Ricinus (Castor Oil Plant) Identification

I bought 2 small Ricinus plug plants a few weeks ago off ebay .... they were advertised as Ricinus Communis 'carmencita red'

I potted them up in 9cm pots and have been nursing them and waiting for the weather to warm, so that I can plant them in a garden

They were approx the same size, and I fed one with supercharged compost tea, and the other with tap water (the large one is the one fed with the tea)

what puzzles me, is carmencita red is supposed to have red leaves .... do they have green leaves when they are young, then the leaves change in colour as they get older? ....

The older leaves at the bottom have a different shape (oval), and the new top leaves look different and are lobed

or have I been sold another varient of the Ricinus? ....

herewith 2 pics

 

Hi, I've grown Carmencita 'Pink' and that had green leaves too and pink flowers...

I also grew 'New Zealand Purple' which is a stunning purple leaved and stemmed variety with bright red flowers..

 

thanks .... it's just that if you google Ricinus Communis 'carmencita red', it shows pics of reddish brown leaves

I know that they have green leaves when they are seedlings, but the larger one of mine has pretty big leaves at the moment, and they are still green

so perhaps I was sold another species? .... I don't really mind as they were cheap, and these are a first for me ....

but would have liked the red leaves for the garden I am planting it in

 

Hi Dim

They are realy easy to grow from seed and you still have plenty of time to sow them


Spruce

 

Really need to start to use some tea with mine , got 4 blue new zeland giant about a foot high but nothing like yours ....first year I`m growing ricinus but I`m really curious about what I heard ......someone told me that his one is coming back from the roots every year ......true or false?

 

Hi Sal .... depends where they grow ....

I have read that in warmer countries, they grow as tall as small trees and if it is not cold, they remain in leaf all year

I'm growing them as an annual to fill some gaps in a new garden that has been planted in tropical style, and where the plants / shrubs are still small

 

Hi Dim , I know about hot country , but the person who told me about is from Bedford .....She told me that in May her plant start to sproud again from the base , as we all grow them as annual , I don`t know myself how true can it be.....I was thinking of a different plant , but she was specific that was a ricinus...I`m thinking of self seeding or that the roots are actually frost hardy ,but I can`t say untill i will see or try myself.

 

It could be actually really interesting if anyone else have left the roots in the ground and the plant grow back.

 

Hi Sal, I usually grow mine in large pots and last winter they were still looking good until after Christmas, they'd even taken a couple of light frosts, when the leaves finally become tatty I cut them off and removed the seed heads for this year's seed. On the main stems were lots of new shoots, unfortunately another frost finished them off before I got them under cover; this was only in February.

So if they're in the ground and in a sheltered spot I suppose its possible that they may survive a mild winter and re-shoot from the stem or base..

 

the person who told me about this dasn`t have a clue of what ricinus was but apparently her ricinus have resproud from the last 5 years , that means went trough the 2010 winter .......the funny thing of all is that she didn`t know about how poisonous is the plant and has she got a young kid she will destroy the plant asap.
That means that we have to wait another year o find out unless Bilbo will find out for us ; )

 

*Dim* - no help I expect, but I find that quite a lot of "purple leaved plants" start out green, so yours may "turn" as they mature, and with increased exposure to daylight

But I don't know about Ricinus Communis 'carmencita red' specifically

Not sure you have space, currently, to raise plants? But if you do Jungle Seeds sell Ricinus New Zealand Purple and they germinate easily and grow like Blue Blazes! so plenty of time to sow as yet (yours are a bit early, and will be "large" to keep any late frosts off etc.)

 

Yellow labels John? Some special coding system perhaps?

 

Blast ... was expecting to be enlightened :(

FWIW I bought 100 each of about 5 different coloured labels. I put them in pots to "identify them", so if I have just 3 or 4 of something (pricked out seedlings, rooted cuttings, ...) that I have put in small pots (say) I label one properly, and then put a same-coloured label in all of them. I only need enough colours for how ever many varieties I am using - I'm not going to confuse a blue-labelled Salvia with a blue-labelled Hydrangea! - and once I get them out into the border (as a group) the coloured labels are retrieved

I've got quite a few Lilly varieties in pots - some now have two-blue-labels per pot

Its only really so that as I move things around its not too important that I manage to keep them together (well, you know how it goes, "helpful family members" lend a hand and don't know the piling-system in use!!!)