Castor beans, which are easy to grow from seeds, are liked by many gardeners because of their exotic and decorative appearance. This plant can decorate almost any area.

If you create optimal conditions for the growth of castor beans, then over time it will turn into a palm-shaped plant, which will differ from the rest in height and originality. How to grow castor beans?

Description of castor bean

Thanks to castor beans, you can create something like subtropics on a small piece of land. This plant is quite powerful in appearance and can withstand even the most difficult conditions. Caring for castor beans does not cause any particular difficulties.

Plant name - castor bean. However, it unites many varieties and varieties of this plant, which have certain differences. First of all, this concerns color and shape.

Such an abundance of varieties indicates that this plant has been grown for a long time in different countries with completely different climatic conditions. Currently this plant considered the most popular and is grown in many countries. Its homeland is Africa.

Type of castor bean plant

At home, this plant is grown as a perennial. In other countries, castor beans are used only to create original landscape designs. Here it is an annual plant that can grow up to 5 meters in height.

Externally, this plant has enough powerful stem and large leaves, which resemble maple foliage. To get an original garden plot, it is not necessary to plant a plantation. Just a few plants are enough. It is worth considering that castor oil grows quickly and strongly.

How to choose a landing site

This plant is propagated by planting seeds. Growing it is not difficult.

The main thing is to grow and care for the seedlings properly. First of all, you should choose a suitable place for a plant on your site.

In this case, you should adhere to the following rules:

1. Choose an area with loose and nutritious soil that is well moistened and cultivated. It is best to use black soil. There must be good drainage.
2. The site should be located on the sunny side. The plant requires a large amount of light.
3. The site must be protected from the wind on all sides. Castor bean feels uncomfortable in a draft. This is reflected in her growth.

When to plant seeds

Castor bean seeds are far from uncommon. It won't be difficult to purchase them. Planting material should be planted according to the following scheme: to obtain seedlings - from March to April, in open ground - around May.

The most popular method is growing seedlings. After receiving high-quality planting material, you can begin planting in open ground. The advantage of this method is that young plants can be planted on the site immediately after the frost has passed.

Before planting seeds, keep in mind that castor beans grow very quickly. To avoid further injury to the roots, the seeds should be plant in small containers separately.

To ensure that the planting material rises well, experts recommend that before planting place seeds in water for a day. They should only be soaked in warm water. In this case, the fluid must be constantly changed. Water should always be fresh.

In order for the root system of plants to be well established in the soil, seeds should be placed in containers at a depth of 2-6 centimeters. Caring for the plant is quite simple.

Containers after planting castor bean seeds should be cover with dark cellophane. After this, the pots with future seedlings should be placed on a windowsill that is well lit. There is no need to water the soil regularly. This can ruin the seedlings. You should not do this either before or after landing. When the first shoots appear, you can moisten the soil.

You can replant sprouted plants as soon as the nights become warmer. You should not plant castor beans before the spring frosts have passed. The plants will simply die.

Do not forget that castor seedlings are very tender. Repotting can greatly affect the condition of the plants. Therefore, you need to work carefully.

Planting seeds in open ground

This is another equally popular planting method. It is worth noting that this method has its own characteristics. They should be taken into account. Otherwise, the plants will die.

First of all, you need to wait until frosts will pass completely. The air temperature at night should not fall below 12 °C. Planting in open ground is carried out according to the following scheme:

• Seed preparation. The oily film that covers castor bean seeds is quite dense. Therefore, each seed should be processed. To do this, you need to walk over the surface of the planting material with sandpaper. This will allow the sprouts to germinate much faster. This period will be up to 3 weeks.
• Planting seeds. Castor beans should be planted in well-warmed soil. The depth of the holes should be 2−10 centimeters. It is recommended to place several seeds in one hole.

Rules of care

No one takes care of the castor bean, which grows in its homeland - Africa, but our lands and climate are alien to this beautiful foreigner.

Therefore, if you decide to grow such “palm trees” on your site, make sure that the plants receive everything they need for development and growth.

High-quality and complete care is the key to a beautiful and healthy plant. The main thing is to follow a few basic rules:

• good watering;
• draft protection;
• sufficient amount of light;
• high-quality fertilizers and timely fertilizing;
• compliance with temperature conditions.

Castor beans grow very quickly from seeds. Main, follow the watering rules. It must be timely. Experts recommend watering castor beans once every five days. Up to 10 liters of water should be poured under each bush.

After such watering, all weeds can be removed. Young shoots will only be grateful for this. It is worth noting that good watering is very important for these plants during the period of seed ripening, as well as when flower stalks appear. Castor beans grow throughout the summer season.

For castor beans to be strong, it is necessary feed her in a timely manner. In this case, the characteristics of the plant should be taken into account. Here are some rules:

1. Nitrogen fertilizers should be applied before castor beans begin to bloom.
2. Potassium-phosphorus additives should be added to the soil when the plant begins to lay clusters of flowers.

Pests and diseases dangerous to castor beans

Castor bean is a strong plant that can withstand attacks from many pests. However, there are situations when the plant begins to get sick.

As for insects, castor beans are often attacked by sand lances, meadow moths, fall armyworm caterpillars, pseudowireworms and wireworms.

They can harm young shoots. The plant should be protected from these insects in cases where the seeds are planted in the ground. Often, castor bean boxes are attacked by meadow bugs during the flowering period.

Caterpillars are not difficult to deal with. If there are few insects, they can be collected by hand. If there are a lot of them, then it is necessary additionally treat plants. For this you can use an infusion of wormwood.

To prepare, grind the herb and add water to it. You need to fill a third of the bucket with raw materials. Water must be poured to the very edges. This remedy needs to be infused for several days.

You can protect castor beans from pests in another way. It is enough to place it near it planting with herbs, for example, with parsley, mint, dill, coriander, garlic and onion.

To protect seedlings from wireworms, you should treat the holes during planting potassium permanganate solution.

Castor bean is a non-capricious plant that is easy to care for. However, it is worth monitoring the condition of the plant. Castor beans are susceptible to infection by diseases such as:

• Fungal diseases.
• Powdery mildew.
• Late blight.
• Phyllosticosis.
• Cercosporiosis, bacteriosis, black, gray and pink rot.

To protect the plantings, you should treat them with Bordovsky mixture. In addition, other drugs can be used, but with a similar mechanism of action.

When to plant this plant and how to do it correctly at home, we’ll talk in this article.

About castor beans

Castor bean - powerful a spreading plant with maple-like leaves. In the wild, it is a perennial plant up to 10 meters high. In an annual culture it reaches T three meters. But for it to become such a giant, it has to be grown by seedlings in our middle zone climate.

In mid-summer, future inflorescences appear from the axils of the leaves, usually the upper ones. Flowers, small red fluffy balls, collected in clusters, are formed by August, located along the entire length of the raceme, with females in the upper part and males in the lower part.

By the very end of summer, the seeds ripen, enclosed in boxes 2-3 cm in size, similar to balls, covered with thick prickly thorns. From germination to complete ripening of the seeds on the central cluster, it takes from 90 to 120 days.

Outwardly, they are very reminiscent of large beans or mites. Oblong, brown with dark stripes, smooth on one side and slightly rough on the other. Hence the name of the plant.

Remember: despite the fact that castor oil is made from castor bean seeds, they are poisonous without special industrial processing!

Castor bean seeds

Photo: castor bean seeds for growing

Collection, storage and germination

In order for the seeds to ripen, you need to remove all the clusters with flowers, leaving only one.

Collect seed pods just before frost. As a rule, the seeds do not have time to ripen on the plant itself, so they need to be allowed to lie in a dry place for about a month.

Some sources advise keeping them unhulled until planting. Can be stored in winter in any way: both in boxes and taken out of them. The main thing is to keep moisture out.

The shelf life of seeds is up to 4 years.

You can also buy them in the store, usually there are five or six pieces in a bag. But many gardeners claim that homemade ones grow better.

If you are not sure about the germination of homemade seeds, then this is easy to check. You just need to wrap a few pieces in a wet soft rag, put them in a plastic bag and put them in a warm place, regularly wetting the fabric. Living seeds will sprout.

Oddly enough, if you plant these seedlings, they will sprout much later than those planted without germination.

When growing this plant you may encounter some problems:

• low germination;
• seeds do not germinate for a long time;
• The seedlings are very stretched.

It is not always possible to solve the problem of low germination, although there are techniques that will be discussed below. Therefore, when planning planting, one must take into account that on average, out of 10 seeds, 5-6 sprout. And it doesn’t matter whether it’s homemade or store-bought.

Preparing seeds and substrate

The optimal time for planting seeds for seedlings is late March - early April. Plants become very elongated due to lack of light, and during this period the daylight hours are already long enough for the seedlings to have enough natural light. But, as experience shows, individual specimens still stretch beyond the norm.

When planted in April, castor beans manage to grow up to 2.5–3 meters over the summer.

Some gardeners, trying to get a more powerful plant, plant seeds in early March. In this case, it is necessary to use artificial lighting, increasing the daylight hours to at least 10 hours, otherwise the seedlings will not only stretch out, but being very weak, they may die.

In addition, by the beginning of June the height of such seedlings can reach one meter. And it has to be replanted repeatedly into a large container, and even after planting in the garden, it takes a long time to take root, and plants planted at a later date often manage to catch up with it.

The soil for planting should consist of equal parts

- humus,

- leaf and

- turf land;

But this is ideal, but in practice, the seeds can be planted in a mixture of prepared garden soil and purchased soil for seedlings in the fall.

Remember! The substrate should be quite loose.

There is experience in planting seeds in peat pots. They are convenient for replanting, but peat dries out quickly, and the plant may die if you just skip this moment, so it is better to put the pots in a container and keep them constantly moist.

Remember: even if the seeds are sown early, castor beans in our climate almost never grow more than three meters!

Planting seeds

Before landing, you need to do the following:

• carefully examine each seed and discard soft and very small ones. The seeds must be large enough, smooth and dense;

• they are needed scarify (break the shell mechanically), to do this, just rub with sandpaper ─ the hard shell will be damaged, water can get inside when soaking and the germination time will noticeably decrease - the sprout will develop faster;

• Further necessary soak in Epin or Heteroauxin for 12-14 hours. You can soak them in ordinary water, but then you need to keep them for about a day. .

Castor bean roots do not like transplantation, the plant suffers for a long time, and a young, recently sprouted plant may die. That's why Each seed must be planted in a separate container. She must be

• large and deep enough so that there is no need for replanting, it is better to take a container of 3-5 liters;

• have a drainage hole: castor beans must be watered abundantly, but the water should not stagnate, otherwise the root system will rot;

• should be made of a material that is easy to cut when transplanting the plant into the ground, so as not to damage the earthen ball with roots. For this purpose, many flower lovers cut large plastic containers to the required size, for example, three-liter containers for vegetable oil. .

Some gardeners put two or three seeds in each container and then plant them together on the site to form a more lush bush. In this case, you need to take a wider container.

You can, by sowing two or three seeds together, gradually cull out weak plants, removing them, and leaving only one of the strongest. But you need to remove the excess ones not by pulling them out, but by carefully cutting them off with scissors.

Remember: castor seedlings develop very quickly, and the container for them should be large enough so that replanting is not required!

Landing algorithm:

• pour up to half the soil into the container so that you can add soil as the plant grows ─ castor oil tolerates deepening well;

• bury the seeds one and a half to two cm into the ground;

• place in a sunny place.

Growing seedlings

If everything is done correctly, seedlings appear in 5-10 days. But without soaking and scarification, seeds can germinate for up to three weeks, while their germination rate is noticeably reduced.

In castor beans, sprouts up to 5 centimeters immediately appear from the bursting seed.

Seedling care

As soon as the cotyledon leaves appear, they need to be thoroughly sprayed with warm water from a spray bottle and gently wiped to remove the sticky peel, otherwise the plant may rot.

After the true leaf appears, the seedlings must be moved to a cool, very bright place with a temperature of about 15 degrees so that they do not stretch out.

Care required:

1. Add soil regularly as it grows.
2. Water very abundantly, avoiding stagnation of water.
3. Constantly turn over so that the seedlings do not become askew.
4. If necessary, install a support.
5. Avoid overcooling the roots - do not place containers on a concrete surface.
6. The lower leaves may fall off - this will not spoil the appearance of the grown plant.

Seedlings can be watered with Atlet to prevent them from overgrowing.

Attention: castor bean seeds should not be planted together with edible plants. Otherwise they will also be poisonous.

Seeds can be sown in open ground in mid-May, but in this case, if there is a threat of frost, the sprouted plants must be covered. They can germinate at a temperature of 10-12 degrees.

The technology for preparing for planting remains the same as for planting seedlings. But in the middle zone she does not have time to reach the desired size even at seedling planting method. Nevertheless, the bushes that a plant planted in the ground forms are very decorative and in warm summers reach sizes of more than one meter.

It is also good to sow in a greenhouse specially built above the plantings. This can be done as early as the end of April. Such seedlings are the strongest.

Remember: all work with castor beans must be done only with gloves. The plant is poisonous!

Choosing a place to plant castor seedlings

Photo: planting castor seedlings in a prepared place

When deciding where to plant castor beans, you need to take into account the size of the plant. In order for it to look good and grow tall and spreading, you need to leave a space of about a meter in radius. If two or three plants are planted in one place at once to form a bush, then the space increases to one and a half meters.

Castor bean grows and develops well in sunny places protected from the wind.

Feels good on the eastern and southeastern sides. It also develops in partial shade. But in bright light the leaves acquire a glossy reddish tint, and without an abundance of sun they become juicy. green.

Plants are arranged in different ways, options:

1. along the perimeter of the site to create a hedge (in this case you can plant at a smaller distance from each other, approximately 80 cm in radius);
2. in the center of a flower bed or lawn as tapeworm plants;
3. in single plantings throughout the site;
4. before entering the house.

Attention: you cannot plant castor beans together with other tall flowers and shrubs, there they lose their attractiveness!

For all its height, the root system of the plant is not very powerful, although it has a fairly large tap root. It can be planted in a flowerpot; it should not be wide, but deep enough, and we must not forget about fertilizing and abundant watering. Of course, it will not reach a height of three meters, but it will form a nice bush about one and a half to two meters.

Before the onset of frost, castor beans can be brought into the house, it will grow, after all by nature perennial, but due to lack of light the leaves will fall off. But then the plant will be covered with leaves again.

Remember: with single plantings, castor beans may need support!

Fertilizer

Cultivation of castor beans It works well on fertile soils, so before planting, organic fertilizer is applied to the ground. A hole is dug, manure is laid and covered with a layer of earth of about 40 centimeters. A plant will be planted on top. You can sprinkle the soil with ash.

Further feeding is also important for castor beans. Once every two weeks throughout the summer it should be watered with complex fertilizer for flowering plants.

• put some broken bricks on the bottom for drainage and lightly sprinkle with earth;
• carefully cut the container;
• get a plant;
• if it is in a peat pot, then the substrate needs to be kneaded so that it is soft enough;
• put it in a hole so that the lump drops 5-6 centimeters below ground level;
• cover the plant with soil so that part of the stem, 5-6 cm, is in the ground;
• water generously;
• if necessary, install a support;

Remember: you can apply the first fertilizing after planting only after two weeks!

Castor beans need to be watered abundantly all summer. On average, about a bucket of water is poured under each plant. Without such watering, the plant will not reach the desired height and decorativeness.

At proper cultivation of castor beans from seeds, she will delight the eye all summer.

Only plants grown by seedlings can produce seeds in our climate.

Very useful video, be sure to watch!

For those who want castor beans to decorate their plot, growing from seeds, when to plant and how to grow is a pressing issue.

Reproduction of this plant occurs exclusively by seeds.

The germination percentage is no more than 60. Therefore, you need to prepare double the amount of beans for planting.

If more seedlings sprout, you can get rid of them in any available way.

Before starting the sowing campaign, planting material must be prepared to facilitate germination. The bean shell is very strong, which is a serious obstacle to the formation of sprouts.

To eliminate this factor, the day before planting, the seeds are peeled, treated with coarse sandpaper and immersed in a growth stimulator solution. Overnight, the shell will swell, saturated with moisture, and become soft and pliable.

You can plant castor bean seeds in the following ways:

1. Directly into the ground in the place where the plant will sprout and grow throughout the warm season.

Planting should be done in late April or early May, when the soil is sufficiently warm. First you need to study the weather forecast for the next month.

Ricina is afraid of low temperatures. Even one overnight frost can destroy the seedlings.

A hole 30-40 cm deep is dug in the ground. 2-3 beans are dropped into it - this is enough for at least 1 sprout to sprout.

The grains are covered with fertile soil, which is slightly compacted. Until the emergence of seedlings, the planting site must be watered abundantly daily.

1. By pre-growing seedlings.

You can start growing it at the end of March, when the daylight hours are sufficient for normal plant development.

You can grow seedlings in ordinary plastic bottles with the top part cut off and holes drilled in the bottom.

The container is half filled with black soil, into which one bean is buried 2-3 centimeters at a time.

The soil in the container should always be sufficiently moist. But you should not be overzealous with watering. Mold may appear in damp soil, which will destroy the plant.

As a rule, seedlings appear already 3-4 days after planting. After this, the plant should be placed on the windowsill, where it will receive energy from the sun.

As the height of the stem increases, soil must be poured into the container until it is completely filled. Transplantation into open ground should be carried out after warm and dry weather has established.

In order to protect the root system of young castor beans from weeds, it is recommended to use geotextile fiber. They reinforce the hole for seedlings and cover the surface of the earth around the trunk of the seedling.

This is how nature created that the castor bean plant is both useful and very dangerous at the same time. Its large seeds contain up to 60% oil, contain proteins up to 17% and a very toxic substance - ricin. A smaller composition contains another toxic alkaloid - ricinin.

Toxic substances are not only found in the seeds, they are contained in the entire plant: stems, leaves, inflorescences, roots. And castor bean is one of the most poisonous plants among seed plants.

You can become poisoned by ingesting seeds or leaves; even inhaling seed powder affects the lungs. The poisons ricin and ricinin are so strong that a slight delay and untimely contact with a doctor completely disrupts the water-electrolyte balance in the body, which leads to death after 5-6 days. And even those people who are lucky and survive, they will not be able to fully restore their health.

This is the insidiousness of the protoplasmic poison - ricin, which leads to irreversible processes, destroying proteins at the level of ribosomes in human tissues.

Toxins present in the greenery of the bush (leaves and stems) also suppress the synthesis of proteins in the intestinal wall, and proteins are building materials - bricks, without which the intestinal walls disintegrate.

Signs of poisoning appear after a few hours: the skin turns yellow, pain and burning appear in the abdomen, with nausea and vomiting. Headaches, weakness, cramps, slow heart rate...

You must not hesitate for a minute; at the first sign of poisoning, run to the doctor or call an ambulance. While waiting for the doctor, the patient, if possible, should be given first aid - gastric lavage and a warm heating pad placed on the stomach.

The period of flowering and fruiting of castor beans

Pollination of the plant occurs due to the wind, and the flowers grow in an unusual way. Along the length of the vertical inflorescence there are groups of flowers - female at the top of the stem and male at the bottom of the plant. Castor beans, grown from seedlings, will not only be powerful, but will also produce a lot of seeds.

After the flowers have faded, they are replaced by prickly balls, which are the fruits of the castor bean. At the same time, a fairly large number of seeds ripen inside each fruit. If the summer period is not too rainy and warm enough, the plant will bloom until the first frost.

If there is constant rain in the summer, the castor bean fruits begin to rot and you cannot count on collecting your own seeds. The castor bean plant that blooms has a very beautiful and unusual appearance. To obtain high-quality seed, a few of the most powerful upper inflorescences are left, and it is advisable to tear off the rest.

How to collect castor bean seeds?

The ripening of seed occurs in seed pods. The process begins as soon as the castor bean has flowered. If the summer is hot, then, as mentioned earlier, flowering occurs before the onset of autumn cold, so there will be a lot of seeds. In the case of a cold summer, the plant blooms less often and therefore the time for collecting seed should not be missed.

The seeds are removed from the capsules hidden under the prickly shell and dried for 2 weeks. At this point, the preparation of seed for the next season can be considered complete

It is very important to keep the seeds out of the reach of children, as they are poisonous and in large quantities very dangerous to human health. Moreover, if you do not neglect minimal safety measures, then there is nothing to be afraid of when growing flowers.

Synonymy

Synonyms of the genus

• CataputiaLudw. (1760)

Synonyms of the species

• Cataputia majorLudw. (1760)
• Cataputia minorLudw. (1760)
• Croton spinosus L. (1753)
• Ricinus africanus Mill. (1768)
• Ricinus angulatusThunb. (1815)
• Ricinus armatus Andrews (1805)
• Ricinus atropurpureusPax & K.Hoffm. (1919)
• Ricinus badiusRchb. (1829)
• Ricinus borboniensisPax & K.Hoffm. (1919)
• Ricinus cambogensisBenary (1887)
• Ricinus compactusHuber (1865)
• Ricinus digitatus Noronha (1790)
• Ricinus europaeusT.Nees (1833)
• Ricinus gibsoniiH.J.Veitch (1874)
• Ricinus giganteusPax & K.Hoffm. (1919)
• Ricinus glaucusHoffmanns. (1826)
• Ricinus hybridusBesser (1814)
• Ricinus inermis Mill. (1768)
• Ricinus japonicusThunb. (1815)
• Ricinus krappa Steud. (1841)
• Ricinus laevisDC. (1823)
• Ricinus leucocarpus Bertol. (1824)
• Ricinus lividusJacq. (1781)
• Ricinus macrocarpusPopova (1941)
• Ricinus macrophyllus Bertol. (1824)
• Ricinus medicusForssk. (1775)
• Ricinus mediusJ.F.Gmel. (1792)
• Ricinus megalospermaDelile (1827)
• Ricinus messeniacusHeldr. (1899)
• Ricinus metallicusPax & K.Hoffm. (1919)
• Ricinus microcarpusPopova (1941)
• Ricinus minor Mill. (1768)
• Ricinus nanusBald. (1813)
• Ricinus obermannii Groenland (1858)
• Ricinus peltatus Noronha (1790)
• Ricinus perennisSteud. (1841)
• Ricinus persicusPopova (1926)
• Ricinus purpurascens Bertol. (1851)
• Ricinus ruberMiq. (1859)
• Ricinus rugosus Mill. (1768)
• Ricinus rutilansMüll.Arg. (1866)
• Ricinus sanguineusGroenl. (1858)
• Ricinus scaber Bertol. ex Moris (1827)
• Ricinus speciosusBurm.f. (1768)
• Ricinus spectabilisBlume (1826)
• Ricinus tunisensis Desf. (1829)
• Ricinus undulatus Besser (1811)
• Ricinus urens Mill. (1768)
• Ricinus viridisWild. (1805)
• Ricinus vulgarisGarsault (1764), opus utique oppr.
• Ricinus vulgaris Mill. (1768)
• Ricinus zanzibarensis (1894)
• Ricinus zanzibarinusPopova (1941)

Basic properties of the plant

Castor bean belongs to the class of annual oilseeds and medicinal plants. In its genus, it is represented by only one species.

But under the influence of different climatic conditions prevailing in Africa, Europe and America, interesting varieties and varieties of castor tree appeared.

This is what it is called in our country, which is associated with the extraction of oil of the same name from the plant.

The plant received its main name because its seeds are very similar to a blood-fed and bloated tick. Castor bean grows very quickly, adding up to 10 cm per day.

The castor tree has a smooth trunk, from which many even branches extend outward and upward.

The height of the trunk can reach 10 m when growing in a warm climate, fertile soil and proper care. The color of the bark is predominantly gray.

However, different varieties of castor tree have stems that are brown, red, green, and even blue. Such exoticism can decorate an area decorated in any style.

The most striking part of the plant is its leaves. They are large, bright, meaty and slightly oily.

The shape of the leaves is palmate, they consist of 5-7 lobes with sharp edges.

Different varieties of Ricinus are decorated with green, red and purple leaves. Their size is impressive - under favorable weather conditions, the leaf diameter can reach 30 cm. Because of this, Castor bean is called a garden palm.

The flower of the plant is small, bright red. The shape of the flower somewhat resembles a bunch of grapes in an inverted state.

The configuration of the flowers is interesting - they are very reminiscent of a small sea urchin.

Despite their modest size, the flowers look very interesting, standing out against the backdrop of lush foliage.

Castor bean seeds deserve special attention. They are similar in size and shape to beans. Toxic seeds ripen on the stems between the leaves.

During the development period, castor bean seeds are in hard gray shells with spikes. The shells are filled with beans, which spill out when the time is right.

The seeds are painted in a mosaic pattern against a background of the main color, which can be gray or light brown. The color of the beans is predominantly pink or red.

The most popular among gardeners is the Zanzibar castor bean. This variety of ricina quickly grows up to 200 cm in height. Its stem is decorated with bright and juicy purple leaves.

The picture is complemented by large inflorescences with a bright red palette of various shades.

You can create an original floral ensemble by planting different varieties of castor trees in the garden.

Cambodian varieties, reaching a height of only 120 cm, will look great in different places on the plot of land.

It should be remembered that castor bean is a poisonous plant.

It produces the pyridine alkaloid ricinine, which poses a serious danger to human health and life.

Weigh everything carefully and think before deciding to cultivate it on your site.

If children will play in the garden, the trees should be surrounded by a secure fence.

How to grow an ornamental castor tree

In addition to practical benefits, the rai tree has a generally recognized aesthetic value. Cultivation of castor beans for decorative purposes involves the use of its special garden varieties. Gibson's castor bean has received particular recognition from gardeners. Growing up to one and a half meters, it proudly spreads its palmate-lobed leaves with a metallic sheen. Castor bean leaves amaze with a variety of colors and shades; depending on the variety, they can be:

• purple-green;
• dark purple;
• red;
• violet-red;
• dark purple;
• dark green with red veins.

Castor bean seeds, sold in any seed store, are sown in March, planted 3-4 cm deep into the soil. To obtain seedlings, it is recommended to use comfortable peat pots filled with a nutritious soil mixture. The main thing is not to overdo it with deepening, otherwise you can simply “bury” the seeds, which will rot in the ground without ever sprouting. Experienced gardeners advise treating castor bean seeds with a file or regular sandpaper before sowing.

A week or two after sowing, the first shoots appear in peat pots. Armed with a sharp toothpick, you need to help those cotyledon leaves that were unable to break free from the oily peel on their own. Fast-growing seedlings need to be provided with decent care. The sprouts, reaching towards the sun, are placed closer to the light - on a windowsill, veranda or glassed-in loggia. And to prevent castor seedlings from growing asymmetrically, the pots should be rotated regularly, providing the seedlings with an even supply of light.

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Consequences of ricin poisoning

If ricin poisoning occurs, the consequences can be very negative. The harm caused to the body depends on the degree of exposure of the poison to the internal organs. First of all, the stomach and intestines suffer - acute hemorrhagic inflammation develops, which can become chronic. After recovery, you must follow the diet prescribed by your doctor for some time.

toxic hepatitis

The liver and pancreas are also severely affected. , impaired production of bile, pancreatic enzymes, insulin - this is an incomplete list of possible problems. The kidneys are affected in severe poisoning, when breakdown products and hemoglobin begin to be excreted through them. With timely medical intervention, the urinary system suffers less than the intestines or liver. Negative reactions from the cardiovascular system, as a rule, pass without consequences.

This plant gives a strange feeling to those who see it for the first time. Resembles an exotic palm tree in structure. The leaves are elegant, palmate-lobed, similar in shape to the leaves of a giant maple. The bush is tall, impressive, up to four meters. The colors of the leaves are unusual. Castor bean, despite the dissonant name, gives the garden a spectacular subtropical flavor and oriental charm.

Castor bean grows as an annual in our latitudes. The plant belongs to the Euphorbiaceae family. It has many varietal species that are used as decorative in modern gardening. Homeland - subtropics. Africa. In the wild it grows up to ten meters and grows for many years.

As a subtropical inhabitant, it loves humidity, light and warmth. Prefers loose, highly nutritious soil. Not suitable for pot growing. It is a poisonous plant.

In Russian, castor bean is (translated from the Latin “ricinus”), which means tick. The seeds of the plant look similar to a tropical mite. These “pincer-shaped” seeds were found by archaeologists during excavations of the tombs of the pharaohs of Ancient Egypt.

Castor bean varieties

Variety	Peculiarities
	Short (no taller than two meters). The leaves are bright blood purple.
	Up to four meters high. The leaf color is metallic red.
	Tall, up to six meters. It has dark leaves and an almost black trunk.
	The most cold-resistant variety. The leaves are rich dark green.
	Medium-sized variety. Bright red leaves with a hint of bronze.
	Medium-sized variety with dark green leaves on dark red stems.

In our country, castor beans are grown during the spring-autumn season, since they do not tolerate even the slightest cold. This heat-loving annual is quite unpretentious and simple in agricultural technology.

1. Loves the sun. It needs to be grown in areas exposed to sunlight, otherwise you won’t get the varietal color of the leaves.
2. It does not tolerate not only frosts, but even ordinary cold snaps if it lasts more than a few days. Therefore, it is better to sow in open ground late than early. It is better to prefer the seedling growing method.
3. As for soil, it prefers nutritious black soil. The soil should be cultivated, highly friable, and not heavy.
4. Humidity is constantly needed to be increased. When there is drought, the leaves wither and lose their decorative properties.

Sowing seeds for seedlings

Due to the fact that the threat of cold weather can destroy the plant, in order to make the growing season safe, castor beans are grown as seedlings.

The plant reproduces only by seeds, which are found in spherical seed pods covered with sharp thorns, several in each.

The time to sow seeds is already in March, but you can do this throughout April and even May. Optimally - mid-spring. The seeds sown at this time produce friendly healthy shoots, rapidly gain growth, do not outgrow or stretch out. During the season, seedlings have time to develop into a full-fledged powerful plant with all varietal characteristics. On a plant that is fully matured by the end of the growing season, seeds suitable for subsequent sowing are formed.

Castor bean seeds take a long time to germinate. Germination rate is also not one hundred percent - out of ten, at best, 2/3 hatch. Seeds need to be prepared for sowing. All methods are suitable - soaking, germination. But the most important preparatory step, without which it will be difficult for castor bean seeds to sprout, is scarification.

To scarify, the seed must be rubbed with sandpaper to reduce its stiffness. This will break the shell and give the sprout a better chance of being born sooner. After scarification, you must soak the seed. First, for a day in clean warm water, and then for another night in a growth stimulator. Any stimulant can be used. The most effective in this case is heteroauxin.

You only need to sow castor beans individually in separate plastic containers, quite large and deep. More than half the containers are filled with earth. The seeds are dropped into holes two centimeters deep. They fall asleep. Crops are sent to a warm place. They can be covered with film, or not covered.

After complete treatment, the seeds germinate quickly - sprouts appear within 5-7 days. It can be difficult for them to shed the oily shell. To prevent it from causing rot in the pot, the shell is removed manually, being careful not to damage the sprout.

Cotyledon leaves also form quickly. It is important at this time to maintain humidity and heat at +20°С…+22°С.

But as soon as the first true leaves appear on the seedlings, they need to be moved to a cool place - about +16°C.

Important! Seedlings need bright and long-lasting light at all stages, starting with sprouting.

Castor beans grow quite intensively and it may happen that the feeding area of ​​the pot is not enough for it. First, you can simply add nutrient soil to the top of the pot. Then transplant the plant into a larger container.

Planting castor beans in the garden

It makes no sense to plant before summer - any cold will destroy a seemingly powerful and large plant. When June begins, the seedlings, having previously been hardened, can be sent to the garden.

Before planting, you need to water the plants in pots well several times so that the entire lump of earth gets wet. It’s hard to believe, but castor beans are afraid of transplantation - the roots are easily damaged and then take a very long time and are poorly restored.

The soaked soil along with the roots must be removed from the pot, without breaking the coma, and moved to the prepared garden hole.

Sowing in the ground

If you don’t want to grow seedlings at home, but want to have exotic plants on your plot, you can sow the seeds in the ground. But this is done not earlier than May, closer to the middle. Since seedlings and young seedlings will not withstand even short and mild return frosts. For sowing in unprotected soil, the same seed preparation methods are used as for growing seedlings.

Holes are made in the soil. 2-3 seeds are sown in each hole. If all three or two sprout, weak shoots can be subsequently removed.

Crops must be covered with film at least at the first stage at night.

Castor bean care

An adult plant is so unpretentious that it practically does not need care. Occasionally loosen the soil at the roots and weed out the weeds. And if you mulch it with bark or pebbles to maintain moisture, then there is no need to loosen and weed.

The only condition is regular watering. It is worth monitoring this so as not to destroy the plant. Throughout the season, and especially in hot weather, castor beans are watered generously with plenty of water, at least twice a week. One plant consumes up to 10 liters of water.

The castor plant will not be offended if it is not fed anything other than water. But he responds with gratitude to nitrogen-containing fertilizers, which allow the leaves to acquire maximum size and high decorative value. The plant especially needs nitrogen during the formation of inflorescences, so that the seeds can then ripen.

Important! Castor beans are poisonous. And not only the seeds, which contain enough poison that consuming 5-6 would lead to fatal poisoning in a child. For adults, the dose is three times more.

But it’s not just the seeds that are deadly to consume. The castor bean plant also has a poisonous stem. Despite the fact that plant cake is used as a fertilizer, it is also used to control pests living in the soil.

Valuable castor oil is obtained from castor beans and used as a component in Vishnevsky’s ointment, but only with appropriate processing, which can only be carried out at the enterprise.

For a long time, castor beans were not in demand as a decorative element of landscape design. Today the plant is increasingly used for gardens in Oriental and African styles. It can be used to decorate walls, plant along a fence, or use it in solitaire plantings.

Castor bean - garden decoration

Video - Kleshchevina

Video - How to grow castor beans

The castor bean is a flowering, fast-growing tropical plant native to East Africa and India, grown for a variety of medicinal purposes and as an ornamental plant.

The mini-tree received this name because its mature seeds resemble insects in appearance - mites. It is also called turake, hemp, ricin, castor tree, eranda and paradise tree. The Turkmens called it “chakcha” (rattle).

Castor bean - description

Castor bean is a herbaceous plant. It can be grown as an annual or perennial plant, depending on the weather conditions in which it is grown. The spreading plant has large, attractive foliage, star-shaped spines and red seed capsules. Under good conditions, the plant grows quickly, reaching a height of two to 10-12 meters.

Blooming castor bean

The leaves have an unusual color: lush green with a burgundy tint in some places. If you look closely, you may notice a pearlescent tint. The fruit balls resemble dense boxes, and when peeled, inside there are large seeds with spots resembling a mosaic.

Seeds from last year's castor bean harvest

Castor bean blooms profusely in areas with a cool climate only in August, otherwise it happens that it may not bloom at all, but will only delight you with luxurious leaves. In warm places of promise, it blooms from June and throughout the month of September.

Castor bean blooms

Growing castor beans from seeds

It is possible to grow a palm tree from grains directly into planting containers or individual pots, in a word - first we get seedlings, and then we plant them in the garden bed. Since the seeds have a dense protective crust, the seedlings take a long time to germinate.

To speed up germination, the grains need to be scarified (rubbed lightly with sandpaper), and then used for planting. Some amateur flower growers process them on all sides with a file, so that later they “hatch” faster.

Or there is a second way to prepare seeds for planting: soak them in a glass of water for a day before planting. But instead of tap water, it is better to use filtered or purified water.

For growing seedlings, a large container is better suited, into which you pour a mixture of soil, perlite, peat and compost in equal proportions. Next, make holes in the earthen mound, three centimeters deep, put 3 seeds in each hole, since often not all seeds germinate, moisten and sprinkle with a universal mixture.

Then, as with all flower seedlings, it is necessary to water them from time to time with a spray bottle and turn them towards the light stream so that all seedlings develop evenly. As soon as the stronger leaves appear, you can plant them on your site, but so that the ground warms up and there is no more frost.

If you live not within the Moscow region, but in the Crimea, then it is best to sow castor bean seeds directly into open ground. The right time is the end of April or the beginning of May.

Castor bean planting and care in open ground

Choose a place for planting castor beans that is calm, sunny, and the soil should be loose and rich in organic fertilizers. Ask why it is windless, but because the plant is tall, the trunk is not very thick, and the roots are weak, strong winds can cause it to break and ruin its beauty.

Castor beans need to be watered regularly in the morning or evening and fertilized monthly to produce new flowers. Before flowering, it is advisable to add nitrogen fertilizers under the bush according to the prescribed instructions or add rotted manure.

Low-growing plants must be planted at a distance of 25-30 centimeters from each other, and if you plant several rows, then the row spacing is about one meter.

Many gardeners told me that vegetables such as cucumbers and zucchini were planted next to castor beans, but the harvest was thrown away, and there were cases of mild poisoning. So this point must also be remembered when landing.

Varieties and varieties

According to modern classification, the genus includes only one species, the castor bean, which in turn has twenty varieties. The most famous and widespread in the world are the following:

Castor bean (Ricinus communis)

Castor bean before flowering

Ricinus communis – Rizinus is native to East Africa and India, but is widespread in tropical regions as an ornamental plant. Castor is the source of castor oil, which has many uses. The seeds contain 40% to 60% oil, which is rich in triglycerides, mainly ricinolein.

The seed contains ricin, a water-soluble toxin that is also present in lower concentrations throughout the plant. The common castor bean is the only representative of this genus, which has many garden varieties.

Domestic variety “Kazachka”

Domestic variety “Kazachka”

This variety is common in Russia. The plant is powerful and branched, up to two meters high. The stems are shiny with a reddish tint, and the flowers are bright red.

Cambodian castor bean

It has a dark trunk and leaves, and looks attractive compared to other castor bean varieties.

Castor bean is a poisonous plant

In castor beans, all parts of the plant, including the seeds, are poisonous. Consuming the seeds can be fatal. The seeds contain ricin, an incredibly toxic compound that can be deadly if swallowed. Ricin also occurs in smaller quantities in the tissues of the entire plant. The seeds of this plant are so poisonous that it is said that ingesting one seed can kill a child.

Therefore, this plant is not recommended to be planted in places where children study, relax and live. If you decide to grow it, educate your children about the dangers of this plant. The castor plant may cause allergic reactions in some people, but it is not poisonous to the touch.

Store strictly in packaging and separately from food, as it can easily be confused with brown beans. In the fall, when collecting seeds or harvesting plants, wear gloves, a long-sleeved shirt and pants.