The colored nettle, also called red nettle, inspires with its solid-colored to motley leaves. Depending on the variety, they can be drawn in red, yellow, green, purple or brown.
Characteristics
- botanical names: Coleus blumei, Solenostemon scutellarioides, Plectranthus scutellarioides
- Synonyms: Solenostemon scutellarioides, Plectranthus scutellarioides
- Plant family: Mint family (Lamiaceae)
- Growth: upright, bushy
- Height: 30 to 60 centimeters
- Spread: 15 to 40 centimeters
- Leaf: monochrome to multicolored, in a wide variety of colors and drawings
- Leaf shape: ovate, pointed, serrate
- Flowers: inconspicuous, lip-shaped panicles from June to July
- Use: ornamental foliage plant
Location
Basically, the colored nettle, also called colored leaf, tolerates sunny to shady locations. However, if the nettle is (too) dark, the leaves lose their bright color and turn green. So for Coleus blumei you should get one
- sunny up
- shady
Choose location. Since the leaves burn easily at noon in strong sunlight, you should shade the red nettle in sunny places.
temperature
Colored nettles are extremely sensitive to the cold. The lower temperature limit is between 12 and 14 degrees Celsius. If the temperatures drop below that, the colored leaf sheds its leaves and dies. The ideal temperature for the nettle is 18 degrees Celsius all year round. That is why it is usually kept as a houseplant. However, the ornamental foliage plant can spend the summer outdoors on the balcony or terrace. The open-air season begins when the temperatures remain consistently above plus 15 degrees Celsius and ends when they level off at 15 degrees Celsius.
Nonetheless, planting out in the garden is possible. Due to its sensitivity to cold, the colored leaf is only cultivated once a year when planted, which, by the way, also applies to window boxes. So that you do not have to do without the ornamental foliage plants in the coming year, you should multiply the nettle in summer.
Substrate
For a bushy and compact growth, the colored nettle needs a substrate that provides it with a good supply of water and nutrients. Regardless of whether you cultivate the colored leaf in a pot or planted out, the soil should have the following properties:
- humus
- nutritious
- good water storage
- well permeable
- pH value: neutral to slightly acidic
Colored nettle in the pot
For the bucket / pot culture, you should put the red nettle in a larger planter after buying it so that the colored leaf can develop well. Repotting is possible all year round. However, it is ideal if you carry out the measure in spring. In order for your colored nettle to develop well, do the following:
- Select a planter with drainage holes
- Lay a drainage layer of potsherds and / or gravel on the ground
- Put a layer of substrate (normal compost-based potting soil) on top
- Insert colored sheet
- Setting depth: as when buying
- Mix some sand or grit into the substrate before filling
- water well
Colored nettle in the garden / balcony box
Preferred colored nettles should be planted in the bed or in the balcony box no earlier than mid-May after the ice saints. Since the plants are extremely sensitive to cold, you should consider the temperature in your area.
Proceed as follows:
- Dig a planting hole twice the size of the bale
- Planting depth: as when buying
- Plant spacing: 20 to 30 centimeters (half the maximum growth height)
- Lay a drainage layer at the bottom of the planting hole (a few centimeters of sand or gravel)
- put a layer of earth on top
- Use colored nettles
- top up with soil and some compost
- Lightly press
- Sludge well with water
Plant neighbors
Colored nettles come into their own as solitaires as well as in groups. How colorful you make the group of plants depends on your taste. It looks nice with soloists if you match the color of the planter with the leaves. For the combination with other plants, for example:
- Hard-working Lieschen
- Fuchsias
- Begonias
- evergreen grasses, ferns, ivy
to water
In summer, Coleus blumei needs a lot of water. The red nettle cannot cope with drought. Nevertheless, you shouldn't mean it too well, because the ornamental foliage plants don't tolerate waterlogging either. Water your colored nettles
- regularly and with
- with lime-free water.
You should remove excess water from the coaster after a few minutes. You can also freshen up the leaves in the evening by spraying them with lime-free water.
Note: If colored nettles suffer from drought even for a short time, they shed their leaves.
Fertilize
Extra nutrients are welcome in potted plants during the growing season if they have not been freshly repotted. A conventional liquid fertilizer is completely sufficient for green plants or flowering plants. Ideally, fertilize from April to August
- a houseplant every two weeks
- Colored nettles on the balcony weekly
Tip: With a long-term fertilizer in the form of fertilizer sticks, you should only give half the dose to the colored leaf.
Plants planted in the garden or balcony box do not need any additional nutrients if you mixed compost or horn shavings into the ground when planting them out.
Cut
You can ensure bushy growth if you prune young colored nettles right from the start. For older plants, you should
- Thinning out older and bare shoots regularly and
- Prune them back more if necessary (just above a pair of leaves).
Tip: With a regular breakout of the shoot tips you stimulate the colored leaf to a bushy growth.
blossoms
Since the leaves are the real star of this nettle, many hobby gardeners do without the inconspicuous flowers. They are already cut off in the bud stage so that their development does not cost the colored leaf unnecessary energy, which can be at the expense of the leaf color.
Overwinter & repot
If the nettles have spent the summer outdoors, they overwinter
- bright
- at a temperature between 15 and 20 degrees Celsius
Year-round houseplants can remain in their usual location. It applies to all plants that they are in winter
need less water.You should repot young colored nettles every two months. Adult plants are moved to a new container as soon as the old pot is rooted through.
Multiply
The red nettle can be propagated with cuttings or seeds.
Seeds
Propagating your own colored nettles with seeds is not recommended. On the one hand, the flower buds must not be cut off; on the other hand, the plants have to spend the summer outdoors so that fertilization can take place. In addition, it is not possible to calculate the colors of the leaves of the new nettles. In addition, this type of propagation is a rather tedious process.
Cuttings
Propagation with cuttings is easy. The ideal time is in summer or autumn. When choosing shoots, it is best to use the following criteria as a guide:
- healthy, strong
- without flower bud
- not too fresh, but a little more robust
- at least two to one of the pairs of leaves with particularly characteristic coloring / drawing
- Length to stick: about ten centimeters
For rooting, the head cuttings are either placed in a glass with water or directly in the substrate. The following applies to both methods: If the reproduction takes place in summer, the young plants can spend the remaining time outdoors. For autumn propagation, place the plants on a light window sill. For them, the outdoor season doesn't start until next year.
Method of water glass
- Fill a suitable glass with lukewarm water
- Remove the lower pair of leaves from the cutting
- Leaves must not come into contact with the water (risk of rot)
- place in a bright place (without direct sunlight)
- Change the water every few days
After one to two weeks at most, the cutting should have roots. When this has reached a length of about five centimeters, you can put it in a pot of standard soil mixed with a little sand.
Method substrate
- Prepare a small pot with standard or potting soil
- Insert the cuttings two to three centimeters deep into the moist substrate
- lower pair of leaves if necessary remove
- place in a bright place without direct sunlight
- Keep the substrate slightly moist
Tip: You can tell whether the propagation was successful when the cutting is forming new leaves.
Pests & Toxicity
Spider mite infestation occasionally occurs in dry and warm air. If you notice the typical webs on the colored nettle, spray the colored leaf with water and / or cut off strongly infested shoots.
The colored nettle is slightly poisonous and not suitable for consumption. The toxicity for dogs and cats is discussed differently. The red nettle can be fatal for small rodents and pet birds.