Is it me or is the mix very dry?

99% sure that's not Coleus. Is it Strobilanthes (Persian shield?)

I'll add the 1% to Tiffany's ID! Propagation treatment will be very similar to coleus.

The potting mix does look very dry but only chanel can answer that.

When making cuttings, it's a good idea to reduce leaf surface area by using smaller (shorter sections) and/or cutting the remaining leaves in half. My coleus cuttings are never more than three inches in length, with only a couple of leaves attached. Strobilanthes cutting can be longer, but all but 2 or 3 leaves should be snipped off.

Yeah, I suppose I've been underwatering to avoid overwatering. Thanks all!

I think this may be your plant, Chrysothemis pulchella. If so, it likes some direct sun that's not during the hot part of the day, warm temps, high humidity, loose fertile soil, and goes dormant when I bring inside for winter. Not the faux dormancy described of some plants where they just don't grow, but genuinely dormant in that everything above the tuber shrivels up.

http://garden.org/plants/view/208996/Copper-Leaf-Chrysothemis-pulchella/

If you think that is your plant, it would not like to become dry. And it is a gesneriad: http://www.gesneriadsociety.org/conv_97/award_html/08.html 

The best way to avoid overwatering, in general for any plants, is to not use soil that could contribute to that happening, instead using a soil that's too airy to cause roots to suffocate, die, then rot. Unless a plant was literally sitting in water, that's what has happened when a death is determined to be overwatering. Roots need oxygen & moisture at the same time to function. Unless one has a cactus that genuinely digs occasions when soil is truly dry, letting that happen to plants that need consistent moisture to avoid overwatering is a poor substitute, and unnecessary additional stress, a vicious downward spiral of yo-yo'ing between the adversities of sometimes moist w/o oxygen, and other times with no moisture in order to have some oxygen... which can't be used w/o moisture. W/o a crystal ball, those are unnecessarily tough conditions to finagle through.

(And the cactus, though not terribly unhappy about its' dry times, could also be drastically helped by having as much oxygen as possible while moist. Airless soil isn't good for any plants' roots.)

Tiffany couldn't have said it better. With a fast draining soil, you have a far less chance of ever rotting a plant. I am learning all the time, but way back when I was a rank beginner, I killed a few plants to root rot. But this was because they were in heavy soil! I noticed it took FOREVER for the soil to dry out, but it didn't dawn on me that they were in the wrong mix, and that this would eventually kill the plant. After those experiences, I went to underwatering, without realizing it, for fear of root rot. Well, I killed quite a few plants that way too! I was grossly underwatering because of my fear. I could never keep hoyas, and now I know why. They died of thirst! I now have ten hoyas, and all are perfectly healthy, thriving and growing. The reason is, they are in a fast draining, and I water them much more often than I did before. About once every 4 days in summer. and they are in 4" pots. The key is a light, fast draining soil, and then it's pretty hard to over water, unless, of course, you get really carried away. I use a combo of Miracle Gro, perlite (close to equal parts) and a half handful of orchid bark.