottle!

I don't understand what I'm looking at.

looks like the bottom is cut out

It does look odd, doesn't it!?!