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Harvested Wild Common Milkweed Seedpods Today!

12 years ago

Hi everyone,

One of the wild milkweed plants I see when I go on a walk (it grows along the roadside) around here had seedpods just willing to be picked! So today I finally picked them :). Two are already empty and two had split and the rest (a few) are still green. I put them in a brown paper lunch bag and placed (not wrapped) moist paper towels on top of them. Will they be okay?

Brad AKA Moonwolf

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Comments (7)

gardenweed_z6a
12 years ago
Good for you, Brad!! I've got three ripe pods saved for you that split open so the seeds are definitely ripe. I don't pick them until they split because I don't know the answer to your question of whether they're ripe before then. I'm guessing not but hope someone who knows for certain will post an answer.

It ought to be interesting trying to get the fluffy things into a bubble mailer (assuming you still want them) but no more than seeing what they look like when you take them out at your end!!
moonwolf_gw
Original Author
12 years ago
Thank you gardenweed!

The pods that split open were hard to get into the brown paper lunch bag because the seeds stuck to my gloves and the bag LOL. Oh I definitely want the ones you saved for me :). I'm going to share the sprouts this spring with friends and family :).

Brad AKA Moonwolf
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I want to bump this up again so those who are interested in preserving this plant can add this year's growing information. I had a baby who bloomed this spring but no seed pods. The same with the wild A variegata I dug up three seasons ago. This year it put up four strong stalks and lots of flower heads but again, not one seed pod. I watched the flower heads closely and even though some flying insects crawled all over the flowers, there was no pollination. This particuliar milkweed appears to bloom the earliest of all the milkweeds I have. Maybe there aren't enough insects around this early to aid in the pollination. We had terrible high temps over a long period this summer and it was all I could do to keep the plants alive. Did anyone else have any luck getting seed pods of this plant? I also purchased three small A variegata plants from Pine Ridge Gardens this year (all MaryAnn would sell me as I suspect she was trying to make them available to more of her clients). I'm going to overwinter them in 1 gal nursery pots. I haven't decided if I'm going to try growing them in big planters on my deck next year (mostly high dappled shade) or plant them inground. Maybe I should try putting one in ground this fall and keeping two in the nursery pots over winter. What is the key to getting these plants to set seed pods? :-) ~Mary A baby A variegata - 1st blooming this spring of 2011 the wild transplanted A variegata - aka Red Ring Milkweed - blooming 5-24-2011
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terrene
12 years ago
Hi Brad, nix the moist paper towels. The seeds need to DRY, anything moist is a bad idea. When I harvest seed, I either put them in a little 5 oz dixie cup, or a paper lunch bag. Let dry for about 2-3 weeks in a dry well-ventilated place. Then I clean the seed and store in fridge.

In my experience, Asclepias syriaca - common milkweed - is very slow to establish from seed. All of the tap-rooted perennial milkweeds that I've started from seed grow slowly and take at least 3 years to bloom, if the critters, insects, or fungus don't get it first.
terrene
12 years ago
Wait a minute, Asclepias tuberosa was an exception - it blooms much faster than 3 years!
bakemom_gw
12 years ago
But still, A. tuberosa does take 3 tears to become glorious! It's so worth the wait.

I think it's a mistake to harvest pods that aren't ripe. I know asclepias can be elusive, but I think it's best to just be patient and watchful.

I take all my cues from ma nature. When the plant is ready to release the seeds - the seeds are ready. BTW, I don't always seperate the fuzzies for seeds I'm keeping for me. If you harvest the whole pod, you can strip out the seeds more easily.

Have fun!
pippi21
12 years ago
I must have my asclepia tuberosa planted in a bad spot because it was planted this year and probably is not no taller than about 8 or 10 inches. Maybe with all the rain we've had this week, it grew even more. Same way with my lupine plants.
terrene
12 years ago
Did you WS your A. tuberosa this year Pippi? If so, 8-10 inches sounds right for a 1st year plant. They also can be transplanted, but even larger plants will be slow to establish. My Lupine seedlings are small the first year too, not sure how large they will be next year.

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