Plant of Coleus Blumei Hybrids

Plant Of coleus blumei hybrids  Can Coleus be grown indoors as a houseplant? Absolutely and to the naysayers we say why not? Coleus can be grown successfully as a house plantThe Coleus blumei hybrids, the Painted Nettles or going by their more recent Latin name, Plectranthus scutellarioides, are traditionally grown as outdoor bedding plants treated as annuals. This means they're planted outside in late Spring and provide garden interest during the Summer and Autumn season before things get colder and they die off. Grown indoors however if you can provide good strong light and are prepared to spend five minutes every few weeks pruning and pinching out any flowers that appear then you'll have a brilliant indoor houseplant.

The attraction and main selling point for these plants, if you haven't already worked it out, is the exquisite vividly colored and beautiful leaves, some marked with almost contrasting psychedelic patterns. The cultivars are varied, numerous and more are created every year, therefore Coleus is probably the only true rival to the outstanding elegance and desirability of the Calathea and Maranta foliage. They also tend to be very cheap to purchase due to easy propagation and quick growth, however despite this you may struggle to find this plant in the usual haunts. Three very different looking Coleus blumei hybrids growing near a windowPrimarily because it's typically classed as an outdoor bedding plant and has an old fashioned stigma that has been difficult to shrug off. Searching in garden centre's in the bedding plant sections may yield better results if you are having difficulties finding one (other tips where you might be able to buy them are listed here).

Grown indoors you do need to spend a little time maintaining Coleus and this is really the only negative that springs to mind. Because it grows quite fast the plant gets leggy and sparse looking quickly so you need to pinch out growth tips every now and again to encourage it to stay compact and bushy. Additionally you must pinch out any flowers that start to form, they aren't overly attractive anyway but if you allow them to fully bloom and set seed the entire plant will normally die afterwards.
Plant Of Coleus Blumei Hybrids