Harvesting Asclepias curassavica Milkweed seeds

Most of my milkweed are already making green seed pods. Never collected pods from a milkweed plant. Any suggestions on how to do it?

Deborah

The seeds on all of mine were like fuzzy giant dandeloin seeds except the downy part is very silky.

AFAIK .............. When the pods turn brown and split open the seeds are mature enough to harvest. If you pick them green and not fully developed they will prolly rot.

.............. this is how all four of my different milkweeds make seed.

This message was edited Jun 26, 2007 6:43 PM

Do I need to wait until the pods actually split open?

I would.
Don't worry the seeds will not suddenly disperse ,you get plenty of time to bag them. There are prolly hundreds in an average pod.

You could enclose each pod in a net pouch which is easy to make from the netting found in the fabric section (cheap too).

I was saving a special zinnia seed and I just cut a square of netting and tied it over the seedhead loosley with a piece of string.

~ Shirley

That's a great idea! I've got some tulle from making butterfly cages. I'll try it, Thanks a ton!

That' it !

couldn't remember what it was called.

CRS ya know .... lol

butterfly cages eh ?? I need another project ('-'?)
☺☺☺

Ok, you've got me started. LOL I'm into butterfly raising like there's no tomorrow. You need to join us on the threads in the Hummingbird and Butterfly Gardening forum. Talk about an addiction! Wow!

*groan* OK but I promise myself I will only read/lurk ..................

kinda sad that I am moving 'cause I have more BFs coming here every year .

I grow all types of plants to attract,nurture and then feed the babies.

This message was edited Jun 27, 2007 10:23 AM

"If you plant it, they will come." I'd shovel up those plants and take them with me if I was you! LOL The BFS will be at your new place too!

Good luck to you in your move and new place.

Deborah

Most of my BF plants can be grown easily from seed will be left behind.

I worry about my fancy , non- BF , brugs,daylilies, asiatics and irises.

Brugs ,'naners and huge EEs are in big pots this year and I will dig and transport bareroot as many of the the 'special' lilies and irises I can.

Well, I harvested two full packages today!... You told me how to do it with the tulle fabric none too soon!

edited to say....Thank you Thank you!

This message was edited Jun 29, 2007 10:50 PM

Save some for me ;-P

Gotcha covered!

☺☺☺

They will be sown in TN
God willing .

This message was edited Jun 30, 2007 3:29 PM

Oh you must be moving to Tenn. My Mom lives in the Great Smokey Mts. in Gatlinburg. Such a nice climate and view.

Yeah baby!

We will be in the foothills area about an hour West of Maryville ( if everything goes as planned) .

Beeeuuutiful part of the country! You'll think you've died and gone to heaven! Mama's already found the back roads to get from Gatlingburg to Severville without going through Pigeon Forge traffic. There's never a tourist down time in that part of Tenn and she just can't make it a week without going to a Walmart. LOL!

Been there , passing through and /or staying a couple of days many times and changed my long time intentions to move back to FL where I lived as a kid.

Tell me about the PF traffic ........ grrrrrrrrrr
One year I got stuck in Pigeon Forge gridlock traffic on my scoot while heading home from one of my solo rides to the Keys. [never used that road again.]

I thought my clutch hand was gonna fall off ... lol

LOL! I can just picture your torment. And the locals don't tell tourist the way of the back roads either. :( Mama says, if they did, then they wouldn't be back roads. LOL

I was able to pass along your advice you gave me! And another poster added that if you don't have tulle fabric just use kneeHi's. Now isn't that neat! Gather up a handful of stems with pods and stick'em in the KneeHi's like a glove (in this case, a foot).

Since I don't use the blasted things tulle is my choice .

Saved a lot of money by not purchasing kneehighs for my plants. *g*

Ya could use diff colored tulle(s) to entertain your self or passers by ..... lol

LOL!

Hi guys.

I have 2 milkweed plants that are the orange/red/yellow color. I didnt know what the pods were until I found this forum. Thanks! I found 3 of the pods split open this morning!! I was so excited. The pod wasnt exactly brown though so I hope they were okay to pull off. Its amazing how many seeds come in one pod. I should have quite a few if anyone wants some. I think the birds got one pod though.. Do they do that? I noticed it was ready and then the next day it was empty. I may have to do the netting to keep them in like you guys suggested. This is a great way to learn. I'm so happy to have found you guys.

Email me if you want some seeds..

I hope I get enough from my plants to share too. Goodness knows I owe forward. Without DG I wouldn't have the number of gardens that I'm so thankful to have. My pods, I noticed, actually are more vanilla colored than brown when they split open. If your pods split open on their own, they were ready. All it would take is for a little wind to blow in the plant's direction and it would be too late to harvest. Those seeds attached to those umbrella fluffy parts take off like rockets in a little wind.
I don't know if a bird would get a pod off the milkweed. The milkweed plant should make a bird sick. I don't know about a pod. From what I can tell, the pods on my plants divide once split and just hang on the stem.

Angel, join us on the Hummer and Butterfly Gardening Forum if you enjoy host plants like the milkweeds for butterfly gardening. Lots to learn and fun planting plants for a great purpose.

Angel, most birds don't touch the seeds in the pods but here's the thing, if you don't catch them right after they open, the wind will take the seeds and blow them everywhere. I have had many pods open to never see a seed. My garden is on one side of my yard and when we let the grass grow a little too long, I will see little milkweed plants growing in the middle of the grass (Boy does hubby love that..NOT!!).

I have been thru 3 years of saving pods as I do butterfly programs with the local girl scouts and they all get to leave the progam with their own plant as well as a baggie of seeds to plant in their own yard. There are many times when I find a pod that hasn't opened yet. When they are really big and when I squeeze them a little bit and i hear them "crunch" then i know they are about to open. I pull the whole pod and put it in a paper bag in the house. Wait a day or 2 and by then they are usually open and I haven't lost a single seed.

My pods when they open are still usually a green or little lighter. Never brown until they fully open and release the seeds. Then I pull all the old pod casing off the plant.

Flutter

I have been watching 2 of the Butterfly Weed that grows on my road. It was not the vibrant orange that I usually see but a lighter orange, anyway I was stopping every few days to check on the pods progress and there were only 2 that something hadn't eaten. The pods weren't anywhere near opening yet, they were still very green. I came home the other day and the highway dept had brush hogged them. I was so aggravated. Oh well another year I guess.

D-mail me if any of you want some A. curassavica milkweed seeds.

Deborah

You could buy some cheap Knee-Hi stockings and place them over the seed pods to catch the seeds as they ripen and pop open. Easy! :-)