I have planted from seed what were suppose to be red castor beans and purple castor beans. They have all thrived! I just can't seem to be able to spot any real difference in the 2 other than the color of the seeds they put out. Am I missing something?
Thanks,
Donna
Red/Purple Castor Bean
I was thinking the same thing! The colors shimmer nicely in the sun tho : )
I've grown both as well (purchased as plants not from seed) and the colors of the leaves were very similar in my opinion.
Me too! The only difference I see is the color of the stems...
Even my purple's stems are so close to the red's, I can't tell any difference really. They are not planted side by side... so I can't compare that way.
Donna
The red will get "darker" as the plant matures.
Whoever is selling you "purple" .. it may really be "red".
But the seeds for the purple are much darker in color than the red. I just started them this year. They grow like wildfire here.
Donna
Here are some pics of the red & purple ones that I had grown in the past--you can see that the leaf color is similar but the seeds are different.
http://www.anniesannuals.com/plants/plant_display.asp?prodid=2092&account=none
http://www.anniesannuals.com/plants/plant_display.asp?prodid=890&account=none
Yup, that's what I see in mine too.
Donna
Then I would ask this question to the person providing you with the seed who should be able to tell you what distinguishes one from the other.
We've already established that the seeds are different colors, to me it makes sense that the red castor bean would be named for its red seeds and the purple one is named for its purple seeds, so there might not be any other noticeable difference between them.