On household plots you can find a large plant resembling a palm tree. This castor oil planting, planting and care in the open ground do not require much effort. Gardeners are attracted by beautiful carved leaves and unusual flowers of an ornamental plant. A flower can be dangerous to humans, so before growing a plant you need to become more familiar with its properties.
Features of castor oil
Castor oil plant is a bright representative of the Euphorbia family. Her homeland is Africa. In the wild, the plant is found in the north and east of the continent. As a cultural species, castor oil plant began to grow, starting in the second half of the XVIII century. Then practically every garden in Britain was decorated with this flower. The plant was brought to Europe from India in the 19th century, where oils were obtained from it.
Blooming castor oil bush
Attention! In Russia, castor oil can be grown only as an annual plant.
Common castor oil plant is the only representative of the species. It grows best on loose, sun-warmed and well-moistened soils with a high content of nutrients. The plant has a powerful stem and beautiful large leaves, whose width reaches 80 cm. Most often they have a rich green color with prominent veins. Inflorescences resemble panicles and are densely arranged. After castor oil, the care of which does not require much effort, fades, oval-shaped fruits with thorns form on the stem. They are quite large in size.
Ripened fruits
Classification of castor oil plants
Several types of castor oil plants are known. Most of them are completely different from each other. The most famous are:
- Bourbon view. It has a red trunk, the structure is more like a tree with large glossy leaves.
- Zanzibar view. The trunk reaches two meters. On it are huge dark red leaves.
- Indian or Cambodian view. Its height is only 1.2 m, which is not enough for a representative of such a family. The leaves are dark green in color.
- A variation of Gibson. The plant can grow up to one and a half meters. The leaves have a dark red color.
In Russia, the variety "Cossack" is most often grown. It has a powerful stem and beautiful flowers. The plant blooms throughout August and September, but feels great until the first frost.
Castor oil plant: growing from seeds, when planting seedlings
Castor oil plant can grow from seeds fallen into the ground, but it is also bred by growing seedlings. In central Russia, seeds begin to prepare for planting from mid-April. In the southern regions this can be done a month later. For seedlings to remain healthy, she needs a ten-hour daylight. It can be provided with the help of additional lighting.
Before sowing, the seeds must be processed to get rid of the thick shell, which makes it difficult for the seed to exit. Scarification takes place with sandpaper. She treats the surface of each seed. After the procedure, the germination process will be accelerated several times. After processing, the seed material is soaked in a growth-promoting composition or ordinary water for a day.
Castor seeds
For landing, plastic containers are used. They are half filled with nutrient soil. Then the seeds are laid out on the surface, pressing in 20-30 mm. Scarified castor seeds germinate on the third or fourth day.
House seedlings are developing very actively. After the first leaves appear, it is necessary to rearrange the containers in a cooler, but well-lit place.
Attention! Room temperature should not be lower than 15 ° C.
As the flower grows, the capacity is filled with additional soil. This is done until it is full. If castor oil plants, the planting and care of which is quite simple, develops too quickly, it requires additional transplantation into a more spacious pot. The size of the sprouts before planting in the soil should not exceed 100 cm in height. When the threat of night frost passes, the plants land on the street. To reduce the likelihood of injury to the root system, it is best to do this with a lump of earth.
Dive seedlings
Features of non-seedling planting in open ground
With this method of growing plants are less resistant to natural disasters. In this regard, castor oil, the cultivation of which occurs immediately in the soil, must be protected from low temperatures by a covering material. The beds are not prepared until the first decade of May, when the air temperature warms up well. 2-3 seeds are put in the hole.
Features of gardening
Proper care of castor oil consists of several procedures. Watering should be plentiful (a bucket of water on the bush), but not too frequent (once a week). The place where the plant is located should be sunny and protected from the wind.
Important! In some cases, the trunk of the plant is tied to a support.
When deciding how to feed castor oil for quick growth, you need to consider its size and needs. The plant responds well to nitrogen compounds. It is better to start top dressing a couple of weeks after planting in the ground. The soil in which castor oil plants will grow, when planted which can be found on the Internet, must be nutritious.
You can not sow culture where there are children and animals. This is a mortal risk for people who are hypersensitive to such plants. Even when using gloves, wash your hands with soap and water after handling the flower.
Important! When choosing a place for a plant, it is worth remembering that castor oil is poisonous.
When and how it blooms
The plant has fairly small flowers collected in brushes. There are male and female inflorescences. The first have a pestle and are located in the upper part of the stem. The second has stamens, and they grow below. The fruits are hidden in foliage and covered with thorns. The boxes are painted yellow, pink and purple, and the seeds come in copper colors with an original pattern of brown lines.
The plant is pollinated by the wind. This should be taken into account when deciding how and where to plant castor oil seed from seeds. Flowering begins in late July or early May and can continue until the colds. Blooming castor oil plant literally transforms the site.
Plot decoration
Care after flowering
Common castor oil can not survive severe frosts, so the next year we have to plant it again.
Before the onset of winter, some gardeners collect castor oil seeds for planting. Do it at the end of November. However, the seeds do not always fully ripen. It is much easier to buy them at the seed store, which already sells selected material with good germination capacity. Seeds collected on their own can be stored for no more than four years.
To get the seed, you need:
- Choose the most fluffy inflorescence by removing the remaining peduncles from the stem.
- Grown and dried fruits carefully pick and chop.
- Dry the resulting seeds for several weeks and pour in canvas bags for storage. When winter passes, seedlings can be grown from them.
Important! Seeds are no less toxic than the plant itself, so you need to store them away from children and animals.
Possible problems in growing
Castor oil is rarely needed in chemical treatments, as it is able to cope with most pests on its own. However, the bush is not protected from disease. The most dangerous for the plant are:
- powdery mildew;
- gray rot;
- late blight
- bacteriosis.
For the treatment and prevention of these diseases, the stands are treated with fungicides or Bordeaux fluid.
Of the pests, the most dangerous are the moth caterpillars; wireworm; sand lag and bugs. To protect the young shoots, after planting in the ground it is treated with potassium permanganate in a weak solution or planted next to spices that repel harmful insects.
All this is necessary to know in order to understand why castor oil plants grow poorly in the garden.
Benefits and harms of castor oil
Useful and harmful properties of the plant are due to its chemical composition. The plant contains fatty acids, which are necessary for the body, and ricin, which is dangerous for people and animals. When processed at the factory, all toxic substances volatilize, but the risk of negative effects is possible if the final product is used uncontrollably.
Castor oil is used to make castor known to everyone, which effectively cleanses the intestines and, with proper administration, is completely safe even for children. Sometimes castor oil is used to stimulate the birth process during prolonged labor. Any use of drugs with castor oil must be agreed with the doctor.
Interesting! Castor oil is contained in Vishnevsky ointment and some other drugs. They are completely non-toxic and are dangerous only to people with increased sensitivity to individual components of the substance.
The plant is also widely used in cosmetology. It helps with such problems:
- brittle and dry hair;
- dandruff;
- slow growth and loss of eyelashes;
- acne and black spots on the skin.
The plant contains poison, which can be harmful to humans and animals. That is why you can not touch castor oil without gloves and after contact you should immediately wash your hands and face. At the first signs of poisoning, you should empty the stomach with a probe or induce vomiting, take activated charcoal and wait for emergency doctors. In people with hypersensitivity to castor oil components, its use causes an allergic attack.
Use in medicine and cosmetology
The beauty and unusualness of castor oil makes it popular among gardeners around the world. The plant has a number of useful properties. But do not forget about the poisonousness of the flower and the caution that must be observed when growing it.
