Okay..thanks
Castor Bean?
Smockette, I agree about any plant being deer-resistant. They stripped a two foot Turks Cap (on the list) of every leaf, but they were generous and left all the stems.
Thanks, Podster, for the info about Mercer. I was unaware of a seed exchange.
I will search for it... I came across their link on seed exchange thread. No guarantee they do but worth checking with them. If I find the link, I will post it.
Thank you sooooo much!
how do you handle such deadly piosonous plants?
Jester ~ if I am not mistaken the only way this is poisonous is to ingest the seeds. Not sure about the foliage on the castor bean. Due to the ricin scare, we are made more aware of this.
Many foliages, blooms and roots on many other plants are toxic. We just aren't warned as frequently.
The only thing I do when handling this plant or seeds is to be careful to wash hands afterward. The major warning is to keep out of the hands of children who put things in their mouths or pets... or idiots like those ricin terrorists.
I was very surprised to see so many common plants that are toxic to animals when I worked for a vet years ago. But if your child or animal doesn't have a chewing habit, it wouldn't be a problem. Take a look........
http://www.hsus.org/pets/pet_care/protect_your_pet_from_common_household_dangers/common_poisonous_plants.html
Plants like common privet, holly, morning glory, english ivy, and others that are everywhere. They have been there since I was a kid and many a dog and cat, and kids have lived through it....amazing! Of course we never had seat belts when I was young either.
Nope ~ just my Mothers arm shooting out to catch those of us standing on the front seat. A wonder we survived... LOL
Yes, they do advise to wear gloves when handling castor bean trees, but that's almost like asking cooks to use measuring spoons. I haven't died yet.
Rj
I raise cycads, the seeds of cycads are also deadly poison. Still I am afraid of the castor bean.
I don't worry about handling them, I prune them, rip off leaves, dig in the ground around the roots and also do the leaf molds out of them all bare handed. I haven't been bothered at all, but then I am rarely bothered by poison oak, nor do I have any allergies. I also am a smoker and at first I was a bit cautious about working with them and then lighting up, but don’t worry about it now. I do think it is ingesting the seed that is so poisonous.
Our neighbor has cows and was able to reach through the fence and chewed on one, though I noticed he only took a couple of bites and left it alone. Any of my other plants they can get to they eat as much as they can reach. I was worried he would get sick and who know what but he is just fine. My neighbor says they usually know what they can and can't eat.
Made it to Sylvia's via Mitch's!!!
Will get her to download the pixs of the one BIG one @ the Farm.
Got seeds & will get more as they mature!
Got 3 good pixs, hopefully, to air tomorrow!!
:~)
This is my first year with Castor's, do you cut them back to the ground, or leave part of the stalk?
As promised.....
The whole bunch....
This is the seeds still on the 'vine'. lol
OMG i am sitting here drooling at all the lovely plants...i already had these on my want list and then you have to go and show me so many different kinds; i spotted one at a house at a neighboring town and hope to find out who has the house to see if i can get some seeds....; when does one get seeds? do they need to dry ?
If you notice the third pix, there are ripe seeds & green seeds. I picked some yesterday when I took the pixs & brought them up for the RU tomorrow.
I can pick some more next wk & send you some.
yayayaya!!!! i would love some thank you:) i am in addy exchange...:)
smock...are the seeds that are ready the ones that are big spur like things...or the berry things...; inexperienced gardener here:)
They start out with that kinda spiney outer layer but as they dry that comes off. The beans are smooth & have mangley spots like pintos. How is that for a description? As you see, I am very short in the descriptive adjective area! lol
ok...that helps; thank you:)
Cocoa, are you going to be @ the RU tomorrow @ Randol Mill Park? If so, remind me. I have some with me.
Hope you don't mind a member from a neighboring state popping in
for a few moments.
LouC, in looking up castor beans, I found this thread, imagine meeting
you here! With regard to your post "It is now illegal to sell the seed..can get them
only by trade." May I ask, is that only in Texas? I've never heard of such
a law and cannot find any such information. Could you please tell me where
you obtained this information?
Many thanks,
Karen Marie
wuvie...amazing meeting you here:)
Tried to buy them all last year. The nurseries told me they had been banned because of the ability to make poison from the seed. "Ricin". It is what was used a few years ago when they had all the mailings to several high profile people. Caused many post offices to be totally closed down while they decontaminated in the event the powder had leaked during mailing. I finally got mine this summer from a pass-a-long.
LouC
Hi Sticks,
I'm a BIG fan of castor beans. While randomly putting various
things into the search box, I happened to look out the window.
Thought I would check on Castor Beans, and wa-la!
Hi Louc,
I wonder if the nursery just went along with what was believed
to be a law. If toxicity were reason to stop selling plants and
seeds, there would be blank spots in just about every garden. ;-)
I agree with that. Maybe because this was what was actually ID'd that gave the scare.
wuvie...i am going to grow caster this year...but have admired it for a while...
Do castor beans grow as perennials in Texas?
We have, to date, never had a castor bean live year to year. They
look like spinach on a stick after the first frost. We're in zone 7-ish.
Oddly enough, a man from way up north claimed his are perennials,
that he simply mulches well.
Any thoughts on this?
:-) KM
We need to ck with TARogers. He lives in OK & surely has grown these @ one time or another. I know they are perennials in FtW area.
Ck above I have seeds that I am willing to send for a SASE.
LMK
:~)
I found a pretty good article on Ricin after the thread touched on it.
http://www.policeandsecuritynews.com/marApr04/RicinToxin.htm
Worth reading through... A lot of good info.
Reading some other resources I read:
When CBs are processed for oil, the toxic effect is processed out with it.
I have always loved these plants... never grew one. It was either that or the Candle tree, and guess who won?
KM I saw your site when doing some searches on Castor Bean, you have a nice selection. Good price for the seeds too! Here in Fort Worth people who mulch good, and protect from cold, will get the same plant back. I have been able to perennialize a lot they say are natives this way. So far Candletree is the one I can not do that with, but I am going to try one more time this year with the one on the South side of the house. This year it rose to 9-10 ft, so the roots are a lot deeper.
Anyway, I am learning the finer line of perennializing many plants some say are annuals in this zone.
debnes
This message was edited Oct 29, 2007 1:30 PM
Debnes I would love to see a photo on your huge Candletree. Sounds amazing!
Hi Debnes,
Many thanks for your compliments. :-)
While I have yet to visit your link, I came across a rather
interesting one myself earlier.
http://www.globalsecurity.org/org/nsn/nsn-040206.htm
Basically, it states that while we should have concern for
any item with toxicity, the media's 'ad nauseum' warnings,
if you will, often cause paranoia instead of educating.
Very interesting read.
KM
Whoops, forgot to mention, it is the bottom half of the link.
KM
Here is Candletree all abloom with candles> about a month ago.
And podster> Here it is today with blooms going to seed, :-). More to go around for next year... Seeds anyone?
debnes
Ooh, that is a nice one indeed! Debnes, will this
particular plant grow well in Oklahoma?
KM