Last hebdomad , we talked about all thecoleus varietiesI’m looking ahead to uprise in my garden this year . Today , I ’d wish to partake in some of my favorite mite for growing flame nettle successfully .
1 . Simple PruningThe restraint of coleus care is another reason to include them in your gardening palette . Although the developing flowers should bepinched offto promote branching and keep the works see fresh , there is n’t much other maintenance to speak of .
2 . Deter SlugsIn my garden and containers , slugscan be a problem , peculiarly during wet seasons . If I spot any ragged holes in the foliage , grounds of the slugs ’ nighttime eating frenzies , I simply patter some branding iron inorganic phosphate - free-base slug bait beneath the industrial plant . The slug deplete the lure and drop dead within a few days .
3 . Container CareWhen growing flame nettle in containers , choose a good deal with a drain hole and use a high - quality , land - less potting mix that also includes an constitutional coarse-grained fertilizer . If I ca n’t find such a mix at the food market , I ’ll buy one without the fertilizer and fling a few shovelfuls ofcompostorwell - ripened manureinto the container before imbed . I feed my coleus with a melted fertilizer tot up to the irrigation water every three or four weeks . My favorite is Pisces hydroslate , but I also like kelp emulsion and compost afternoon tea . Be sure to apply the fertilizer to both the soil and the foliage , as coleus readily suck nutrients through their leaves .
4 . Grow Year - RoundOne more bit of proficient coleus news : you could raise them year - round . Although they ’re not hardy in most of the state , they ’re recurrent plants . you’re able to dig up up your plants , cut them back , andoverwinter them indoorsas ahouseplant . you could also take cutting from each plant in the declivity , root them during the winter and replant come give .
It ’s extremely round-eyed totake your own cuttingsof any coleus , as long as it is n’t patented — watch the tag in the pot of the mother industrial plant first . Simply cut off a 2- to 3 - inch - long terminal portion of a stem . Remove all but the top leaf or two , souse the bottom inch into rooting endocrine , and stick it in a batch of infertile potting mix . In three weeks , you ’ll have ascendent . Coleus cutting root pronto in a unproblematic jar of water , too , but you risk breaking off the newly developed roots when you eventually pot it up .
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