Coleus is a natural slow grower. It seems to take forever for it to reach any size but it will and then it will take off. You just have to patiently ignore it. ;)

Dave

last year, i went through an entire pack of coleus seeds trying to get them to come out, they would come out w/ their baby leaves, and NEVER go any further, so i went ahead and fertilized some of them, they took right off!
those i did not fertilize stayed the same: just baby leaves....

once you get em started they're pretty tough lil plants, just ask my dogs...

i let them go to seed and spread them around in the bed a lil, but i also took some cuttings which grew into house plants which i still have, i may take cutting off of them to put back outside also...

West9491,
What fert did you use? How much? Im afraid I may kill by overdose!

last year i used the miracle grow solution mix, prepared for houseplant recommendations, but then i diluted THAT 50/50 w/ more water, no plants showed sign of overfert. it's a pretty weak amount.

you might wanna look into an organic solution, it may be safer when it comes to overdose.

Ok with the Diluted M.Gro solution mix - how often do I fertilize? and water in between. I fert'd few days ago and they show some leaves growth !

I was also going to say that my coleus LOVE fertilizer. I've been using MG tomato food at half strength. If they need watering within a few days, I just do plain rain water. But I hit them with fertilizer at least once a week. The next day, they've had visible signs of growth.

thanks,

I have 5 coleus seedlings in one Jiffy pellet. Wonder if I can seperate them AFTER I see some color...At what is the max safe stage to seperate them? is it 4 leaves or 6?

I have fertilized my seedlings with MG fert whatever directions they have and have found no ill effect even if I start early with full strength of recommended dose.
Yes, you can separate seedlings at any stage but you have to have "light hand".

Ok my coleus seedlings are over 2 wks old. They just starting to show the 2nd true leaves. Right now they get sun from 2pm to late evening...thru big windows. Should I move them to a diffused bright spot or is direct sun Ok at this stage ?

What sun exp is desired now ?? Thanks
kris ...sePA

I'm in the same boat. I use a grow-bulb shelf setup every year to grow of annuals I can't buy in garden centers-- tall zinnias, red gomphrenas, mirabilis, thunbergias, woodland nicotianas etc. This year I bought some specialty coleus seeds which I started just after Valentine's Day. Out of 45 seedlings, only one coleus has grown past the cotyledon stage. The rest still look stupid despite fertilizer and light reconfigurations. Please keep posting updates of any successful techniques.

Especially in the case of slow growers, it is very important that you indicate on the label WHEN you seeded, WHEN the seed germinated. Many gardeners, myself included, look at their new seedlings so often, a week seems like a month, and we are sure NOTHING is happening. Al

In my experience, coleus take off after thinning. They do not like to be crowded.