What is damaging my false castor oil plants?
By Suzannahh
United Kingdom 
I have two false castor oil plants in my garden that have been thriving for the last 3 years and stand about 4ft tall. However they now have blackened leaves, withered brown stumps at the ends of some stems and something has been eating some of the leaves. I also have a tall yucca which has completely died (although this may be due to the winter frosts) Any ideas?
10 Apr, 2011
Answers
BTW my brother's Castor Oil has completely died. It was fairly mature too :(
10 Apr, 2011
And the plant you call a "yucca" is probably actually a cordyline. The country's full of cordylines that have been badly affected by the cold weather last winter. All you can do is wait and see if it recovers. If it produces new shoots, you can cut off the dead trunk above them.
10 Apr, 2011
My False Castor Oil plant (Fatsia Japonica) lost all its leaves (it looked like it was dehydrated but think it got hit hard with wind and cold). I managed to take some of the withered leaves off and have them in water at the moment to see if they root. The left over stump is looking very sad but I am hopeful that it will resprout.
11 Apr, 2011
As the others say, its suffering from cold - suggest you wait and put up with the way it looks till end of April - then you can give it a good cutback to healthy growth.
11 Apr, 2011
Thanks for taking the time to reply. Looks like a unanimous concensus and is down to the weather, I will just have to hope for the best. Thanks again
S
15 Apr, 2011
Whoops - that should be consensus!!
15 Apr, 2011
Previous question
My Castor Oil is the same. It was the harsh winter that did it. I've managed to cut back the dead bits and it seems to be getting on okay now, although it has taken quite a knock. It started sprouting at the base last season so even if I lose the top portions it'll still have those to fall back on.
10 Apr, 2011