How should you care for coleus?
Coleus is a plant that has bright, unusual leaf colors that resemble a mosaic of different colors. Once you turn your attention to this beautiful flower, your mood will improve. Coleus, as well as all kinds of hybrid plants that have been bred artificially by crossing, can have foliage that combines various shades of green, and there may also be iridescence of red, burgundy, purple, pink, white and yellow.
The color of the leaves is a combination of the main color, but the veins and the border of the foliage itself can have a completely different shade - red, marble. Often the foliage has a mosaic or striped pattern, where three or more color shades change at once.
Content:
Lighting and Temperature for Coleus
In order for the flower to be truly beautiful, not to get sick and to feel comfortable in your home. It is necessary to provide him with proper care. There are a number of factors to take into account:
- Lighting
- Watering
- Feeding
- Transplant
- Availability pests and diseases
Coleus is a plant that belongs to the light-loving category. He loves bright sun rays. However, it is necessary to accustom the flower to them gradually.To prevent any painful burns from forming on the foliage, it is necessary to remove the coleus from time to time in a dark and cool place, literally for several hours a day.
The color of the leaves can tell you how the plant is feeling and whether it has enough lighting. Light fluxes are much easier to tolerate for leaves that have plates with red or white coloring. In order for the plant to develop normally, windows that have access to the southern, western and eastern exposure will be ideal.
If you begin to notice that plant foliage began to lose its bright and rich shades - this is a sign of burnout, which means that the flower receives an excessive amount of sunlight, which negatively affects its growth and development. Therefore, it is necessary to move the coleus to a more shaded place for a while until the plant restores its previous color.
Temperature
Caring for coleus depends little on temperature conditions, since the plant is considered unpretentious in the choice of temperature conditions. It can be grown at temperatures from 15 to 28 degrees throughout the year.
However, in winter, it is not advisable to grow coleus at temperatures below 12 degrees, as the plant will feel a sharp change in temperature, begin to freeze, drop leaves, which can cause the death of the plant.
Watering the plant and air humidity
In spring, summer and autumn, it is necessary to water the plant as the top layer of soil in which the coleus grows dries. For irrigation, the best option would be settled water at room temperature.
In winter, it is necessary to reduce watering the plant to a minimum, however, it is always worth monitoring the condition of the soil - it should not dry out, as this adversely affects the condition of the coleus.
During the cold period, when the plant grows at temperatures from 13 to 16 degrees, watering should be reduced to a minimum. If you notice flabby leaves, this is the coleus telling you that the moisture in the soil has run out and you need to water it.
A high level of indoor humidity is an ideal environment for the normal functioning of the plant.
It is necessary to carry out regular spraying leaves of plants with water at room temperature, especially in summer.
Most often, this flower is kept in the kitchen - this is a moderately warm room that has a high level of humidity. Coleus will do well here. If the air in the room is dry, then you need to place the pot with the plant on a special tray on which there is wet expanded clay or wet pebbles. Winter period of time - for coleus this is a dormant state; during this period the plant practically does not grow.
Fertilizing and optimal soil
In order for the flower to have a bright color in spring and summer, it will be useful to carry out feeding procedure. To do this, you can use mineral or organic fertilizers, which are specially designed for ornamental and indoor plants.
You can buy this fertilizer at a flower shop. For coleus, solutions that contain potassium are a good option. The concentration should not exceed 0.5 g per liter of water.In winter, this type of fertilizing should be carried out maximum once a month, and the concentration of the solution should be reduced exactly by half.
Coleus is a plant that is not picky about soil composition, so any nutrient mixture is perfect for growing a flower. The only thing you need to pay attention to is the nitrogen content in the soil. The more of this substance there is in the soil, the greener the leaves will be, and the plant itself will feel much better.
A young plant is subject to negative influence from light. If the coleus does not receive enough sunlight, there is a risk that the stems located in the lower part will become bare. Excessive light causes foliage to lose color.
Insufficient watering leads to leaf fall; leaves may also fall if there is excess moisture for the flower. The main pests of coleus are spider mites and aphids.
This plant propagates using cuttings and seeds. Any of these methods can be used when growing coleus at home.
Features of caring for coleus in the video:
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