dottie- would it be possible for you to set up some type of mini greenhouse for them inside the garage? I save clear plastic cake/turnover thingies from the grocery store so that I don't have to water as often during the winter when I get busy with other things - and just set my cuttings in soil under those. Plastic sheeting or big gallon baggies inflated with air would also work and maybe add some kind of soil amendment with hydrophilic polymers to cut down on watering frequency. I think this helps with the cold temp issues in an unheated garage too. Even if you could keep them in water, you'd still have to change that water(bacteria growth) regularly to keep them healthy. I'm just going on my instincts on this.
-Nan

Well, as a matter of fact, I do have one of those mini greenhouse shelf arrangements with the zippered plastic cover but that was going into my screen porch so I could house all the goodies I didn't get around to planting this summer.
I just thought that shelf would be a good spot to hold jars of rooting coleus I could snatch off there and bring indoors if it got really cold.
Got lots of big mayo jars (plastic) I could spray paint the outsides with black paint to absorb some sun warmth.

Geesh, not like I don't live surrounded by Lowes/HD/Youngs/Kings but there are certain varieties of coleus I found in Charleston that I couldn't source here.
I can probably get them at Stowe BG in October if they haven't pulled all the annuals by then.

Those little mini greenhouses really work great don't they?

I rooted and brought inside cuttings of Gay's Delight last year. It was the only non-flowering sun coleus variety I had- gets large and very pretty. I put them out on the deck after danger of frost and kept waiting for them to take off with growth. Finally I planted out the largest one and it is now about four inches tall and trying to fill out. Not exactly great for a plant that grew at least two feet tall last year. I think temperature has a lot to do with it. Our long cool spring was not what the doctor ordered for overwintered coleus. In other words, I don't think cool temeratures and neglect will yield very satisfactory plants for next season even if they do survive. I don't have a mini greenhouse so I can't say if the increased humidity would help. Maybe someone else has done it and can chime in.

Shari

I think you need to take a ton of cuttings and baby some and let some of them rough it. The shelf set up should work better than inside the house. You could also drape a clear plastic sheet (shower curtain?) around them to keep the temps a bit more stable and the humidity higher.

I'm thinking of adapting my tiny closet with a window into a mini cool storage area for plants with flourescent lights and a fan to circulate air. I will leave the window ajar again to keep things cooler than the rest of the house and mist often to keep the humidity up.

don't try to keep them in just water indefinitely- after a while they will rot. been there, done that. they are pretty for a long while that way. i overwinter coleus every yr and by winter's end they are limping, even in soil. and boy, they are bug magnets! be prepared to spary with oil soap or safer 1/2 way through the winter if need be. i've always kept them in the house, but am going to try my cool basement this yr. good luck with whatever you decide to do! tammy

Many tropicals are also sensitive to length of daylight, so you could boost the success rate by having supplemental light. Not too much, but enough to give sustenance. Keep them pinched back, too.

I think the tip about keeping them pinched back is very wise. We tend to let them grow leggy just to keep the look of an indoor plant but it probably isn't the smart way to go in the long run.

I have a really nice "shed/workshop" room that the former owners built as part of a fancy carport structure with a second story. It has one small double hung window and a crossbuck door with window on top half. Now that I'm getting into this propagation game, I'm thinking of putting a large plate glass window on the back of this building or possibly a skylight. I'd rather keep the cost down as much as possible. The room has heat too, but we never turn it on. So far, I've only wintered some potted roses, geraniums and my one brug in there. Any suggestions?

Claire- I'd also suggest Impatiens (just in case seeds fail,) Swedish Ivy, Sweet Potato Vine, Rosemary, Basil and I'm going to try and save my Licorice plants too. Not sure if they'll take as cuttings yet. I tried to get one going using soiless mixture and rooting hormone, but it rotted, so now I'm going to take one and just plomp it into some water. Also- my Italian parsley and regular parsley grew like gang busters last year under the lights- they grew huge. Has anyone had luck with Bacopa cuttings? I'll be anxious to hear of any other ideas too.
-Nan

I think other people have had the same experience as I have had---- that watery stemmed plants which can be rooted in water in the summer are very inclined to rot in water with the cooler temperatures....especially in an airy garage.

Last fall I had several plants in pots that I wanted to overwinter inside. I didn't want to bring pests into the house that would hatch when the heat came on.

I had used this technique to take care of plant watering over vacations. I decided it might work for overwintering---and it did....though I did learn a few things.

I put each plant in a clear or translucent plastic bag after it had been given a nice soapy bath, rinsed and allowed to drain. The plants that only had a hint of moisture inside the bag did best. Every month or so I checked them or opened them up to dry out if they were too damp.

If you could root your coleus in small pots you might put a whole tray in a large bag. I would use a sandy mix that drains and dries out easily.

Another possibility would be to root small cuttings in water. Allow them to dry out and drain a couple of hours. Spread them out so they don't touch each other inside a plastic bag...or maybe you could put them in a layer of almost dry sand. The sand would give them a little insulation.

The only problem was that way too much moisture caused mold.I blow up the bag like a balloon before I tie the top. Temperature fluctuations might be a real problem with coleus though....since the cooler it gets the more condensation there will be in the bag.

It was a wonderful way to save my chartreuse ipomea. I just pulled it up washed it off and stuffed it in a bag. By spring there were few leaves but it was full of roots from which I could have taken hundreds of small cuttings.

peri__n_eal, Your method sounds very interesting, but a little confusing. I would guess that the closed bag would get very humid just after watering what I assume are potted plants as you described in your first step. It sounds like the bagged cuttings are soiless and initially only the plant's own moisture within the closed bag creates enough moisture to encourage rooting.

where did you get large clear bags?
What were your light conditions?

I'm thinking of trying to over winter under the house. Our house is on a slope with soil both insulating and providing a heat source around half of it with standing room at the low end. If I try to allow things to go dormant, I'm concerned with the moisture content being too high at times because water drains through the space when we have heavy rains, requiring a sump pump in the corner. Then I think light would be too low for continued growth. We don't have room in the garage-DH uses it as a shop.

Anybody try their attic? I suppose the fluctuation of temperatures would be too great as spring approached, but then the outside temps might stay above freezing by then. Could always expierament with some expendable plants.

I've always overwintered my coleus in the house taking small cuttings about now. I pinch them back a couple of times during the winter and take new cuttings in the spring. When I've tried to just plant the overwintered plants in the spring, they've stayed puny and sickly looking all summer. So if you are successful in overwintering the coleus in a cool space, be prepared to take cuttings in the spring.

Kathy, do you mean you take cuttings in the spring in order to have plants for the next year? Are the puny over wintered plants you refer to the whole plant and were they in cold staorage? If so when do you rejuvinate them for planting?

I have done some cuttings of pretty coleus last month and brought them into the house. I keep them in very small vases, one is only about 3 in tall. I love them. I love changing the water and moving them around from one place to another, whenever and wherever I fancy. I'm somewhat AD so if I don't keep constanly tending things I forget about them and they die. I wish I could get into Raleigh to Logans where I found two small vases in their gift shop! Any suggestions of plants that are easy to water root to winter in the house?
Linda

merryd is right. A fully rooted in water cutting has a hard time adapting to being planted outdoors. Take cuttings from your rooted cutting and start them in potting soil for planting after the last frost in spring.
Don't forget this past spring where we had such an awful frost in April.
Aim to put your cuttings outdoors in a bright area to acclimate to the sunlight (not direct sun yet). Pinch them back and then plant them, watering well.

Thanks Dottie. I am having so much fun with these cuttings. I will take cuttings from my cuttings in the spring and put them out as you suggested. If I can remember, I guess I'll put it on next years calender so I won't forget. I hung it up behind this years! Linda (on the coastal plain)

They're going to make masses of roots so give each cutting its own container.
I have bought plastic mortar trays at Lowes. Large rectangular and about 5" deep. Put that in a large painters clear plastic bag (painters use them for cleanup)
Put something in the tray that's tall, taller than the plants will be. Set the jars of cuttings around it in the tray.
Then, when you know it's going to be frigid or the door to the garage will be opened for a period of time, you can draw up the plastic around the plants to keep the abrupt chill off them.
They're pretty hardy though. Good to change the water occasionally and keep a jug of it nearby so the temp matches what they're rooting in.
Because they are cuttings, they will try to bloom so make sure you keep them pinched back so when you do make new cuttings in spring they'll root better.

Dottie - When I moved here from MD last year I brought 50 coleus with me, took cuttings from all and most made it thought the winter.

You only want to plant a small tip of the stem (maybe one, no more than two leaf sets) They will get too big if you start with long stems. Also tried the whole plant and they are hard to get to look good outside the following year. You can start them in water but as someone said before they will rot and you DO HAVE TO CHANGE THE WATER OFTEN. I also found a clear glass is better and if you have some already rooting and add more, they seem to root easier and quicker. Why? I don't know. The roots will get tangled so you have to carefully pull them apart.

I have found after much trial and error that the quickest and best method is to pick the stems you want and dip it into the RootTone or any hormone starter(found at HD or L's). Then plant the stem into a small pot of potting soil. Press the soil firmly down and around the stem. Then water WELL so the roots will start. I used 4-6" pots. You want small pots for several reasons. 1. take up less room on shelf or in a tray, and 2. the small plants want to be "cozy" in their enviroment to get a good start.

I put mine on cookie sheets (with sides) to make watering easier and watered maybe once every ten days or so. Cut way back on the normal watering.

I beleive you are going to have trouble in the location you are talking about but the plastic will help. Coleus want temps of the 60 degree range. The do not like the cold at all. I lost some when we went away for a weekend and turned one room temp down (forgetting they were in there) Lost all of them. The other rooms were OK. If I were you I'd give it a try but remember the cold is not their friend. Also another tid-bit of advise, take more cuttings than you want. Especially it there is one you really want to keep because you will lose some regardless of how you do it.

You can start them in water now, (just to get them in the house for now) and later cut the stems and do the hormone thing and plant them using just the tips. They are actualy very easy but a little messy. They shed leaves and drip, etc. I save some every year but last year was more than I'd ever do again. Did have wonderful coleus all this summer but will not go as crazy as I did last year, this year. Email me as to how it goes and let me know if you have any questions. NOW IS THE TIME TO TAKE CUTTINGS AS STATED above by others. Also if you start now and see there is one not doing as well as you want it to or you decide you want more, you will still have time to get more cuttings before it gets too cold. Maybe we call swap coleus in the spring. GOOD LUCK Hope this helps.

I've saved coleus cuttings every fall for years. I almost always root them in water then pot them up. My biggest problem is getting to the rooted cuttings before there are so many roots that it is impossible to separate them. I usually take tall cuttings, then snip them back when I pot them up. Last year, I looked at the tangled mess, then I sniped the stems above the roots, and put them back in the water, throwing the root balls away.

I did eventually pot up the second batch of rooted stems, and by spring, they were just the right size, instead of being too tall and floppy. I might try that again this year.