Son "got" a plant from a teacher at school (well he got two) his
teacher's has died, the one he gave to next door is still alive and
pretty healthy but the one in his greenhouse is doing really well, it is
117CM tall (despite (because of?) getting pretty much ignored it is
doing better than next doors which is pretty much a house plant).
Thing is; he 'believes' it dies of every year, can anyone identify
the plant and how we would go about getting a cutting from it?
Instructions in words of one syllable please as I am no gardener and
son doesn't know any real terms.

http://www.sidtech.co.uk/iu/soup15528396654.JPG

"soup" wrote in message
om...
Son "got" a plant from a teacher at school (well he got two) his
teacher's has died, the one he gave to next door is still alive and pretty
healthy but the one in his greenhouse is doing really well, it is 117CM
tall (despite (because of?) getting pretty much ignored it is doing better
than next doors which is pretty much a house plant).
Thing is; he 'believes' it dies of every year, can anyone identify the
plant and how we would go about getting a cutting from it?
Instructions in words of one syllable please as I am no gardener and son
doesn't know any real terms.

http://www.sidtech.co.uk/iu/soup15528396654.JPG

Looks like a rather nice form of Coleus to me...

See.. http://www.botany.com/coleus.html

Cuttings are easy, cut the stem off just under a leaf and trim off the lower
leaves.
Either...1.Place so the bottom few cm's of stem are in a glass of water and
await roots then pot up into compost as normal.
or...2 push the bottom few cm's of stem into a small pot of damp compost,
do not let it dry out. Repot when you see roots coming out the bottom of the
pot.

You can use hormone rooting compound to speed up things but it shouldn't be
required.

--
Regards
Bob Hobden
just W. of London

On 2009-08-28 17:20:27 +0100, soup said:

Son "got" a plant from a teacher at school (well he got two) his
teacher's has died, the one he gave to next door is still alive and
pretty healthy but the one in his greenhouse is doing really well, it
is 117CM tall (despite (because of?) getting pretty much ignored it is
doing better than next doors which is pretty much a house plant).
Thing is; he 'believes' it dies of every year, can anyone identify
the plant and how we would go about getting a cutting from it?
Instructions in words of one syllable please as I am no gardener and
son doesn't know any real terms.

http://www.sidtech.co.uk/iu/soup15528396654.JPG

Looks like a Coleus and properly looked after indoors should come up
every year but will be killed off by frost in the garden. Find some
non-flowering shoots, or take flowers right off any top cuttings, and
take cuttings about 3" long just below a node (knobbly bit on stem)
take off most lower leaves leaving a couple or three at the top and put
5 round the rim of a pot filled with a good cuttings compost. Plant
them 2 or 3 nodes deep. Keep in a warm place and just damp, not
saturated. Once the new plants have rooted, pot them on individually
into e.g. 9cm pots and again, don't over-water them.
--
Sacha
www.hillhousenursery.com
Shrubs & perennials. Tender & exotics.
South Devon

"soup" wrote in message
om...
Son "got" a plant from a teacher at school (well he got two) his
teacher's has died, the one he gave to next door is still alive and pretty
healthy but the one in his greenhouse is doing really well, it is 117CM
tall (despite (because of?) getting pretty much ignored it is doing better
than next doors which is pretty much a house plant).
Thing is; he 'believes' it dies of every year, can anyone identify the
plant and how we would go about getting a cutting from it?
Instructions in words of one syllable please as I am no gardener and son
doesn't know any real terms.

http://www.sidtech.co.uk/iu/soup15528396654.JPG

It is a Coleus (now often called Solenostemon). I'm sure your son would
prefer Coleus (pronounced Ko-lee-uss).

It can be kept alive over winter. It needs good light and reduced watering.
It is very easy to take cuttings. It is years since I did it, but I used to
cut off a healthy shoot and place in water until it rooted. Your son
should cut off as many healthy shoots as he wants cuttings: it is important
to remove the shoot from the plant just above a joint where leaves are
attached. He should then trim the lower leaves from his cutting and also
cut the stem off cleanly just below that lower leaf joint (called a leaf
node) so that roots can grow from that node. Simply put them in a jar of
water so that the prepared leaf joint is below water. Stand the jar of
cuttings on a well-lit (but not hot and sunny) window sill and wait for them
to root. When rooted, pot them up. I would used John Innes No2 with added
grit or perlite. Certainly water them well to settle them in the compost,
then pour any excess water away. As I said, reduce watering over winter
(unless you're keeping it in a really warm place), then start to increase
watering in spring.

You can also grow new plants from seed. I never did this, but it is
reputedly very easy. You may not have collected seed from the dead flowers,
but you could do this another year. If you don't intend to use seed, it is
worth promptly removing dead flowers so the plant doesn't waste energy on
seed production.

Hope this helps.
Spider