Since coleus are very tender they should be sown close to the last frost date. The year I did mine with ws techniques I planted them out in HOS and later moved some as found they didn't grow very well all clumped together. After moving some they grew into nice sized plants but not until late summer.

Now I prefer to start mine inside as our season is so short. I notice the color variation while they are still very tiny.

Pinching coleus helps to keep them more compact and encourage more branching, not pinching will not hurt them, just makes them stretch out more with less branching. I also like to pinch out the flower buds.

Good luck.

Thanks for the input! The ones I sowed inside, there are about 5 or 6 clumped together. Should I try to divide them when they get a little bigger?

I sowed mine last April after the last frost. I sowed them in a lasagna pan, very lightly giving each seed plenty of room. Then I transplanted them (slugs and snails love them) to let them grow on a bit in individual containers. I planted out in early July. They grew to about 2' tall, pinching them, of course.

Okay...seperate and pinch. The seperating part scares me because they are so little but I will give it a shot. I also have NEVER pinched anything back so that scares me but I am willing to try that too.

Handle them by their leaves, never the stems. The stems can be crushed. Just water the soil well, use a fork to pry them apart. It's delicate work, but worth the effort.

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Below a link for a good video about how to pinch a coleus. It does seem kind of brutal, but it really does work. I learned about this the hard way when I first started growing coleus. I couldn't figure out why my coleus did not look like those lush photos in garden magazines...mine looked sort of taller and more spindly...until I found out about pinching them. At first I was kind of like, "Yikes!" but they do recover pretty quickly and get bushier.

I've only grown coleus in the past from nursery plants purchased in little containers, but this year I'm going to try growing them from seed from the first time, which will be interesting.

I've read conflicting info about the colors...some places I've read that they become more colorful with more sun, but others say they develop the best coloring in shadier areas. I usually plant mine in a spot by our house that gets morning sun but full afternoon shade and the colors have been beautiful. Nice deep reds on the ones with red in their leaves, etc.

Token, I love that combo of the purple-ish coleus with the light green ones. Very nice!

Here is a link that might be useful: Pinching Coleus video

Thanks topie! Great video

Okay, so I am home sick with the flu today and decided to tackle one of my cups of coleus. They are still very little but have their second leaves. They are so darn cute! I did as you guys instructed (hands a little shaky from being nervous and not feeling good). It took a while, but I managed I think okay. There were 12 in the one cup!!! Holy cow! That means I have atleast 24 growing! I will have to find good homes for atleast half of them. The other cup will have to wait since I am now back in bed.

Here is my question. When will I know if I did okay and if they will survive? 24 hours? 48? Right now they look just like they did before....only seperated.

gardenluv, sorry you are under the weather. I hope you get to feeling better fast.

Sorry to hear that you are ill and hope you feel better tomorrow.

You should know if your coleus survive by tomorrow. Can't imagine why they wouldn't. Over watering is the most frequent killer of seedlings inside. To prevent needing transplanting while they are tiny I sow 2-3 seeds per cell and using a scissor snip out two of the seedlings leaving one seedling to grow larger before planting out.

I find coleus grow very slowly inside under lights but with our short season that is still the best way for us to start coleus if we want them big early.

One year I ws them and planted them out HOS. They didn't get large until late July/early August and seemed not to grow as well when crowded so I divided those HOS into individual plants. No more HOS for coleus for me.

I had tried growing it several times with no success, so I sprinkled some in, not thinking that EVERY SINGLE seed would germinate! Now I know better!

I agree, this is one plant where HOS does not work well. This year, I plan to sow two seeds per cell in six pack containers. I have an ugly shady area that needs a lot of plants. I've already sown the impatiens for that side of the house. I did 6 six packs. I know I can divide them later. They're more forgiving than coleus.

Well so far they are looking good. Thanks guys for all of the hand holding. I'm still scared to pinch them, but will cross that bridge when I reach it.

I also have coleus seeds to plant. I may start a few in the garage in containers. My garage is warmer and I have a sunny window.

I want to get them sown for a container I have. It looks like an old water can. I thought it would look neat with coleus inside it.

Karen