I never really measured. I go by the plant. Usually bushy 12 inch plant I allow about 6 inches between plants and that goes up with taller plants. What did your seed package say. It usually gives the height and width of a full grown plant on the package. Depending on your growing zone by starting them from seed they may not reach their full potential in 1 season. I'd say go with about 8 inches between plants

Thank you. The packet is long gone but it was nothing special, maybe Burpee Rainbow Mix? I can Google and maybe find out what the package said. I am Zone 8a. First season. Do they winter over?

I'd plant the coleus about ten inches apart in the garden. They'll become full, robust plants in a pretty short time and I hate to crowd them. But gram makes a good point....what is the length of your growing season?

This year, I brought three different kinds of seed varieties (Wizard Jade, Black Dragon, and Versa Watermelon) and just a couple of different cutting-grown varieties (Terra Nova Tammy and Wasabi). I started my seed inside, in Feb.

Have fun with your coleus! They are so rewarding. I love having some inside for the winter, but I have lots of great natural light.

Oh durr. I didn't even think about bringing them in. We don't get a hard freeze until around Thanksgiving (or so it seems-I am fairly new to the area).

I will bring a few in and take some cuttings when it gets cold. Thank you for the replies. it was interesting to see the colors come out.

the bushier ones.. have probably been repeatedly pinched back during the growing season ..

i didnt have the WWW ... and since you have a bunch.. make a line.. and plant the second 12 inches from the first .. the third 18 inches..the 4th...24 inches ... and experiment ..

the close ones will tell you if yo like how they grow together .. and the further ones.. will show you how pinching them balls them up ..

the key... for me is.. was.. i remember experiments i did ... and i bet you would too.. and wont be back..asking again.. next year ...

tehy root in water in mere days ... and as soon as you see a root.. plant them in moist MEDIA ... with a baggy over them in full shade .....start the process in about sept or so ... do not wait until the last minute .. been there.. done that.. and it frosted the night before ... in fact. practice all summer.. and give free plants to friends ... again.. experiment .. learn .. its fun ...

ken

Thanks Ken. Will do.

Some varieties are just naturally faster, bigger plants, over the course of the time those of us in temperate locations are able to have them outside. Here's some pics to give you ideas. You might like the packed look, or not. If something gets too big, cut off the too-big parts & stick 'em elsewhere.

Here's some plants doing their best to hide a 55-gal drum, used for composting. The really tall ones to the back are Perilla 'Magilla,' often mistaken for Coleus. The purple leaves are Persian shield (Strobilanthes dyerianus.) Sweet potato vine 'Margarita' invading the grass.

A few days later... cuttings! Sounds like your winter is fairly short also. If so, you might do as well leaving the cuttings in water, on windowsills for those 3-4 months.

they can become an extreme PIA indoors.. .during a long MI winter ... becoming rather ugly .. etoliated.. bugs if you are lucky .. lol ...

the trick ... maintain small plants.. by just repeatedly taking new cuttings.. and thrown the ugly ones .. out the back door ...

i am sure.. its all a function of how long winter is ... according to where you are. ... e.g. tiffs 40 mins of winter.. compared to my 6 months ...

they are VERY frost damaged ... start rooting.. at least a month prior to such date ... but i think i am starting to repeat myself..

good day

ken

I did this for years in Z5OH before moving to AL. Most windowsills are wide enough for a bottle, that's a great spot for them, in E, S, or W window. The key is a lot more sun for winter than summer. I've told you this a few times over the years, Ken, but I don't think it's sinking in.

The pics I put above were from fall of 2012, the cuttings taken a few days after the garden pics. Here's some of the same plants, still alive & outside, decorating again. They're all over the yard, but this is the newest pic I've taken so far this year.

Sorry about the trellis-to-be items behind. That's my workbench area, on the other side of the fence.

Tiff, it will never sink in, lol. I, too, have tried over and over again to explain to our friend Ken that just because he can't grow coleus inside, he shouldn't discourage others.

My mother always had a couple of cheerful pots on sunny ledges growing over the winter in central NYS. They remained pretty all winter with nothing but an occasional pinching.

Thanks all. I will enjoy them through the summer, take some cuttings in late summer/early fall and give keeping some cuttings alive indoors a shot. I have several spots I could use.

TY, D! It's so irritating to read discouragements like that, which discouraged me from trying something so easy back in the day also. If I stopped trying after the 1st time something failed, I wouldn't have a single plant. My only fails with Coleus inside for winter were if they were put in spots not near windows, which I didn't understand were unreasonably dark at the time.

No trouble bringing entire potted plants inside either. 4/6/2003: This plant spent the winter in an OH basement with no window, fluorescent shop lights. I didn't maintain a small plant. Part of the reason of saving is to enable having a HUGE one sometimes:

The Mandevilla to the right wasn't so crazy about it, but that's some kind of Jasmine photo-bombing in front.

UT2, saving cuttings over winter isn't at all a necessary part of
enjoying Coleus, but please know that it can/should go well if you'd like to
try. There are over 2,000 diff ones, I try to find some new ones each spring, and save the favs in case they don't have it again. Good vibes!

How are things going with your Coleus, Ut2?

I didn't buy any Coleus this year, or last year... These plants are all saved over winter, then I started taking cuttings from them after they went outside in March.

Caladiums with Coleus.

Under a tree with Tradescantia fluminensis & zebrina, Begonias.

If left alone, most plants will get quite tall before getting wide. If manipulated, they can look like this. Whatever one prefers is possible to do. When a plant gets to be about 6-8 nodes tall, remove all of the main leaves on the stem except the top 2 pairs. Each node will grow 2 side branches. Continue the process from there, or just stand back!

Tiffany, you just taught me how to save my pretty coleus that I have growing this summer. Last year I grew one from seed but they never looked nice and went to seed so fast and started to go bad before July. I think I'm going to take cuttings of my nice yellow one and try to overwinter in the house. Thank you!!

Happy to swap anecdotes! Selections of Coleus are very limited in this area, but it used to drive me crazy in OH trying to decide which ones to get from selections of sooooooo many diff ones! Just don't wait too late to take cuttings. A few cold nights can really freak Coleus out.