The (100 PLANT) Ricinus Jungle! (Updated 29 June)

[Arlon Tishmarsh]

I got 9 dotted all over the garden, average about 1.2 m span and height.........

best pic i could do this morning , wobbling in the wind

[Kyle]

Sounds like I might've picked one of the worst years to try this Ricinus Jungle thing. I am looking forward to the colour displays though.

Arlon, yours seem to be doing great. Looks like that risk of planting out early will pay off for you.
Seems that the orange on your Zanzi's isn't carrying through. My Zanzi's showed the same orange colour when they were first brought outside, so that was probably typical. Shame really as that colour would have looked spectacular on a late summer Zanzi Palm.

Kris, I don't blame you for avoiding these with your little ones running about. Our little girl is only just crawling so there's no danger of her getting anywhere near them. If she was any older I wouldn't have bothered either.

[Yorkshire Kris]

Sounds like I might've picked one of the worst years to try this Ricinus Jungle thing. I am looking forward to the colour displays though.

Arlon, yours seem to be doing great. Looks like that risk of planting out early will pay off for you.
Seems that the orange on your Zanzi's isn't carrying through. My Zanzi's showed the same orange colour when they were first brought outside, so that was probably typical. Shame really as that colour would have looked spectacular on a late summer Zanzi Palm.

Kris, I don't blame you for avoiding these with your little ones running about. Our little girl is only just crawling so there's no danger of her getting anywhere near them. If she was any older I wouldn't have bothered either.

[Arlon Tishmarsh]

Arlon, yours seem to be doing great. Looks like that risk of planting out early will pay off for you.
Seems that the orange on your Zanzi's isn't carrying through. My Zanzi's showed the same orange colour when they were first brought outside, so that was probably typical. Shame really as that colour would have looked spectacular on a late summer Zanzi Palm.

Yep i liked the red / orange colouring as well. Seems to be still there when a new leaf emerges tho.

The way yours are all planted is going to look wicked when they take off

[jimhardy]

I think I planted 40+ this year,I like the New Zealand purple and the large leaved Castors best.

They both have reached 12'-however this year they are way bigger at this date than ever before
thanks to the warmest March in history and a warm/hot,May/June.





Some of the New Zealand purple-about a week ago-about 3-4' tall now.






Big leaved Castors are about 7' and 7' around and some of the leaves are around 34"(86cm)

[Kyle]

They're looking brilliant, Jim. You'll have to keep us updated with their progress this summer. You look sure to top that 12ft with your record beating spring.

P.S. I think those individual leaves are bigger than any of my current plants.

[jimhardy]

LOL


These things live at the mercy of the weather,they were
blown down almost to the ground a few weeks ago but I pulled
and bent them back up...wind and hail.

Anything with leaves this big in this climate has a good chance to fail.

On a brighter note...if they do make it,they can be the stars of the show!


But the weather catches them eventually-here,a few days(Oct 26th) before the killing freeze.

[cordyman]

Project Update - 14 Weeks

Finally got the last few Ricinus plants in the ground today. Much, much later than I would have liked.

Most were planted out in the first week of June, but the weather has been terrible this month and getting the chance to clear the remainder of the planting area has been a nightmare. We must have uncovered several greenhouses worth of broken glass out of the ground and an whole estate's worth of builders rubble. At least I won't be ordering any crushed stone for the patio sub-bases now.

Because I've not grown these before, I've got nothing to compare their growth against. I were expecting the plants to be a good 4ft by now but they're barely past the 2ft mark. Still, I'm hoping for a good display of foliage colours if not the 10ft+ plants I would have liked.

How are everyone else's Ricin doing this year compared to other years?

Ricinus Jungle Project - 14 weeks 01.jpg

Ricinus Jungle Project - 14 weeks 02.jpg

Ricinus Jungle Project - 14 weeks 03.jpg

Ricinus Jungle Project - 14 weeks 04.jpg

i've not been on your post for a while, but WOW, love what your doing here!! amazing feat

[Kyle]

Well, a police surveillance helicopter has been doing circles above the garden today. I half expected a swat team to descend on ropes with fence posts to cordon off the Ricin Jungle!

If you don't hear from me for several days you know they've got me.

[Dim]

I have 4 ricinus in a garden

2 are already forming flower/seed heads but the plants are only approx 2 foot high (I planted them approx a month ago)

do I pinch the seeds heads off, or do I leave them?

[Kyle]

I have 4 ricinus in a garden

2 are already forming flower/seed heads but the plants are only approx 2 foot high (I planted them approx a month ago)

do I pinch the seeds heads off, or do I leave them?

Quite a few of mine are starting to flower in places and my plants aren't much more than 2 foot. Haven't grown them before so I can't say. I'd imaging you'll get better foliage results if you pinch off flowers. So probably just a personal choice between more height or flowers.

[Deedee]

One of mine has a flower bud on it, ill let it flower as they are nice looking flowers..

Took this morning, love it



Flowers..

[Delboy]

I was reading up on these as i have 2 young boys, so i have previously avoided growing them.
Apparently a child would need to eat a huge qty of the seeds to do any harm.
I read that even eating one would be a feat in itself due to how bad they taste.

I am planning on removing any flowers before they go to seed, but i planted them at the back of the border out of reach just as a precaution.

Even now, even after what i have read im debating digging them up......just in case.

My 2 plants are about 12-18 tall, grown from seed....slowly.

[Deedee]

Delboy, I have loads of kids in my garden, They dont mess with my plants because ive taught them not to I worry more about the gravel (visiting cats) than the plants doing harm, If we research poisonous plants on the net i think our gardens wouldn't be as full as they are.
PS ponds worry me to, thats why ive never had one..

[greendragon]

Police copter checking out peoples gardens... guess whos paying for the fuel..