It's normal and height of the plant doesn't make much difference. It's starting to develop its flowering stalk from whence a new crop of "beans" will be produced.

The plant has both male and female flowers and tends to be wind pollinated. The male flowers die off and the female flowers develop a capsule with soft spines. When mature, each capsule will open revealing 3 seeds.

hi duluthinbloomz4,

I'm actually very disappointed with the height of my castor beans. The seller told me that the seeds I bought from her can grow as tall as 8-10 ft in one season. However, the current height is only 14-16 inches. I was expecting that it will grow really fast as shared by other people who have grown this plant. She recommended me to put fertilizer with at least 6 for N.

I can say that my sunflower(also my first time) is insanely fast growing. I direct sowed it 2 weeks after I direct sowed castor beans. I think, height now is 4 ft.

Anyways, I love the leaves of the castor beans!

{{gwi:16822}}

{{gwi:16823}}

I don't grow them, but remember them in neighboring yards as a child. The key is what the seller indicated... can grow as tall as 8-10 ft. in one season. That doesn't mean that it necessarily will grow that tall for you.

Here in the midwest, we had a long, cool (here it was downright cold) spring. Things might have gone in late and had to catch up. And as you become a more seasoned gardener, you'll discover plants don't always perform in your gardens as they do in someone elses.

If someone tells you to use a fertilizer with at least "6 (%) for N", they don't know much about fertilizing plants. It's not the numbers that are important, it's the RATIO of the numbers to each other. If you had a soluble 10-10-10 fertilizer and a soluble 20-20-20, which is better? As far as NPK goes, you might as well consider them the same. The reason I say this is: If you read the dilution instructions carefully, you'll see the labels direct you to use half as much 20-20-20 in your fertilizer solution as 10-10-10. That way, you come up with a solution with TDS (total dissolved solids) and EC (electrical conductivity) that are equal and consistent with most manufacturer's recommended concentration.

What is MORE important is the RATIO of elements to each other in the blend. We almost always supply fertilizer based on N needs, so if you're using a shotgun approach (no soil test) it makes good sense to supply nutrients in as close to the same ratio as plants use them. The closest ratio is any 3:1:2 RATIO, for all but a very few plants. Plants use 6X more N than P, and about 1.5X more N than K, so why use a 1:1:1 fertilizer like 20-20-20 that supplies more P and K than the plant could ever use, based on N usage?

For almost all plants, when you haven't had a soil test & know specifically what your soil lacks, or for container plantings, a 3:1:2 ratio like 24-8-16, 12-4-8, or 9-3-6 is a very good choice. It's silly to suggest a fertilizer with "at least 6% N" because (if you could buy it) a fertilizer with 3-1-2 NPK will end up delivering the same amount of N in each application because you use more.

BTW - I don't think your issue is directly related to fertilizer, but to your soil. It appears to be needing organic matter badly. You might wish to consider starting a BIG compost pile, or at least mulching heavily so the soil critters can till in the organic matter for you.

Mid-August in Mid-Michigan with a month's worth of growth until first expected frost:{{gwi:3277}}

PS: There are lots of varieties of castor beans. You may have one of the 'Carmancitas' or 'Gibsonii', both of which are diminutive compared to the species plants in the pic.

Al

Wow! What species is that in the picture?

It's the species plant - Ricinus communis - not a named cultivar.

This year I'm growing dwarfs 'Carmencita Red' and 'Gibsonii'. They're going to be less than half the size. I've seeded them into containers, too. No pics yet.

Al