How to Grow Coleus
Coleus scutellarioides
Coleus is a tender perennial grown for its patterned leaves, and kept above about 10 °C it lives for years as a houseplant or outdoors in frost-free gardens. Give it bright light with a little gentle sun and shade from hot afternoon sun. Keep the compost evenly moist from spring to autumn and feed every two weeks, then water less and stop feeding over winter. Pinch the shoot tips and remove flower spikes to keep it bushy. Cut leggy plants back in spring, repot every year or two, and replace tired woody plants with rooted cuttings.
In your Leaftide garden 
- Height
- 60 cm
- Spread
- 45 cm
- Light
- Bright indirect light
- Water
- Moderate
- Feed
- Liquid feed every two weeks in spring and summer
- Prune
- Pinch tips, remove flower spikes, cut back in spring
Yearly Lifecycle
Care Essentials
Feed every two weeks from spring to late summer with a balanced liquid fertiliser at half strength. Avoid high-nitrogen feeds, which can dull the leaf colour, and stop feeding in autumn and winter while the plant rests.
Watch For
- Mealybugs in leaf joints and under leaves
- Spider mites in warm, dry rooms
- Aphids and whitefly on shoot tips
- Root rot in cold, wet compost over winter
Care Requirements
Light
Bright light with some gentle sun
Indoors, grow in a bright spot with a little morning or late-afternoon sun. Outdoors, dappled or part shade suits it best. Hot midday sun scorches the leaves, and too little light makes the stems stretch and the colours fade.
Watering
Keep evenly moist; water less in winter
From spring to autumn, water when the top 1-2 cm of compost feels dry and never leave the pot standing in water. Coleus wilts quickly when dry but recovers once watered. In winter let the compost dry a little more between waterings, since cold, wet roots rot.
Fertilizing
Liquid feed every two weeks in spring and summer
Feed every two weeks from spring to late summer with a balanced liquid fertiliser at half strength. Avoid high-nitrogen feeds, which can dull the leaf colour. Do not feed in autumn and winter.
Pruning
Pinch tips, remove flower spikes, cut back in spring
Pinch out the shoot tips every couple of weeks and remove flower spikes as soon as they appear. Cut leggy plants back by up to half in spring to make them branch again. Replace old, woody plants with rooted tip cuttings every two or three years.
Spacing
One plant per pot, or 30-45 cm apart outdoors
Grow one plant in a 15-20 cm pot, moving it up a size as it grows. In frost-free gardens, space plants 30-45 cm apart; older plants become woody subshrubs about 60 cm tall.
Support
No support needed
Coleus is a self-supporting bushy plant. If an old plant starts to flop, cut it back in spring rather than staking it.
Growing Tips
Pinch out flower spikes
Coleus flowers are small and their appearance signals the plant to stop producing new leaves. Pinch them out as soon as you see them, along with the shoot tips, to keep the foliage dense.
Keep it above 10 °C in winter
Below about 10 °C coleus drops its leaves and the roots rot in wet compost. Keep it away from cold windows and draughts at night, and let the compost dry a little more between waterings.
Renew old plants from cuttings
Older plants turn woody and bare at the base. Tip cuttings root in a glass of water or moist compost in two or three weeks, so it is easy to start a fresh plant every couple of years.
Light sets the colour
Too little light makes the stems stretch and the patterns fade; hot afternoon sun scorches the leaves. A bright window with some morning sun gives the strongest colour.
Popular Varieties
Wizard Mix, Kong Series, Black Dragon, Rainbow Mix, Campfire, Electric Lime