Castor bean seeds: how to collect
Castor oil plant is an ornamental annual plant, which has another name – “ricinus”. Used to decorate the garden area. Castor bean seeds play a major role in the quality of plant growth. Therefore, you need to be able to collect them correctly.
Castor bean blooms in the middle of summer with huge beautiful flowers. Leaves can be up to 1 m in diameter. The beauty of a plant depends on the seeds. You can prepare seed yourself.
Castor bean seeds must be kept out of the reach of children.
During flowering, you need to identify the largest inflorescences. It is in them that the seeds will ripen for future planting.
In August – early September, the peak of flowering occurs. Seed boxes are already appearing somewhere. At this time, you can start to work on the procurement.
Castor oil plant. How to collect seeds correctly.
- Collect dried seed pods in September.
- Place them in a ventilated place to dry.
- In November-December, remove the seeds from the pods by crushing them with your hands.
You need to work with gloves. Small thorns on the boxes can injure your hands.
If the seed material is not completely harvested on time, then you can collect it after frost. Select more matured bolls and cut with pruning shears.
In spring, after proper harvesting, castor oil plant sprouts from almost every seed. They lie well and remain viable for at least 4 years.
Why are castor bean seeds dangerous?
You can often hear that castor oil plant is poisonous. But what exactly needs to be feared, many do not know and refuse to plant it in their summer cottage.
The plant belongs to the euphorbia family. Hence the high content of a poisonous substance in it – the protein toxin ricin. To a greater extent, it is contained in seeds. But it is also present in the stem, inflorescences and leaves.
Precautionary measures:
- do not remove seeds in the presence of children;
- remove them out of the reach of children;
- keep away from food.
Eating seeds can be disastrous. A lethal dose for a child is 6 pieces, for an adult – 20 pieces!
This flower should not be planted in the yard if there are small children at home. It is necessary to wait until they grow up a little. But even then it must be planted in a fenced-off area.
Exotic castor oil plant will delight gardeners with its splendor. But at the same time, it is necessary to observe precautions during the collection and storage of seed material. And do not forget to wash your hands after contact with the plant!