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overwintering ricinus

Posted: Mon Oct 26, 2009 11:07 pm
by Birmingham Chris
I promise I used the search facility first for this question but there were, like, 4 billion posts with the word 'ricinus' in and my brain exploded; so apologies if this is a duplicate.

I have overwintered these before on a (not very sunny) windowsill in the house where they languished for the winter months and never quite caught up with the seed grown ones the following year.

Is it possible to overwinter them in an unheated greenhouse if I keep them dry? I mean, they get frost in Spain and it doesn't kill them all. Has anyone tried this or does anyone have a better suggestion? Only my garden isn't particularly sunny, so things like this grow slowly for me and I want them bigger and figured that two years growth would make them a respectable size. If it makes any difference, I have the normal green ones and the purple ones.

any help greatly appreciated.

Chris

Re: overwintering ricinus

Posted: Tue Oct 27, 2009 5:11 am
by Las Palmas Norte
They grow so fast from seed, why would you bother?

Cheers, Barrie.

Re: overwintering ricinus

Posted: Tue Oct 27, 2009 5:27 am
by dave2166
grown them for 3 years now, and i would say why bother. the are in the UK best treated as an annual, they can grow up to 6 feet tall and to get them though a winter would be very problematic.

if you sow them late feb early march indoors, you should with a decent soil and feeding regime get them to a good height by late summer

Re: overwintering ricinus

Posted: Tue Oct 27, 2009 6:50 am
by Dave Brown
Most people don't bother Chris, and that is mainly as they grow very fast but need good light. A lot of dicussion has been around not starting them off until April as they get too leggy and enormous before they can go out. Mine last year reached 12 feet from being 3 inches in May.

Another tip try searching using the Topic radio button in the search, rather than posts. There won't be more than 20 or so topics with Ricius in the title. There are also a couple in the Propagation forum :wink:

Re: overwintering ricinus

Posted: Tue Oct 27, 2009 9:00 am
by Chad
Ricinus are not that impressive in Cornwall because we don't get hot enough in summer, so I'm not growing them again until we are forecast an unremitting El Ninio summer.

Over-wintered plants have the capacity to be 12ft high and across but only if they get summer heat. If you don't get monsters the first year, they won't be much better the second year. Branched second year plants also tend to have smaller leaves.

There is another way to look at this. If your garden is shady enough that Ricinus don't thrive, you have conditions that would suit something else.

Tree ferns usually grow bigger fronds in sheltered gardens for example.

Chad.

Re: overwintering ricinus

Posted: Tue Oct 27, 2009 12:36 pm
by themes
Bigger fronds icon_cheers bigger fronds icon_cheers icon_cheers icon_cheers icon_cheers

Re: overwintering ricinus

Posted: Tue Nov 03, 2009 12:25 pm
by parkeey
this is mine planted in pot march then out in about april, it got so big it bend over, so i just let it grow. lol

Re: overwintering ricinus

Posted: Tue Nov 03, 2009 2:26 pm
by simon
It is a common problem with zanzibarensis and the other large forms, that they tend to bend at the base under their on weight. They then appear to shift along the border and encroach on other plants. If you plant it out tied to a broad stake, that should prevent this happening.

Re: overwintering ricinus

Posted: Tue Nov 03, 2009 5:54 pm
by Dave Brown
This mine from last year. It reached about 10 feet tall and was leaning a bit. Having been planted near the back of the border it towered above other things at the front :roll: Grew from 6 inches to this in 4 months. I treated like Bananas. Water well and feed regularly on dilute feed :wink:

Re: overwintering ricinus

Posted: Wed Nov 04, 2009 5:06 pm
by parkeey
kool yea know for next time! thats a whopper, do they just curl up in the winter then..

Re: overwintering ricinus

Posted: Wed Nov 04, 2009 5:09 pm
by stephenprudence
I was under the impression these were hardier than Fatsia japonica :shock:

Re: overwintering ricinus

Posted: Wed Nov 04, 2009 6:19 pm
by Nathan
stephenprudence wrote:I was under the impression these were hardier than Fatsia japonica :shock:
No, they are quite tender and are usually grown as an annual...

Re: overwintering ricinus

Posted: Thu Nov 05, 2009 7:50 am
by Vic
As said, not worth overwintering these. As an experiment i had one that was potted last year and small enough to tuck away in the greenhouse with the idea that it will have a 4ft head start over the seedlings, well i did manage to get it through the winter but take my word for it...its not worth it. Basically it did not grow, and i dug it up.

Here are a couple of mine from this year, managed to get a good supply of seeds this year icon_thumleft

this one is ricin var zanzi palm

Image

and gibsonii

Image

Re: overwintering ricinus

Posted: Thu Nov 05, 2009 10:15 am
by andycorn
how do you save the seeds from the ricinus.do you cut the pod open and also do you have dry them out.do not know what type i have.

Re: overwintering ricinus

Posted: Thu Nov 05, 2009 12:34 pm
by Birmingham Chris
Andycorn, you have the same type as me (not sure what it is though!). I just collected the seeds by splitting open the pods and collecting them when I dug the majority of them up in the winter, and popped them loose in a drawer in my desk. They ALL came up the following year with a heated propogator, and most came up much slower in pots without heat. My problem isn't getting the blasted things to germinate, it's getting them higher than about 2 feet :lol:

This year I collected a bag full of the plain green ones from a campsite in Spain and will try these in the same way - was glad I didn't get stopped at customs and asked to explain why I had half a kilo of ricin in my bag....ooops :roll:

My garden ones were collected while the pods were still red and healthy, but the Spain ones were collected when they had started to burst so I think you'd be okay to collect your now.