If you can provide artificial light, you should be able to keep it alive over winter. In my experience, they don’t manage to maintain their nice shape. I find taking cuttings and rooting them in soil or water produce the most attractively shaped plants for next year.

Martha

I think you should do both. Cut this plant down by half, saving the cuttings for rooting. Keep this mother plant alive by reducing watering and direct light. Spray with Safer oil if you think it's necessary. And just concentrate on keeping it alive, not beautiful, until you can put it back out. That is unless I've misunderstood your objective which may be to have an attractive houseplant?

I'll do both, take cuttings and try to keep it alive over winter. Since Coleus are big drinkers, or at least mine is, wouldn't cutting back on watering make it wilt pretty fast? Especially with central heat.

I give this Coleus a light daily watering, just enough to keep it moist, but not wet.

I'm also wondering if maybe I should go ahead and get some cuttings to stick in water for next year?

==>>> i think you got where you needed to be ....

in my MI ... i had them in a south facing sliding door .... lots of light ... and they still got leggy and ugly as winter dragged on ...

and when they did ... i took more cuttings and when they were well rooted and potted ... the ugly mother plant went flying out the back door.. into a snow bank.. and good riddance ...

minor wilting is not really a problem.. the plant is telling you when it needs water ... with a couple notes ... you can track how often that plant.. in that pot.. needs water ...

which brings to mind.. me thinking.. that is one problem with bringing the mother plant inside ... is that the current pot is acclimated to outdoors... probably filled with roots ... and when you change EVERY plant variable by bringing it indoors ... you may struggle to harden it off to the new setting.. and why fresh cuttings.. might be the best way to go ...

one last thought ... when i used to bring outdoors plants inside.. i used a granular systemic insecticide in the pots .. a few weeks prior to bringing them indoors.. to INSURE that i was not bringing a pot full of bugs into the house .... you only have to live thru that once.. lol ...

good luck.. have fun.. and do think about cycling them over the winter .... all you need by late next spring.. when they can go back outside ... is one small rooted sprig ... not that huge old plant ... the key being.. do NOT consider the project a failure.. if the old mamma doesnt make it .... because the cuttings are old momma ... its all the same plant ...

ken

Thanks for the head's up about the insecticide. I've been wondering about the insects. Today when I was clipping off faded leaves I found a row of tiny white eggs on a stem.

I have been admiring some mixed planters that line a street in downtown Saint Paul all summer. They had multiple varieties of coleus, plus some hanging plants. Well, there is frost/freeze expected tonight, and all the planters were still out this evening. So, I rescued a few cuttings from inconspicuous edges to take back to my apartment window. The planters will be crispy by tomorrow. Hopefully, my window will provide enough light for the winter.

Martha

Good going, Martha! lol As long as they get some good indirect light they should be fine.

I always take several coleus cuttings to root inside over the winter. Give them lots of good light and keep them pinched. I root everything in a well drained potting medium.

I have also overwintered a pot or two of some special hybrids with good success. I do not mist coleus foliage, certainly not inside. I have a very bright room in my home and we also keep our home on the cool side.

I think you'll see that direct sun is needed over winter to keep Coleus looking as good as possible while inside. If bringing a pot inside is cumbersome, stems can be trimmed & kept in jars of water until spring. I put these jars on windowsills (E/S/W, N doesn't have enough sun to keep them looking good.)

the other problem.. in my cold MI ... is my forced air furnace .. which just happens to have registers near every window ... its just very hard to maintain proper humidity on a water hog plant like C ....

all complicated by the potential to root rot potted plants near a cold window .. when the media gets frigid every night .. when the furnace kicks down ....

its a real catch 22 to keep humidity up .. but let media dry .. pebble trays may or may not work .... or a good humidifier on the furnace ... i understand you warmer zone peeps dont need to think about all that .... nor the peeps with base board heat ....

and that is why i ended up continually cycling new rootings.. and getting rid of momma when she got ugly ...

ken

How are those cuttings doing, Docmom?

So far so good. Some rooted quickly and others not at all, but I have enough to keep me happy. I need to get a few more into growing medium, but I haven’t had time to get a bag.

Martha

Updates are good. Thanks.

tj

Cute little micro-plants!!