A Gardeners Forum Forums Gardening Reference Gardening in 2007 Starting coleus in water or vermiculite

I used to put coleus cuttings in city water and they rooted in a week or two. We moved to the house next door which has well water and my cuttings have not rooted after a month in water. Could it be my water or my light? I tried starting them in a south window like in my old house, but they wilted badly. What if I put them under fluorescent lights?

I've also tried rooting hormone and vermiculite under a greenhouse lid, but the cuttings always seem to wilt and die. I've had better luck with the water method. Any ideas what I'm doing wrong? Coleus are supposed to be so easy to propagate.

I always started my Coleus in water and never had a problem either. They would develop some nice roots in a week or two. Of course, I've always had city water, so I don't know well water would make any difference. I would put mine in the east window and it was pretty shaded but they still rooted. Hey, maybe you could go next door and borrow a couple of jugs of their water.