This site says it's safe to use around about everything, including gardens.

And here's the Material Safety Data information (a PDF file). It doesn't look like there's anything toxic to plants or humans in it.

from what i've read, castor bean oil is highly toxic and a known natural source of ricin (a poison)

It's safe. All the ricin is present in the protein component of the castor bean, removed during oil refining.

Castor BEANS contain ricin, however the OIL is supposed to be safe and is in such common things as perfume and food additives.

As an aside, people even use it on their eyelashes and eyebrows to make them grow in denser and thicker, and swear by it (haven't tried it myself).

Thanks for the links Anney and thanks to all who provided their opinions. I went down to the garden this morning and three more onions gone. I'm heading back down with repellent in hand this time.

Wish me luck!

Rick

The Ricin will only make you ill. There was a case a while back the wife after reading about Ricin tried to feed it to her husband and only make him sick and she ended up in prison for all her efforts.

Lol wow, she never heard of the word divorce I guess.

On another note, what exactly IS a vole? I keep hearing about them but never saw one.

When I was a kid, castor oil was a commonly used laxative, very potent and distressing in its results.

Voles are small mouselike animals who run around on the surface of the ground. They ate a large part of my bean crop, the seed part, one year.

Moles are similar, but they burrow underground, making a network of tunnels. They feed on the underground parts of plants.

Jim

Moles do not feed on plants. EVER. Moles are insectivores and eat ONLY soil insects--grubs, earthworms, etc. They do no harm whatsoever to plants. Voles, on the other hand, are like mice that live underground and make serendipitous use of mole tunnels. They are the culprits that eat the roots of your plants. But I have never heard of voles that eat garlic and onions. In addition, it is extremely unlikely that castor oil will have any effect of voles.

I stand corrected. Moles are insectivores. Thanks for the catching that.

Jim

I also thought all moles are carnivores. This is NOT true! The Townsend's mole will eat your entire root ball killing the plants! http://www.sibr.com/mammals/M016.html

I've used castor oil in my all purpose garden spray for years, and despite the gophers having a literal field day on the rest of our three acres, I've never lost a plant that had been sprayed.

Sloan what is your spray receipe? PLEASE

how much of everthing? how often? Please. Castor oil is expensive esp. Organic

thanks

Jean,

Let's see, I mixed some up last week...

16 oz. peppermint castille soap

16 oz. castor oil

60 drops each peppermint (if you use reg. castille soap) and clove oils

40 drops each tea tree and juniper berry oils

a big handful of last year's hottest peppers, crushed up

Stick it all in a big jar and shake it up well, let it sit for a while (a couple weeks-ish) for the peppers to steep (if you're in a hurry just dump in a tbsp or two of cayenne pepper from the pantry). Mix 1 cup of mixture with water in a 1-1/2 gallon sprayer and go to town.

It doesn't completely keep the bugs away - particularly grasshoppers and armyworms, which still have to be handpicked - but it slows them down considerably, and whenever I've sprayed, I don't have problems with gophers, rabbits, deer, and the dumb dog doesn't dig as much. Plus fewer problems with fungal diseases, too.

Sloan Quinn 8b: Appreciate you sharing your method. I am attempting this to avoid hurting these little guys-but I can't take it much longer as they're destroying flower gardens I just spent a bunch of money and time on. My question for you, is this absolutely safe for my plants or should I have any concerns? Again, spent a bunch of money and time and don't want to redo it. Follow up question- I've read to really water the ground, then pour this directly on the plant to get to the roots, and then do water again to get it to go down farther to the roots. Do you agree with this method? Is there such a thing as "too much" that would ruin my plants? Can you tell I'm hesitant? I planned to do this tonight but I'm worried. Thanks in advance if you can answer quickly or at all!

Growing up in the sixties in the Caribbean, castor oil was given to me and many other children repeatedly as a laxative, so I would have no hesitation about using it in my food garden. In case you're wondering, it was a very effective laxative! As a matter of fact, I came across this website while looking for ideas on how to use castor oil to protect my mango plants from diseases and parasites.

for those that tried, did it work?

Thank you Sloan for sharing this. I have been using MoleMax and am about out. I will give this a try. I lost 1 roma tomato and 1 1/2 cucumber plants. I'm trying to salvage the 2nd cucumber plant since there are still some roots left on it. My husband built me 24" tall beds and lined the bottom with gopher wire, and the little buggers are still getting in. Not sure how but we may have to dig the beds out and pour a bead of concrete around the bottom covering the edge of the gopher wire. Who knew such a little fur ball could do so much damage. I've seen both gophers and voles in my garden so we'll see what happens with the caster oil.

It may rep moles, but it kills beneficial bugs too. Like the poor old earthworm