These were from many years ago..before I knew how to grow castor beans.They got 16 feet tall before they quit growing.The tip of the garage roof is 14 feet.Theres a secret to grow em this tall....shhhhhh! LOL The guy in the front is a friend of mine he is 5'8"
Okay, spit it out. We all want great castor beans this year. :-)
Yah - spill it Eclipse!
Do tell! You can't just leave us hanging.
Especially for those of us who can't stay up past 10 p.m. anymore LOL... It's got to be the weather.
are you all in suspense yet??? Boy can't keep no secrets around here......Sheesh! You have to pinch out the flower stalk as soon as it start to grow..the plant will add more growth to replace the flowers....you keep doing this till you can't reach them anymore!
Kyle is that the african?Nice job,I have never had them that tall,close but not Quite
rootdoctor they ALL are basically African in origin.....LOL
Ricnus is Latin for 'TICK' the seeds look like bloated little ticks!I have one kind from Thailand that they use the seeds for necklaces's they look real pretty..kinda like a gold and silver opal.
Thank you Kyle! What a clever idea.
Now I can go to bed, LOL. I'm such a light weight lately.
Thanks for that little tidbit. Now, I'm ready to grow them. How soon can they be started or does it make a difference if they are started in a pot v. the ground?
I have one that is trying to Bloom now,guess I'll give it a nip,I was told the Reds where South american and the green stemed the africans,I'll let you school me on this,LOL,sure hope you saved a seed off those monsters.
brugie I start mine about 6 weeks before they go outside..if kept in a pot too long it stunts them to a certain extent.
I just started a flat,this was a seed test to see if they were good,sure nuff,I can't believe the ones I started yesterday are cracking the husk today.
Woe...those Castor oil plants are Massive!!! Mine only grew to about 4ft tall! I've had some flower at 1ft tall LOL
I have one growing glade they will get that tall would love to hide the veiw of my hillbilly neighbors car parts in his back yard
Bruno, Ireland is too cool for castor beans to get real tall..they love heat and humidity..and we get both in summer. :-)
Liz, are you on this forum....oh my Gosh!!!!!!!!! and these seeds of the huge one..what's it's name again..yikes......am I in trouble!!!!! Kyle, is this for real????? Elaine
Thanks for this picture. It´s amazing how large this plant can grow.
I will give it a try again at a sunny southplace in front of the house.Spider mites will like it..lol.
that is massive, I had one in a little pot, and it turned into a bonzai...I did have some by my fence that got about 5 ft tall. they were absolutely lovely.
Good grief now that is a monster plant! Now I know why mine don't grow very tall, I grew them in pots years ago and they never flowered either.
Thanks for the tip Kyle!!
Plant them in the ground(if you want them big!) water and feed often and pinch out the tip.Also if you want to keep the forms pure only grow one variety each year or make sure they are at least a city block apart.They can be wind pollinated..the pollen blows in the slightest breeze. :-)
And yes the picture is for real...I don't doctor pictures. only myself!!LOL :-)
This is a pic of the Castor Bean 'Zanzibariensis' I grew last year. We have a 2 story house and it almost reached the eaves on the second story.
The result gave me an idea for planting some of my Brugs this year. I will use the Castor Beans to give shade from the hot noonday sun by planting them on the south side of some Brugs in a sunny location. The foliage on the Castors is open enough to still allow dappled shade and this will allow me to plant in locations I could not use before. :)
Unfortunately, this one got touched by frost the day I took this pic.
I think thats a great idea RA sould help them out a lot
This is across the street from me last summer,my seeds.He had a Datura that got huge also.
Robert your nieghborhood looks like LA!!!! Wait till this summer!Heres another pic of Red Spire.
I love the green/red contrast in the planting. Also like the idea of using castors to help shade brugs, especially when there is a lack of shade in the beds. Might have to try that myself.
All these pictures! You guys twisted my arm. I just moved my "Carmencita Red" seeds into the 'to be planted' box. LOL
Alright Badseed since we are teasin ya,one more of my front.
So what do you do with them in the winter? They look like you'd need a front end loader to get the roots out?
We grow them every year from seed as annuals Liz,it can be fun pulling roots out.:}
It was the roots that I was worried about. LOL
Eclipse, I was out of town, I'll reply tonight to your email.
See my truck Liz,I put a tow strap on them this year,No problem :)
Liz Ok.. :-)
