# Coleus not fairing well?



## BoaGal (Jun 16, 2012)

This is the cage I just finished Saturday. Everything seems to be doing good except for the coleus. I've got 3 different plants and they're all dying. This is the lighting I have:
http://www.drsfostersmith.com/images/Categoryimages/larger/lg_rd_261254_12877.jpg

I didn't realize until after I got it that it's only 5000k. I didn't think to look since it specifically said it's for plants. I'm planning to get some different lighting. Just going to go with 6500k daylight fluorescent, this is the only planted vivarium I plan on having. Should one bulb do the trick, or will I need two? 24x18x24 Exo Terra.

Do you think the coleus are dying because they aren't getting enough light? Or do you think bare rooting was too hard on them? Should I buy some new coleus when I change the lighting or just switch them out for something else?


























These are the plants I had left over. Just threw them in a pot in the house. This coleus seems to be doing fine, but I did not bare root it either.


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## kate801 (Jul 7, 2011)

Hmmm, I've only ever used Coleus in my yard, but out there it's a shade loving plant and also gets pretty big.


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## klaus07 (Feb 7, 2012)

I have never tried Coleus in a terrarium. It just may not like the high humitidy. Or light is fine for growing plants. In fact many people use 3000 k bulbs to bring plants into flower. I would try one of the moisture loving begonias that stay small. 

Klaus


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## Zach Valois (Jun 7, 2012)

Hmm.. interesting. We have lots of these in our greenhouse, but I have never thought of trying them in a terrarium or viv. Typically we see the edges degrade as seen in your photos when Coleus has been repeatably allowed to become too dry. I might initially suspect that the bare root planting, compiled with varying moisture levels (changing degrees of too much and or too little moisture) is causing this. Especially with such a young fragile specimen.

I would expect some degree of spindly growth from that light, but if this were the immediate case, then the plant would be generally healthy looking, but in obvious stretch for light. If your zamiifolia is ok, then I would assume that your substrate is not too moist. However, the tank has not been setup long as you said, and Z. zamiifolia takes some time to show poor conditions. 

So in conclusion, my opinion would be to place a new coleus in the same spot. Keep the root mass in tact, tamp the soil firmly, and keep evenly moist but well drained.

Don't give up and let us know how the replacement fairs!


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## Jason DeSantis (Feb 2, 2006)

Colues are good garden growers here in Florida. They seem to like it warm and humid with all the rain we get. Only problem is they will outgrow your viv in about a month. They are fast growers and will spread out some. I would consider using some pileas or small fittonias in those spots instead. Also your "zz plant" will outgrow your viv as well.
Jason


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## Duff (Aug 4, 2011)

FWIW - I also have several colues outside in pots in the bright shade (we're dry over here in Dallas and in the high 90's) they love to be moist all the time when it's /hot and will get some leaf drying out (like your picture) so I think it might be due to lack of water. I pinch mine back regularly and they stay about 12 inches tall and as wide. If you do pull it out, cut it back to just above the last set of leaves and re-pot - it should bounce right back.


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## bsr8129 (Sep 23, 2010)

I have some of those in my plant grow out viv and they are doing pretty well, but they get tall and lengthy. I have some growing outside and they stayed small and just grew outward. When i planted them in the viv, just put them in the soil and let them do thier thing, i have a 32w(i think) 6500kcfl bulb over them


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## BoaGal (Jun 16, 2012)

Thanks for the help. I was reading about coleus last night and found out you can root them pretty easy from clippings. So, I took a clipping off of my healthy plant and put it in water inside the vivarium. It's already starting to turn brown and wilt. Is it the light then?


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## Duff (Aug 4, 2011)

I would add soil to the the container you have it in (in the picture) keep the soil moist until it adjusts. Give it a several days to a week , that might be a better indicator. And maybe move it to the more shaded area for now?


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## Jason DeSantis (Feb 2, 2006)

BoaGal said:


> Thanks for the help. I was reading about coleus last night and found out you can root them pretty easy from clippings. So, I took a clipping off of my healthy plant and put it in water inside the vivarium. It's already starting to turn brown and wilt. Is it the light then?


That would be from too much water. Coleus like the soil wet to damp at all times but not saturated. So planting fresh cuttings in just water will rot the plant out. I would take a cutting and pot it up in a pot with miracle grow potting soil. After about a week of watering 3-4 times per week it will look great and grow fast. These plants are super easy once you get the hang of them, even growing from cuttings.
Jason


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## BoaGal (Jun 16, 2012)

Thanks guys. From what I was reading it said to put the cuttings into water until it grew roots and then put it in soil. But maybe I just found bad info.

I think I'm going to get some new coleus tomorrow and try again. Do I need more lighting? I was thinking of picking one of these up:
Shop Utilitech 24" Utility Fluorescent Lighting at Lowes.com
Along with two 6500k bulbs. Or would that be overkill?


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## ghostpilot (Dec 29, 2011)

I'm running 48" cheap shop lights from Lowe's with 6500K daylight bulbs. The plants grow like weeds with them, I've had to trim plants several times since January. The only bad thing is my bromeliads have lost a little bit of color. I've also seen 0 burning of plants, even the ones that have grown within a few inches of the bulbs.


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## Zach Valois (Jun 7, 2012)

Jason DeSantis said:


> That would be from too much water. Coleus like the soil wet to damp at all times but not saturated. So planting fresh cuttings in just water will rot the plant out. I would take a cutting and pot it up in a pot with miracle grow potting soil. After about a week of watering 3-4 times per week it will look great and grow fast. These plants are super easy once you get the hang of them, even growing from cuttings.
> Jason


 You think it is the high humidity doing that to the plants? That is interesting that both the original specimen and the cutting showed the exact same signs.

Perhaps lighting is compounding the situation?

I would be interested to see what the plant does when you place a healthy specimen in it's nursery pot, not inside of a tank, but under this light. I would suspect sustained, but spindly growth?


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## Zach Valois (Jun 7, 2012)

This is a single bulb T8 you are using?


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## BoaGal (Jun 16, 2012)

Zach Valois said:


> This is a single bulb T8 you are using?


Yes, 5000k single T8.


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## Jason DeSantis (Feb 2, 2006)

If you are only using a 5000k T8 and just one of them then lighting is most certainly not the issue. Coleus like indirect light or just shade but the 5000k is not enough to kill them. I would say for almost certain it is the excess of water in combination with the lack of air movement. A rule should be if you press on the soil you should not see water pool up. The soild needs to be somewhat wet but not saturated and never bone dry.
Jason


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## BoaGal (Jun 16, 2012)

Ok, so I took the dead coleus out and put another impatient towards the back. It seems everyone was right about too much water. I put a new clipping straight into the dirt 2-3 days ago and it's doing fine. I'm thinking what happened with the larger plants was when I bare rooted them I used a lot of water on the roots. I'm just going to wait and see what the clipping does. Also, there was a very small coleus next to a large one that seems to be doing well. I think I will end up keeping one and tossing the other, I'll just see which one does better.


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## Judy S (Aug 29, 2010)

when you start cuttings in water, they will eventually do well...however the roots that are formed are difficult to transition into a soil based media. Not impossible, just difficult. The coleus that you show in your recent post is an outdoor impatience...it may not do well in a vivarium and will get large. I think it looks like a New Guinea...pretty leaves as well as bloom. The "Z" plant that you have does get quite tall, but is a good plant for my tree frogs...very sturdy, and I just keep it cut back...good luck...like it isn't frustrating enough to just deal with FFs, etc., the plants do add another layer of complications!


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