auntie tiesha

unclehobart

unclehobart

New Member
I was at my friends house for this last weekend. I was walking his 6 y/o son along a road near a creek that had some county mower trucks come through a few days ago. The shoulders were ground back a good 6 feet off of the road. At one point I noticed a small collection of what seemed to be discarded plants just off of the road. Instead of the regular weedy brambles and grass there was a small dispersed section that had some daisies, 2 types of coleus, and something shredded up beyond repair... because the mower truck had passed over it all and had pretty much mauled 80% of it. It was the red coleus that caught my eye. It was 100% uprooted and missing two stalks and yet still hanging on. I walked back to the house and made a makeshift pot out of an old applejuice jug. I went all the way back to the creek and salvaged the poor little blighter. I went into plant ER the second I made it home. Its now in 2 pots and starting to show the signs of planting shock. I hope at least one of them lives. Its the most awesome shade of blood red. I will take a pic of it if it lives ... unless you want to see it in its wounded state.
 
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greenfreak

New Member
Sure, gimme a pic. Whatever you do, DO NOT feed it Miracle Grow. If you have a soft stem that is at least three inches long with at least one set of leaves on it, cut it off and put it in a cup with water halfway up and place it in a window with lots of sun. That way if the main plant dies, you can grow it from the cutting.

If I notice some coleus that no one is taking care of (letting the flower blooms grow/not trimming it back) and I like the colors, I use my fingernails to take a piece from the top with one set of leaves. I got two of my plants this way. You're supposed to trim the main stem and the flowers to keep them healthy but so many people don't.
 
unclehobart

unclehobart

New Member
A little threadbare.

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greenfreak

New Member
I have the same ones here and I can tell you that the sorry state of those leaves are not due to the mower. Those leaves won't regenerate and they'll do a hell of a lot better if you cut the biggest leaves off.

The holes are probably due to slugs or snails. Did you use the dirt from where you found it? If so, you might want to repot them with fresh dirt.

Mine is starting to show brown spots that are drying out just like yours... I'm still trying to figure out why. I'm going to borrow one of your pics and ask my gardening friends what they think.
 
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greenfreak

New Member
You know what, on second thought, you should cut them. Cut the main stem, give it about 4-5 inches and cut it--root them. See how tall they are but there are no leaves on the bottom of the stem? That's called getting leggy. You won't get any leaves on the bottom, so you may as well cut them, root them in water, and then repot them later.

That kind tends to have big leaves on top and none underneath. Mine is doing the same thing although that's not what I want.
 
unclehobart

unclehobart

New Member
Oh yeah... bug bites for days. There were two stems hacked off from the mower.

I was planning on giving it a week to aclimate to the new soil and cut some rootings before I give it a second wound to heal. I was just thinking that the nice broad leaves and bright sun would be good for the whole photosynthesis angle to keep the plant machinery in high gear.

It was probably a discarded plant from the spring since the soil on its roots had those little styrofoam bits in black soil ... black soil for an area that is naught but red clay. I did keep the black soil that it came from. My friend grows a great deal of vegetables and had piles of cultured growing soil that I brought it home in. Its all good stuff.

No Miracle Grow... check.
 
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greenfreak

New Member
Trust me, you won't wound it by cutting it. I used to feel that way too but I trim my coleus weekly to keep them looking nice. It's maintenance, and to keep the plant healthy, neccessary.

Oh and by the way, coleus goes through changes with fall and winter-you should cut down on the amount you water them. When I gave you yours, it was starting the growing season, they don't grow as fast in the colder months. Which reminds me, I have to start putting my pointsettia in the dark.
 
unclehobart

unclehobart

New Member
I was just wondering about cutting it back so harshly before it even has decent roots. I'm not squeamish about scorched earth tactics once its settled in... but not when it been huslted about so much in the last 2 days. It was utterly ripped from the ground and had little left.... but just enough to make it worthy of soil rather than water.
 
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