Castor oil plant (Ricinus communis) is a medicinal, oil and garden perennial from the Euphorbia family. Ethiopia is considered to be the birthplace of castor bean. Castor oil is popularly called castor oil, paradise tree and Turkish hemp.
Description of the castor bean plant
An annual plant that can grow from 2 to 5 m in height. The stems are glabrous, erect and branched, with a red, brown or bluish-green hue. Leaves are large and alternate, palmate-separate, five to seven lobed. The flowers are inconspicuous. The fruits are similar to thyroid-oval capsules with small thorns. They add even more decorative effect to the castor oil plant. Seeds are oval, spotted. Castor oil plant is a poisonous plant.
Growing castor bean from seeds
Sowing seeds
Castor oil plant propagates exclusively by seed. Castor bean seeds have poor germination, therefore, before planting, it is best to rub them a little with sandpaper, and then soak them in the preparation for a day. To stimulate growth. In late April - early May, seeds can be planted directly into the garden. But if a decision is made to grow seedlings, then they must be planted a month earlier - in March. You need to plant seeds immediately in separate pots. As a soil, ordinary garden soil is excellent. The castor oil plant must be planted in the soil, deepening by about 3 cm. Scarified seeds will germinate already on the fourth day after planting.
Castor bean seedlings
The seedlings grow very quickly and when they have one real leaf at a time, the pots must be rearranged in a well-lit place with a temperature of about 15 degrees. Since the growth rate of the seedlings is very fast, only one transplant may be required. It is necessary to transplant seedlings carefully so as not to damage the root system of the plant.
Planting castor oil plants in open ground
It is better to plant castor oil plants in a well-lit area of the garden with fertile, loose and moist soil. Then the plant will grow very quickly, and the color will become much brighter. It is best to give preference to chernozem soils. It is necessary to transplant castor bean seedlings into open ground in late May and early June. At this time, the soil has warmed up enough and the frost will definitely not return.
It is necessary to transplant castor oil plant together with an earthen lump, this will speed up the period of engraftment in a new place. The hole with the seedling must be sprinkled with soil, compacted and abundantly watered. It should be remembered that castor oil plant is a poisonous plant. To work with it, it is imperative to use rubber gloves and, after contact, wash your hands well under running water.
Castor oil care
Growing castor oil plants is easy enough. It is unpretentious and does not require special care. The plant needs to be watered every 5 days (10 liters of water per 1 bush). After each watering, you should carefully loosen the soil and remove weeds if necessary.This is necessary so that the weeds do not pull useful substances and trace elements from the soil, which will be needed for the active growth and development of castor bean plants. When it comes to fertilization, castor bean prefers feeding with a high nitrogen content. They need to be introduced at a time when inflorescences are actively forming.
Castor oil plant after flowering
In order to harvest the seeds, you need to choose the strongest, most beautiful and healthy plants. With the onset of autumn, carefully cut the seed boxes and evenly spread them in a well-ventilated place to dry thoroughly. The seeds will dry out for about two or even three months. When this time has passed, the boxes need to be broken and the seeds taken out, but all work must be done exclusively with gloves, since the seeds contain toxic substances. The collected seeds should be placed in a paper bag and removed as far as possible from children and animals. The seeds retain their germination capacity for four years, and sometimes longer.
Diseases and pests
Castor oil plant can be considered a fairly resistant plant to damage by various diseases and attacks of harmful insects. But it happens that the plant is sometimes attacked by such harmful insects as the wireworm, false wireworm, winter caterpillar, scoop, sandy sludge and meadow moth. These pests can damage young shoots of plants that have been planted directly in open ground. Therefore, it is best to take the time and grow seedlings. When the flowering period begins, the castor oil plant can be affected by the meadow bug. Caterpillars can also enjoy castor bean, you can get rid of them by manual collection, but if there are too many pests, then it is better to treat the plant with an infusion of wormwood. In order to prevent caterpillars from appearing, spicy herbs with a specific aroma should be planted next to the plant. For example, parsley or garlic. As for other pests, it is more difficult to deal with them before, therefore it is best for prevention before planting seedlings in the hole to get out a small amount of solution from potassium permanganate.
In addition to harmful insects, castor oil plants can be struck by diseases such as various kinds of rot, late blight, powdery mildew, phyllosticosis, cercosporosis, and various fungal diseases. In order to cure the plant, it is necessary to carefully treat it with special preparations, if the case is too neglected, then the treatment must be repeated after a week.
Castor oil plant in landscape design
In the garden, using castor oil plants, you can arrange flower beds in a very original and beautiful way. Also, a single castor bean bush will look great on the lawn. If you plant several different varieties with different leaf colors next to each other, you get a fabulous play of colors. Thanks to the beautiful and large castor bean leaves, you can make quite interesting and incredibly beautiful flower arrangements that will delight the eye with their originality and decorativeness throughout the summer.
The benefits and harms of castor bean
It was said above that castor oil plant is poisonous. But besides the poison, it contains a very valuable essential oil. It includes many useful substances and trace elements. Castor oil, which is made from the essential oil of castor oil treatment, is often used to treat constipation, enteritis and colitis. Also used to treat ulcers, burns, bruises and warts. Used against colds, gynecological diseases and eye diseases. Masks are also prepared to accelerate hair growth.
In addition to useful properties, there are contraindications. Products with the addition of castor oil essential oil should not be used by pregnant and lactating women. With chronic constipation, uterine and intestinal bleeding. With individual intolerance. It is also forbidden to give such drugs to children who are not yet 12 years old.
Types and varieties of castor bean
Castor bean species exists in a single copy - common castor bean.But breeders have bred many garden varieties of this plant:
Zanzibar castor oil plant Is an annual plant that can grow up to 2 m in height. The leaves are large and beautiful, have an unusual and interesting red-purple hue. Flowers are collected in racemose inflorescences.
Castor oil plant Cambodian, or Indian - grows slightly less than 1.5 m. The trunk is almost black. The leaves also have a fairly dark shade. Looks beautiful in combination with other lighter varieties of castor beans. Thanks to this combination, the landscape design of the garden becomes incredibly beautiful.
Castor oil Gibson - the plant can grow up to 1.5 m in height. The leaves have an extraordinary metallic sheen. This variety also includes undersized plants and plants with bright red leaves.
Borbon castor oil tree - can reach a height of 3 m, and sometimes more. The barrel is red. The leaves are large, rich green, glossy.
Castor oil Kazachka - there is also another equally popular variety of castor bean. It grows up to 2 m in height. Stems are red-brown in color. The leaves are dark green and the veins are red. And the young leaves of this variety have a red-purple color with white blotches along the edges. The flowers are bright red, the seed boxes are also terrible or purple in color.
