Milkweed question

farmingfisherman

Well-Known Member
Wife and I harvested 3 pods we want to add them to our native habitat area. Anyone have any tips in planting them? Planting area has wood chips with soil underneath, area gets full sun. Cheers and thanks!
 

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They like disturbed sandy ground.. and will take a couple years to bloom.. theyll also send out rhizomes as they grow.. they wont do so well in wood chips.. notice how they like to grow around the edge of graded dirt roads (disturb ground) or in sandy soil in fields..
 
They like disturbed sandy ground.. and will take a couple years to bloom.. theyll also send out rhizomes as they grow.. they wont do so well in wood chips.. notice how they like to grow around the edge of graded dirt roads (disturb ground) or in sandy soil in fields..
Sounds like I'm going to have to prep some ground.
 
I would start them in small pots then transplant them rather than direct sow. After that they'll naturalize.

I grow milkweed myself and ended up with quite a few seed pods this year.

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They like disturbed sandy ground.. and will take a couple years to bloom.. theyll also send out rhizomes as they grow.. they wont do so well in wood chips.. notice how they like to grow around the edge of graded dirt roads (disturb ground) or in sandy soil in fields..

Some will bloom the first year. It depends on the variety. Some do take a couple years before they bloom. These are the ones I grew and they bloom the first year.

butterflymilkweed793.jpg
 
I would start them in small pots then transplant them rather than direct sow. After that they'll naturalize.

I grow milkweed myself and ended up with quite a few seed pods this year.

View attachment 5207149




Some will bloom the first year. It depends on the variety. Some do take a couple years before they bloom. These are the ones I grew and they bloom the first year.

View attachment 5207150
Im talking about the commen veriaty native here.. but yeah some milk weed like wet feet.. theres a veriaty that grows on the river banks here the have real thin leaves and narrow skinny pods..
The commen kind here that like sand have fat wide leaves with thick wide pods
 
I would start them in small pots then transplant them rather than direct sow. After that they'll naturalize.

I grow milkweed myself and ended up with quite a few seed pods this year.

View attachment 5207149




Some will bloom the first year. It depends on the variety. Some do take a couple years before they bloom. These are the ones I grew and they bloom the first year.

View attachment 5207150
That's called butterfly weed here in Minnesota. Milkweed has much larger seed pods, broader leaves and grows as a single stem plant not a bush. Apparently true milkweed doesn't grow in the Northwest. We've had frost but the seedpod is diagnostic.20221003_101654.jpg
 
That's called butterfly weed here in Minnesota. Milkweed has much larger seed pods, broader leaves and grows as a single stem plant not a bush. Apparently true milkweed doesn't grow in the Northwest. We've had frost but the seedpod is diagnostic.View attachment 5207169
We call them commen milkweed here in michigan..or butterfly milk weed... theres like 3 variaties here..
 
Wife and I harvested 3 pods we want to add them to our native habitat area. Anyone have any tips in planting them? Planting area has wood chips with soil underneath, area gets full sun. Cheers and thanks!

Those silky white ,flossy inards that emerge from the pod with seed and float around all day saved many a soldier , sailor , downed pilot in WW II .......the floss material is naturally water-repellant and buoyant . I'm pretty sure that is also a good insulator........by the way , they are not a weed ( not that you said they were ). Speaking of milkweed ,
when younger I was determined to find the source of a naturally occurring opium that I had read articles about.
Long story short...from old articles read, I zeroed-in on the white , creamy milk from milkweed pod..........went to a nearby pond and filled my mother's 1970 Pontiac's trunk(ya could of put 12 dead large bodies in there). I collected shit-tons
" milk " on a sheet of glass....dried it.......put it In a pipe and took a haul.......
f'ing nothing , not a bad taste. Come to find out , listening to a Native American
medicine woman , it's what the people did back then for chewing gum.........
I had such high-hopes....the things I had in mind !
 
I could see the fluff being a good for insulation. Wonder what makes it more water repellent? Problem with down is once its wet its done, even then unless you can dry and fluff it its useless. Hemp and milkweed could be a great combo for a coat. Plants rule!
 
Those silky white ,flossy inards that emerge from the pod with seed and float around all day saved many a soldier , sailor , downed pilot in WW II .......the floss material is naturally water-repellant and buoyant . I'm pretty sure that is also a good insulator........by the way , they are not a weed ( not that you said they were ). Speaking of milkweed ,
when younger I was determined to find the source of a naturally occurring opium that I had read articles about.
Long story short...from old articles read, I zeroed-in on the white , creamy milk from milkweed pod..........went to a nearby pond and filled my mother's 1970 Pontiac's trunk(ya could of put 12 dead large bodies in there). I collected shit-tons
" milk " on a sheet of glass....dried it.......put it In a pipe and took a haul.......
f'ing nothing , not a bad taste. Come to find out , listening to a Native American
medicine woman , it's what the people did back then for chewing gum.........
I had such high-hopes....the things I had in mind !

Just noticed I fucked up a sentence...reads like jibber-jabber...oops
 
Wife and I harvested 3 pods we want to add them to our native habitat area. Anyone have any tips in planting them? Planting area has wood chips with soil underneath, area gets full sun. Cheers and thanks!
Be careful they become very invasive in a open garden once the roots take hold. Keep it its own box.
 
Seeding can be a challenge. Cold stratification is a must and often it takes a year or two to germinate in my experience. I haven't tried to germinate in controlled conditions but have alternately planted and spread seeds across the past few years of a few varieties with mediocre results. I'll keep doing it for the next few years until we have something more substantial.
 
Wife and I harvested 3 pods we want to add them to our native habitat area. Anyone have any tips in planting them? Planting area has wood chips with soil underneath, area gets full sun. Cheers and thanks!

Milkweed is the only thing that Monarch butterfly caterpillars eat, and is essential for them to complete their life cycle. The sap of the milkweed is poisonous and the caterpillars, and eventually the butterflies, concentrate the poison in their tissues making them unattractive to predators. Monarch butterflies migrate long distances, they winter in Mexico and go as far north as Canada, however it takes two generations to make the trip. Kudos for planting it!
 
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