HOW to use the SEED from this plant to grow NEW plants for next year? The Purple Flowers on top of Caladium / Coleous?

Question

I THINK there is a way to get the seed after the flowers start to die, and use that seed to grow NEW plants for next year.  How do I do this?  (MY guess would have been as the flower starts to die, take teh whole flower and seed and let it dry for approx 2 weeks, then plant inito new soil, kept moist, but not too wet.  ????)

Becky H · Answer

Jim, it's Coleous.  Wish I could help w/the seed question, but I've never been one to gather seeds for propagation.  I'm more the 'let Mother Nature do it' and then I transplant the new offspring.

Becky P · Answer

I would just leave them in the ground and hope they reseed themselves.  I do this with a vinca plant that comes up every year now.  Your plant looks very nice.

Douglas Hunt · Answer

You can collect the seed, save it in a cool, dry place for the winter, then plant indoors 10 weeks before your last frost date. But you will not necessarily get coleus that looks like the ones you have. If you want clones of what you have, you need to take cuttings, but you'll have to have somewhere to keep them going during the winter.

Jim Ginas · Answer

Thanks Doug.    and assume the seed is on this same stem of purple flowers?      I was thinking about cutting them all off now and putting in a vase to look nice (??MAYBE??), then as they brown, putting them in another vase i use for saving seed till they are ready to put in soil.  I have NO IDEA, but it is fun learning!

Douglas Hunt · Answer

I can't see the purple flower well enough to know what it is. You have nothing to lose by trying!

Z · Answer

I think I have a close up picture of the purple flowers. Let me check....Yep I sure do. I remember this was the first time I'd ever seen a Coleus bloom.

Jennifer rizzo · Answer

I actually pinch back the flowers and in the fall, root the cutting in water and put it in a planter for winter. They do great indoors as long as you don't let them dry out. The in the spring, replant. Coleus is a great annual because it roots easily in water and you can propagate it all summer.This works great in my Zone 5a yard!

Jim Ginas · Answer

@ Jennifer:  in water,  like water ONLY?  so is it taking the flower stem and sitting that in water?  (I tried that with flower stems to get the seeds.....  BTW Doug:  The seeds were obvious once the flowers died and I took them out of the water and let them all dry out for 2-3 weeks.   seeds are small/tiny black little things......  )   ?Should the flower stems root?    I guess I'm trying to understand what the 'cuttings' are.  Not any of the leaves, right?

Douglas Hunt · Answer

Yes, the stems should root.

Linda T · Answer

As far as I know, no one saves the coleus seeds (except the nurseries that sell packets) If you want to have brighter, larger leaves, you should 'pinch' out the flowers as soon as they show. They do not smell good and are not showy, as this plant is bred for it's foliage. Common name, 'Flame Nettle'.
Whenever they get 'leggy', like mine do in a bright winter window, simply cut or break off the stems to shape the original plant as small as you want it, and put them in a vase of water. I would normally rinse out the jar and put fresh water for a photograph, but left it for you to see how the roots will reach for as little water as you give them.

Lori Jackson · Answer

A couple of years ago I mishandled a hose and knocked a branch off a potted coleus. Operating in what the heck mode, I stripped the lower stem of leaves (big branch, involved a bit of cursing at myself) and simply stuck it into the pot. Looked wilty and icky and then suddenly it did not. Easy rooters.

Dorothy · Answer

Coleus is bred for the colorful foliage. The flower stalks aren't particularly pretty, sometimes have a vaguely unpleasant scent. Pinch off the flower stalks as this will encourage the plant to become more bushy. In the fall, before the first frost, cut or break off branches that are about 6 inches long, strip most of the leaves off and put into a glass or other container of just plain old water. Set in bright but not direct light and within a few days to a week you will see roots beginning to form. Let the roots grow to several inches long and then pot up in potting soil that is kept moist. Grow as an indoor plant in bright light through the winter. In the spring, depending on how big it has grown, transfer to an outdoor site or cut off more cuttings and root the same way and plant those outdoors. You can also dip cuttings into a rooting hormone (either powdered or liquid form) and stick into either potting soil or a rooting medium (mostly sand) and keep moist and shaded until roots are well formed (usually a couple weeks). This is the ONLY way to get exactly the same color/pattern that you have now as seeds won't grow true.

Dorothy · Answer

You're quite welcome. As you discovered the plants growing from seed often revert back to the pretty plain jane originals. Check at nurseries for widely varying types....a few do well in moderate dappled sun but most are shade lovers with just bright diffuse light making them happy. There are colors ranging from deep burgundy/purple to bright green/yellow with lots of different color patterns on leaves. I have some pots with lime green, burgundy and russet colors planted along with a rex begonia that picks up the burgundy, has a medium green with a bit of a gray/silver tone and the most interesting whirligig shaped leaves....and a lime green creeping jenny to trail down over the pot edges. Pinch out any buds and go back to the leaf pair below the flower spike....new sprouts will come from the joint of leaf and stem the next couple of leave pairs down the leaf...making for a more bushy plant. I just pinch all growing tips about every two weeks to make them spread out and be thickly leaved and not get leggy.

Jeannine · Answer

just cut piece but in soil in house for the winter give bright light will grow d all the time. with coleus plants.

Sheryl · Answer

yes that's exactly what I do and sit it in a bright room till the spring .Just don't let it get too cold.

Pepsigirl13 · Answer

For coleus, pluck off those funky stems to prolong your plants life. before frost, either cut plant way back and bring in OR take lots of cuttings, take off low lying leaves and immerse in water. if you are in southern clime, just use take root medium to root, although coleus is one of the easiest plants to generate roots in water. caledium grow from rhizones (sp) like begonias, so you have to dig up and treat before saving, like you would a dahlia bulb. my hubs has prolonged lives of both, digging up, cleaning, dipping in mild water/bleach solution, drying and storing in cool, dry location.

Jim Ginas · Answer

ahhhhh, so dahlia's have to be dug up? we JUST planted them this year..... nice flowers, but I THINK my wife thought we can just cut them down like we do the other bulbs....

Tobbie Burkhardt · Answer

From time to time I will find and plant a beautiful coleus. When I hear the first frost is coming, I clip off the top 4 inches of some of the branches, strip off the last row of leaves on the stem and put them in some 'rooting' vases I have. The cuttings will get new roots on them and live most of the winter in just water, however if they get so big, I go ahead and put them in a pot with soil. By the time spring comes around, I can take a few cuttings from the winter starts and root them and plant them all! Try it!

Barbara P · Answer

I had Coleus at least 4 ft high and beautiful until the winds knocked them down, I was in KeyWest at that time........

Barbara P

Myrna Engle · Answer

If you( all of you) have not tried Perilla in place of Coleus, give it a chance. Grows to huge proportions. Doesn't break. Starts and re-starts same as coleus. Costs more, worth more.

Dorothy · Answer

@Myrna Engle , interesting info on perilla. Did some research and found it is related to both coleus and basil. Have not seen it (or didn't notice it) in nursery stock. Does it come in the variety or near the variety of colors of coleus? I know that coleus didn't used to have the colors it does today so perhaps this is early in the breeding for color?

Dorothy · Answer

Did a little digging and sounds like a pretty good plant to incorporate into the garden for some purple color. Mint family related......any scent?

Tami penney · Answer

Perilla is in the mint family, commonly used in Asian countries for cooking. Haven't done much  research but usually have to be careful when planting anything in the mint family- can be very invasive. Plant in pots &then out in the ground. I also dig in plastic borders under the soil to create border so it cannot escape.

Elizabeth mya · Answer

I have these colourful lot.. you just cut and plant. That's it .no need to worry about seeds..

JMBecker · Answer

They are coleus and you cannot believe how many different kinds there are. Check them out and see all the variations.

JMBecker · Answer

Jim: Another favorite plant that is wonderful and some come up year after year...are call Dianthus another plant with many different kinds. Let us know how you make out.

Jennifer Whitticker · Answer

I love Perilla, but it's more invasive than mint! Once you plant it, the following year, it will be in your grass and the neighbor's yard even if potted. I control it by controling the flowers in fall.

Terrie Neudorf · Answer

You can grow coleus from both plant cutting with rooting powder of from leaf cuttings . I have done both . I found they take too long to grow from seed . But if you do then soak the seed over night . It helps them germinate .

Nan · Answer

Coleus can be grown indoors or outside in the garden or in containers. They need to be planted in a partially shaded area with early morning or late afternoon sun. Pinterest has many sites that tell you exactly how to grow them. There are many, many different types and colours. They are gorgeous plants.

Merry · Answer

The way I have done is when the bloom on coleus is starting to fade cut all boom off. Gather them together the stems put in paper bag upside down gather sack around an fasten with rubber band let set in cool place it takes a few months. I shake the bag you can hear the seed then plant seed after frost about in late April or May in Okla. happy seeding

HOW to use the SEED from this plant to grow NEW plants for next year? The Purple Flowers on top of Caladium / Coleous?

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HOW to use the SEED from this plant to grow NEW plants for next year? The Purple Flowers on top of Caladium / Coleous?

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