Castor Bean Seeds

[junkyardcat]

I went to a yard sale a few weeks ago and commented on a lady's flower gardens. She gave me a bunch of different seeds and cuttings:) One thing she gave me was several pods of Castor Bean seeds (the spikey ball looking things). She said just soak them in water a few days and then plant them. My question is...some of the spikey balls have disintegrated in the water, leaving just a cluster of 3 beans. Can I just plant that cluster without the spikey thing around it? Sorry to sound so dumb, but I've never even seen Castor Bean plants until the other day.

Thanks! Angie

[J. Farnsworth Wallaby]

Castor Beans are very invasive. It's taken me quite a while to get rid of them from my avocado grove. Be very careful!

Ala> junkyardcat wrote:

[Brandon]

You can just plant the seeds. The seeds are very poisonous, but must be ingested from what I understand, topical poisoning is not possible. If there are small children or pets around who might be inclined to try to eat the seeds from the pods that will develop on you new plants...cut the pod clusters off and dispose of them where they cant be found. Do this before the pods pop open and drop the seeds. A friend has one Castor in his backyard, the trunk diameter is about 6 inches and it stands about 12 feet tall. With proper pruning they can be made to look like a very tropical tree.