Painted Nettle - Coleus Blumei

Coleus has many colours (basically 3) - green, red and yellow.

These collection of coleus already been distributed to all my friends. I felt I didn't want to take care of short termed plants and those which needed daily watering.

Somehow, after awhile, these coleus made a full circle from my hands to my friends hands and back again to me after they hand trimmed and pruned the plants.

Tips to take care this plant:

1) The flower buds must be pinched off as soon as they develop to prevent the plant from producing seeds. Once its started doing that, its life objective is completed and it will usually die.

2) Trimming may also be neccessary to prevent leggy growth. Anytime the tip growth is removed, the plant's growth will be diverted to the lateral side growth, creating a much busher plant.

3) Care is neccessary as it needs daily watering.

4) Sunlight is neccessary, placing the plant in shady area will cause the plant to have more green than the colour.

5) The plant requires to be replanted at most (3 - 5 months) once, or the whole plant will start to wilt in stages & die. Replanting & trimming helps to keep the plant to regenerate and live longer.

To replant / propogate:

a) Take softwood stem cuttings from lateral shoots .
Use a sharp clean knife to cut the stem just below a leaf node.
b) Remove the lowest leaves,
c) dip the cut end into a rooting hormone and insert it into some fresh, sterile potting soil.
or you can place it in water for rooting and insert it later in few days.



Coleus together with Striped Inch Plant. (Callisia elegans) I had this huge bouquet of this tradescantia but somehow I had taken granted of it and now its just a surviving few that is sprouting here and there.