Deadly growing.

Thedarkone

Here is my deadly nightshade.
i grew it from a small plant which I got over the internet. It has grown this big but what I want to know is when does it start producing flowers and does it self pollinate so I can collect the seeds for next years
planting.
thank you.
adam.

Chrissy the gardener

Why would you want to grow deadly nightshade ?

Loxley

It's perennial so should come back next year (presuming you are planting it outside?) I imagine it will produce seed. Bird's will eat the berries and spread the seed around, and you should probably have a think about this - it could spread into neighbour's gardens that way and could end up poisoning a child.

pansyface

According to my copy of Poisons: Their Effects and Detection, published in 1895, it has very unpleasant and lingering effects with no certainty that it will have a “successful” outcome.

Whether you intend to do yourself or someone else in, I would not recommend it.

Thedarkone

Ok. Thanks for all your advice but it does grow wild and I think a lot of your points are wrong. I grow it for its beauty. Not something bad. It is a plant that should be more appreciated and welcome. I have been intrigued by this plant from a young age and I will always grow it. Along with other Nightshades.

amancalledgeorge

Being infamous for its tap root, can't imagine it would be happy in a pot for long. Are you planning in putting it in the ground? Can't see much wrong with growing it, but probably a good idea to deadhead it to stop the berries from forming. We have to be responsible with the wider consequences of what we grow in our gardens especially when we know they can cause harm to humans and animals. 

Thedarkone

I don’t intend on putting it in the ground. I am growing it indoors. Do I take it back outside?
or is that too risky for the
Humans and animals?
i don’t see the problem of growing this wonderful plant. I am not around children and the only animal around are the birds. So would you suggest putting it in a greenhouse or planting it in the ground?

Loxley

It would be much happier in the ground, outdoors, where it should come back. It's entirely your choice, but introducing it into a suburban neighbourhood, where it presumably isn't already growing, does entail some sort of risk. Cutting it back once the berries have formed would help control it from spreading out of your garden. I agree it's a stunningly beautiful plant.

Dovefromabove

I agree with @amancalledgeorge ... it will develop a huge root ... it also grows to around 2m tall ... I suppose if you have a really big container and a tall conservatory or greenhouse it might be happy. 

I too grow plants from the Nightshade family ... mostly in my veg patch 😉  ... and my farming brother grows hundreds of acres of them every year 😉  .... and I see many other types of them growing wild in the hedgerows on country walks ... this is where their true beauty can be seen ... growing a plant like Atropa belladonna in a pot on a windowsill puts me in mind of William Blake’s poem about ‘... a robin in a cage...’. 

But that’s up to you ... I’d rather go into the countryside and see it in its  natural place ... and watch the wild birds flying free. 

😊 

pansyface

Apparently, rodents and rabbits can ingest enough of the toxic compounds to make their flesh deadly poisonous to animals that prey on them without showing any symptoms of being poisoned themselves.

josusa47

Half the plants in our gardens are more or less toxic if ingested.  Is nightshade so much worse?  I know a lot of livestock farmers take measures to control ragwort; I've never heard of them controlling nightshade.  But I agree, it's not cut out to be a houseplant.