Coleus in Hanging Baskets

I often wonder how many people use coleus for hanging baskets? We use hanging baskets a lot here at Rosy Dawn Gardens. All of our trailing and mounding coleus are kept in them and they do marvelously with the good light and air circulation. Of course, we are pinching and cutting on them all the time, but that only makes them more lush and beautiful. Three or four starter plants, depending on how vigorous the variety of coleus, will create a gigantic hanging basket by the end of summer. Some of the trailing coleus, like Trailing Burgundy, will create long ropes, while others like Trailing Garnet Robe, Trailing Rose, and Trailing Plum Brocade will spread horizontally. Mounding coleus, such as Purple Duckfoot, Charlie McCarthy, Black Lace, and Cantigney Royale will create a virtual ball of foliage. Pinching out the growing tips and not allowing the plant to bloom is the key to having a good shape for your hanging coleus basket. (Blooming coleus will be covered in a post coming very soon)
Make sure you hang your coleus basket where it is convenient to water one or more times a day. A hot, breezy summer day, even if the basket is hanging under the eaves of a building, will require you to water more frequently than a cloudy, rainy day. A coleus hanging basket, when boosted lightly from the bottom, should feel appropriately heavy. Too light, and it will need watering. Too heavy, and it is being over watered. Many hanging baskets have a reservoir in the the base and if a basket consistently feels too heavy you should regularly tip it sideways a bit to empty the base if it has become waterlogged.
Coleus hanging baskets do well when they are fertilized with a timed release fertilizer or are regularly treated with a liquid fertilizer at half strength. Too much fertilizer can cause lanky growth and affect the color of your coleus. It is also helpful to use a product to improve the retention of moisture in your hanging basket.
Light is an important consideration when considering where to hang your coleus basket. I can think of no instance where a hanging basket of coleus should be placed in full, unrelenting sun. Hanging baskets, by design, do not have a great deal of soil volume so they will be light enough to hang safely. They do not hold enough potting mix to sustain a coleus through a sunny, breezy day without the coleus becoming damaged. Coleus hanging baskets do well under the eaves of a building, it the dappled shade of large trees, or against a fence or wall where it receives some morning sun but is protected from the sun at high noon and in the afternoon when the sun gets hottest. Too much shade is not good for your coleus basket either. Shade will not encourage good color and the growth can become spindly as the coleus reaches for more light. One good thing about hanging baskets is that if they don't seem happy they are easy to move!