Agreed, it is a bummer. And a disincentive for buying many.

Karen

Well, Karen, I have determined to have a few beds that look like your wonderful Avatar photo. I don't know why I thought you winter sowed your coleus seeds. I was going to do that, but will it work? I know you winter sow other things.

Debbie, one year I did try wintersowing coleus. But remember, I'm in a much, much colder area than yours. Coleus need a fair amount of heat to germinate, and then they grow very slowly for the first 6-8 weeks. Those coleus looked good in August + Sept., but until then you couldn't even see them. Not good enough for me. Wintersowing them in your climate would probably work much better than in mine.

Also, I don't have much shade. None of the seed coleus I've grown, either WSown or under lights, were tolerant of any sun here. (While we have cold winters, we also usually have HOT summers). The Versa series coleus are supposed to be sun tolerant, but I didn't find them so.

Many of the cutting grown, named coleus like those from Rosy Dawn, are very heat/humidity/sun tolerant. They thrive in hot sun. RD's site tells you which are sun tolerant.

My front bed gets about half sun, shade during the hottest afternoon hours. But this bed in my back yard gets full, hot sun all day and those coleus don't miss a beat.


Karen

Hmm. thanks Karen for the info. Well, if those in your back bed are from Rose Dawn, co op or not, I think I will order some this year from them. And I have to keep in mind also, that my full sun is about 3 times hotter than yours. But, they will do well in morning sun with afternoon shade I think. And I think I will try wintersowing a few packs of some as well. I take pics. Oh, it is too early for me to be wanting to see Spring. I can hardly wait.

Has anyone noticed faster growth in their cuttings?
Uuually I take a second set in March but altho these are medium to giant varieties I need to cut now .Its quite early,hopefully this is just another sighn of an early spring.

mine need new ones taken as well

well I know quite a few of us plant impatiens with our coleus.. might want to read this

http://campaign.r20.constantco...

Thanks for the link Allison. I always buy impatients. Won't this year.

I do as well.. pouting already.. think I still have some seeds

So are you folks growing impatiens this year? I saved seeds last year but now I'm reluctant to grow them. The article says it ruins the soil for two years.... Thinking maybe I'll do a few for pots and baskets on my porch, though apparently it can spread by airborne spores, too.

My coleus cuttings haven't done that well this winter, either. Usually they're bigger, thriving by this time of year. Admittedly, that's partially the gardener's fault. I've let them dry out badly a couple of times, causing leaf loss. Usually they recover fast from such abuse but a few of my favorites (Electric Lime, Sedona, Glory) just haven't grown much this year and generally don't look so good. I haven't done any more cuttings from these fall grown ones but I intend to do some soon.

Karen

don't worry Karen you are not alone.. mine look straggly as well.. going to pot the mommas up and take cuttings on the ones I can.. we are in the same boat with a bunch of leaf drop.. I have some scented geranium cuttings that are so over grown .. going to do that this weekend and start some seeds.. I always kick myself for not pinching sooner to have more cuttings.. one of these years I will remember .. I might do a NC farms order again this year.. always nice having trays of the same kind and won't break the bank.. but usually breaks my back doing those for a few days

might be a good year to invest in fungicide.. can spread to coleus

http://www.gpnmag.com/diagnosi...

Isn't that great news...

I try to keep my yard organic, avoiding pesticides and high-test ferts. But I do use Green Cure occasionally and apparently it's effective on downy mildew. But this lazy gardener isn't that good at committing to spraying regularly.

Karen

And I'm thinking a little amendment of the soil with compost in spring might help, too.

Karen

This is alarming news. I just got Wave impatiens seeds in the mail and had planned on growing them in containers with coleus.

There are most definitely mold/mildew/fungus spores in my yard. It's discouraging to hear they live for 2 years! :

My roses and crape myrtle, both "mildew resistant" cultivars, had some minor fungal infection but didn't seem to care at all, and a little neem oil cleared it up.

Last fall's coleus cuttings, on the other had, just turned white, shriveled up, and died.

Do you have any suggestions for preventing fungal infections? I'll be wintersowing the impatiens next month and buying coleus at the nursery.

that would be my way to go.. add some to my container mix

this is all new to me.. hopefully someone will know

Allison, add some what to your container mix? Compost?

We all have fungi in our soil, they're normal. There are good ones and bad ones. Supposedly good healthy soil full of good fungi will kill off the bad guys. At least on paper. In real life though, who knows? I use compost regularly, but I never make enough compost to treat more than a small portion of my yard. I'll have a finished batch for spring, but not that much.

Karen

was thinking fungicide .. bad idea then?

Only if you're an organic gardener (me) trying to encourage beneficial fungi to thrive and dominate your soil. The fungicide kills 'em all- good and bad alike.

I think I'm going to grow them anyway and hope for the best. Most will be for me Bloommaster pots. If I have enough I'll try a few in the ground. And I do have GreenCure - I'll try that if I suspect problems.

I saved a few impatiens seeds last year. I have no idea how many it might be but it's not many.

Karen