Thanks, Nel5397. I added a little slow release fertilizer on the plants today. I also reduced their light a little and I've noticed a huge difference the newer leaves don't have the red spots like the previous leaves did. I noticed you lived in FL you must see Monarch butterflies there all the time. This year I'm starting early so they can lay some eggs on my milkweeds in the spring. Thanks again. :)

hello I keep several tropical MW plant indoors over the winter, they are blooming now, I will make cuttings in a few weeks and have lots of babies by the time they can be planted out.they seem to have a quicker start from cuttings. hope this helps michelle ps I also have a tray of seeds I just planted in the greenhouse

Thanks so much for this information, needtoseegreen. "The three species you mentioned", is that the newsletter you're quoting? I have been concerned about planting non native milkweed so I'm very glad for this post. I grow the milkweed that is native to where I live in So. Cal., if was growing in the yard for decades and I didn't know what it was until 2 years ago. Luckily the roots survived my weedings. It makes sense not to fool around with mother nature and grow non native milkweed. I'm not surprised with the findings you listed from the newsletter. I have read about the toxicity of the "milk" varying and that So. Cal Monarchs aren't used to the toxicity level of tropical or other non native MW's, but I have no opinion because I don't know for sure. I would trust what Monarch Watch says on it. The Monarchs that visited my yard last year when I tried a small plant of tropical in addition to the native (A. fascicularis) didn't lay eggs on the tropical. The tropical didn't do well in my heavy clay soil either. Could you please forward the newsletter to me? I'd be very interested. Do you think they would mind if you mentioned them here? I don't recommend using anything but water on the milkweed, because even a tiny amount of bleach in water will kill the caterpillars on contact. I found this out in my cat raising indoors for the first time starting a few weeks ago. The newly hatched Monarch cats are way too small for anyone to notice, they are extremely small and are hidden under leaves, or can be embedded in the tender growth at the top of the stem. Insecticidal soap would kill them and leave a toxic residue (to them). I recommend crushing the aphids, and wearing latex gloves, they stain the skin. Hosing them off would be hard on the new cats and would likely wash them off too. May I ask what MW species you grow? since you're in the same growing zone and area as myself. Any way to find out if the other species you listed (other than A. fascicularis) are native to the L.A. area? Any So. Calif. milkweed and Monarch breeders who read this, could you share what species of native MW you grow? I am battling black mildew on my A. fascicularis leaves, and pulling off the affected leaves daily. It's a huge task. I need to keep a clean food supply for all the tiny cats I have brought in. Today I picked about 5 stem tops and found 4 more tiny cats, and the nights are getting too cold for them. Just the problem that the newsletter addressed; tiny cats hatching in weather that is too cold due to abnormal breeding spans encouraged by the non native MW species. (I get the impression that tropical MW to a Monarch is like catnip to a cat) Sadly all the nurseries, even Home Depot carry these non-native MW's, and I think they have helped create the OE problem. The cats I raised last December-January all emerged as OE infected butterflies. The reason for this (according to what I've read) is because since the plants have been visited all season by butterflies, all that "foot traffic" has raised the probability of contamination of the plants and egg by the microscopic OE spores. The unnaturally long breeding season puts Monarchs in a perilous position not just weather wise, but disease wise. Sorry this got too lengthy. This fall I'm dipping the milkweed used for feeding (clear of eggs or tiny cats), in water with a few drops of bleach for 10 seconds, and rinse it well. The 2 Monarchs I released today had questionable looking thoraxes (possibly OE infected), I was torn about releasing them. They were not raised entirely indoors. I need to get an inexpensive lighted microscope to check for OE, any suggestions where to get one, anyone? Thanks. It didn't work for me to raise the eggs on the narrow leaves, the larvae all got black death or NPV (or?) at various stages. Now it's the cut MW in water, tons of work and I can't disinfect the MW that have eggs on them. I'm worn out! It's a full time job. Feels like changing baby's diapers all day long. :)

(Ooops...sorry: this pic goes down below, but I can't figure out how to move it!) NEW POST STARTS HERE: :) Gosh, I'm having such a difficult time of this -- is there such a thing as an infected bed? Last weekend, I planted a 3-gallon asclepias tuberosa. The weather has finally cooled down into the 70s-80 high, nights 50s. It was doing great until just this morning: I noticed yellowed leaves with spots on them: These spots look similar the ones on my Esperanza which is planted ~ 20' to the right. While my Esperanza is somewhat shaded by the neighbor's oak, the milkweed gets full sun from morning til 4 p.m. (this time of year). My first thought was: too much water? I poked my finger into the dirt: cool to the touch and slightly damp, but not soaked. I also noticed that the milkweed leaves were all droopy: We were away yesterday, so skipped watering. I gave it a good dousing today, and the leaves immediately perked up. So, now I'm confused about what's causing the spots, as the plant doesn't appear overwatered (based on today's drooping). Many of the leaves have halo-looking lesions/spots on the top only, with no discernible issues on the underside: ...while other leaves are damaged on both upper and lower surfaces: BTW, the red pentas are flowering, and most of the leaves look okay; but over the summer, it's apparent (by the leaves) that something hit them, too: For reference, a look at the bed (area shown is ~ 32' l-r): I think that plant to the left is an angelonia -- purchased ~ 5 years ago, so I can't remember...small purple blossoms (see pic at beginning of post). It's carefree and doing fine -- it anything, is suffers from too little water. We planted the gardenia ~ 20 years ago -- I do nothing to it, and it's perfectly fine (though the two right branches seem to be protesting a bit lately...starting to green up again). Any help would be greatly appreciated. As the Monarchs are starting to lay eggs on the milkweed (yay!), I don't want to start spraying with fungicides or chemicals. Thanks, all.