Coleus

Nettle, or coleus, is an amazingly beautiful plant. The flowering of coleus can only be assessed as modest, but the variety of shapes and bright colors of the leaves of different varieties of coleus, and there are about 150 of them, delight not only novice gardeners, but also experienced ones.

It is readily grown on windowsills in almost every apartment, for significant reasons:

• extremely attractive appearance throughout the year
• unpretentiousness and low maintenance requirements
• ease of reproduction

Growing coleus at home

Flower care rules may vary somewhat depending on the variety, namely, on the color of the sheets. The lighter they are, the better it tolerates direct sunlight.

For growing on southern windows, or in flower beds, it is better to choose nettles with leaf colors that are dominated by pink, whitish and yellow shades; bright green plants will feel more comfortable on eastern or western windows.

Too bright lighting can lead to color fading and the sheets will become pale.

The optimal temperature regime for nettles practically coincides with that maintained in the apartment; in winter it is not recommended to place the plant in rooms with temperatures below + 12 C, because it may shed its leaves.

Water the flower with settled water; in summer watering is abundant; in winter it will need to be reduced, but you should not allow the soil in the pot to dry out completely. If the air in the room is too dry, you can spray the sheets.

Knowing how to pinch coleus, you can speed up the growth process and quickly get a beautifully shaped bush.

Planting and transplanting

Nettles are planted or replanted in any nutritious soil mixture; there is no need to specifically select them. Fertilizing is done using organic and mineral fertilizers. In summer, fertilizers are applied once a week, in winter - once a month.

Only indoor flowers that are grown as perennials will need to be replanted. Annual plantings, which are used when growing coleus in a garden or flower bed, do not require replanting.

Reproduction

A rational way to obtain new specimens is cuttings. It can be produced from February to May. The cuttings are planted in the ground and will take one and a half to two weeks to take root.

The process of growing from seeds is more labor-intensive, because includes procedures for picking and several transplants - for the growing mass of roots, an increase in the earthen coma is required.

From sowing to obtaining a mature plant it will take 5-6 months.

You can grow coleus not only in the room, but also in the garden; they will serve as an excellent decoration for your backyard. But for the winter they will need to be transplanted into containers and moved to a heated room.