 Jatropha Podagrica
Family - Euphorbiaceae
This exotic and funny plant has many different names: bottle plant or tartogo.
They form round caudexes which probably use as water reservoir. They do bloom
producing bright red or coral flowers.
Jatropha podagrica should be grown from seed to have the real swollen base on
it's trunk. The germination takes about 3-5 days and is very easy. I bought
seeds from an online store. The seeds should be washed and burried in cactus
soil. To achieve warm and humid conditions I put pots into plastic bags and
placed them in the warmest location in my house until finally little green
sprouts came out. The babies were moved to the south-east window with a lot of
sun.
They are over a year now and I am waiting for flowers to come. This is where the
new leaf is coming out Jatropha is very easy to grow plant. There is only one
essential thing that you must provide - sunlight. I have two plants that were
born at same time in same soil. The bigger one was always exposed to sun
sitting right in front of south-east window, the smaller one I moved to the
opposite wall in the same room - it is quite bright location too, but the
growth difference is dramatic. 
Don't be alerted if jatropha starts to loose the leaves, it is seasonal thing
and they will come back after some time. Usually it happens in winter time and
it's a sign to reduce watering to almost none. Even during the growth period
the soil should dry out between the waterings. Also make sure the soil in the
pot is draining well, you don't want to keep it moist or soggy. I should
probably mention that with all it's cool and exotic appearance Jatropha is a
poisonous plant.
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