Ricinus communis

[Cardiffcol]

Is Ricinus communis a perennial in southern parts of the uk?

[flounder]

So far for me.......no

[Blairs]

You can over winter in a GH: it tends to be the wet weather than gets them if frost does not. Poor light can make them really leggy though. There are a few purple ones near Edinburgh Castle that is still going this year, all of mine got frosted and looked terrible back in November so I just pulled them up and dug them in the ground. I wonder if a few folk on here still has them growing?

[Leigh]

Got a few still hanging on, a bit battered by all the wind, but they are giving the Elephant hawk moth caterpillars something to eat on

[Nathan]

They are an invasive weed out here & grow into small trees, I make sure I do not have my mouth open as I walk under some growing locally just incase any seeds drop into my mouth

[GREVILLE]

And when you eat chilli con carne under the same tree.....

I've also overwintered late sown ones with relative ease.

[Kristen]

I've also overwintered late sown ones with relative ease.

Are they monsters by the time it comes to plant out or manageable? I imagine you get a bigger plant earlier ... although mine seem to get to 8' - 10' in a season without much bother - perhaps I might try with the purple leaved ones as they are a bit slower.

When do you "late sow" for overwintering?

[GREVILLE]

When do you "late sow" for overwintering?

I found some old seed among some late summer sowings and rather than wait till the following Spring and risk them not taking I tried them out with five out of six germinated plants coming through winter and growing well the following summer. I'm sure the variety was zanzibarensis.

This year I used up New Zealand purple and to date I have two plants out of four. They are about 25 cms high from a September sowing.

I never feed the late sowings and give very little water mid winter to make sure they slow down in the low season, Extra watering in April sees them take off.

A conscious effort to try some very stunted spring sown ones that stayed in their 9cm pot all the following summer didn't work at all.