4/11/07

How to Pinch Coleus

















This picture illustrates how, in 3 weeks, you can turn a young coleus into a bushy bundle of color by pinching new growth. Let's not discuss the bougainvillea right now. I have no idea why it dropped its blooms. I got these coleus at the local home improvement store for $.88 each. Each time I water them, I do two things that will help make them beautiful.

- look for flower buds and pinch them off
- pinch off new little leaves in center of plant

Take a look at this photo of what and where I pinched. I pinched these little "new growths" off whenever I saw them. For example, I watered the planters 5 times a week and probably pinched 5-6 of these new growths each time.

In a future post, I'll show you what I do with a new growth when I find one that's a bit larger that the ones shown here. Hint: I pot them and get a new plant!



Labels: , , , , at 4/11/2007 02:49:00 PM

8 comments:

  1. A very lovely potted arrangement.
    It certainly does look like that coleus likes to get pinched.

    Do you have that pot in the shade or sun. I think the bougainvillea likes a lot of sun. It won't bloom very well if it doesn't get full sun:)
    ReplyDelete
  2. Coleus will take quite a bit of sun as well if you keep them well mulched and the ground moist.

    Speaking of which -
    I watered the planters 5 times a week - might be a bit much for your bouganvilla. Even the coleus shouldn't need that much if there is good water retention in the soil.

    .....Alan.
    ReplyDelete
  3. If it helps soothe your conscience, bougie's do not like me either. It was either leafless or had barely a few flowers. I think those are one of the leave them alone an they will flourish plants!
    ReplyDelete
  4. Bougainvillea are very draught tolerant and require much less water than the coleus. Try a lime green sweet potato vine instead. You can let it trail down the sides of the pot or pinch it back to make as bushy as the coleus. The lime green will let you keep that striking color combo.
    ReplyDelete
  5. Hi Danielle,
    I just added a link to your site in an article I just posted about some new coleus introductions.... I thought it tied in well with your discription of pinching back. I'm pretty new to blogging so I plan on spending some time checking out some of your posts....oh I'm in South Florida too!!!
    ReplyDelete
  6. Nice! it will be very useful!
    TenX ! ^.^
    ReplyDelete
  7. I live in Phoenix and this was excellent advice for the coleus. THANKS!
    Yep, bougies don't like too much water...and love full sun.
    booplants
    ReplyDelete
  8. Looks like you may have over watered the bougainvillea. They like it dry. They also do benefit very very much from pinching too. So make sure you pinch both back for optimum growth. The pinching of the bougies will help with blooming too. I had the same exact problem with mine.
    ReplyDelete

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