The Versa coleus is touted to be the first sun coleus grown from seed. I've only seen it available here this season.. Have any of you grown it? How does it compare to cutting grown coleus for you?
Judy

I haven't heard of it; will be interested to see if anyone else has grown it and can give you input.

I haven't seen it but I know that it took FOREVER to grow Coleus "watermelon" from seed last year..I will never do that again much easier and quicker from cuttings..

Besides watermelon, I found Burgandy to Green

and an interesting one un- named. Did you take cuttings from watermellon? Overall, how did watermelon do once it got going? What kind of light did you grow it in? Did sun darken or fade the colors?

We grew it in several locations, deep shade produced a little softer color, full sun for us gave a deep almost ugly color. I liked the mixed sun till 1 and shade following
the rest of the afternoon gave me the best "watermelon" colors

I had no Watermelon last year. It evaded me all season long.
I found a planter to raid up in NC in late Sept, and we had no time to stop.
The ones I have grown from seed are Carefree mix, Wizard mix, and one other. They germinate overnight and then just shuffle along for months.
eskinola grows alot of her collected seeds so she will know more than I do.
When propagating is so easy from cuttings I nixed growing from seed unless it was for hybridizing my own coleus.
Hope this helps.
Sidney

i have versa watermelon this year... i was a little skeptical about it being a seed grown coleus, but so far it's pretty. i've hacked the mother plant into smaller seedlings to make a border. DH and the kids got it as part of my mother's day gift... our local farmer's market sells alot of coleus (they have their own "section") and this was part of their line-up.

growing from seed.... i collect and grow out seedlings to see what comes up. this year my goal is to be more targeted and hand-pollinate. let's see if that happens because i'm expecting a baby in september LOL. they sprout quickly. i've learned it's better to start in march rather than earlier, because they just slump along anyway. i sprinkle seed in seed starter mix (or in this year's case, coir, which worked out too) in a small container, put in my south facing kitchen garden window, then prick out the seedlings when they have 2 sets of leaves into their own tiny pot/jiffy pellet. they stay tiny for quite a while, but then when i feel like giving up, they start really growing- stems thicken, more leaves grow. i would say it takes about 2.5 months from seed to a 2-3" seedling with a strong stem.

it's important to not discard seedlings too early, because they don't show true colors/leaf shape until they get bigger.

good luck if growing from seed. it's worth it to find interesting ones...

Thanks for your replies. This week I took cuttings from the Versa plants I acquired earlier this Spring. They have already started to root. I suspect the key to rooting cuttings and getting seedlings to germinate and grow is soil temperature. If I ever do start from seed I would do so with some sort of bottom heat.

So far, the Versas seem to be sturdy plants except for watermelon which is a bit wimpier stem wise. I'm wondering how early these Versa seed grown be gin to flower compared to the cutting grown varieties with which I am most familiar..

Judy

I started just a few (about a dozen) from "versa mix" seeds. Like all seed grown ones, they're pretty slow. A few grew faster and I took a cutting from them. I only planted a couple of them in sun and they're not doing well at all. Maybe they weren't hardened off enough, but I thought they were. The watermelon are a pretty color but do seem wimpy compared to the others. A few of the lime green color grew best. Burgundy to green is pretty good, too.

One strange thing is the way they change color. Weird, but fun to see them change, too. The crimson started with a bright green border which is just now turning yellow. The cuttings I took, younger plants with smaller leaves, looked different from their Moms. Now I'm not even sure which color they'll be because they change so much. I'll try to get some pictures soon and post.

Overall, I guess I like them. I had started some coleus from seed in the past so I wasn't expecting them to take off like cutting grown ones. Too soon in the season to pass judgement but they definitely show promise, at least in shade or part shade. Definitely cheaper than buying cutting-grown ones, that's for sure. Full sun here? I don't know yet but it's not looking good so far.

Karen

Karen I'm noticing the same color change thing going on. I think White Flower Farm describes the changes each Versa variety makes as it matures. I haven't tried mine in full sun yet.

As to cost, I'm sure raising them from seed is cheaper than buying cutting grown varieties but here the Versa plants are being sold for the same price as the cutting grown type. Personally, I wouldn't pay the same price for a Wizarard or Carefree mix in a 4 inch pot as I would for say, a plant from Rosy Dawn.

And, who knows how well the Versa may over winter?

Hope we'll all keep each other posted.

Judy

I have not tried to overwinter any Versas yet.. but I love Crimson Gold from seed... such a pretty plant
http://cubits.org/Coleus/db/co...

Allison for some reason I can't open the picture in the last post above.
Sidney

ok I will see if i can find it on my hard drive

woo hoo.. found it!!

That's crimson gold from seed?

yes the edge will get lighter & brighter once outside... that was a still winter picture inside.. the whole foil pan I had them in was loaded up and all grew nicely