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Butterfly Garden

How do You Clean Native Milkweed Seed for Storage?

16 years ago

I'm putting them into a paper sack with wind dispersal tufts still intact. Throw in a couple cleaned out halves of the pods as an agitator and shake the snot out of them. :-) Seems to work well. Someone have a better routine?

randy

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Comments (12)

rjj1
Original Author
16 years ago
Switched over to a 2 gallon plastic tub and that is working even better.

randy
tdogmom
16 years ago
I put mine in a plastic cup with a couple of coins for agitators and shake and shake and twirl, twirl, twirl! The fluff balls up and the seeds fall down.
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Randy, I'd love to have some, too. I have several species I've planted, so can send you some seeds in fall. I know for sure that my A. asperula is up (2 plants). This is also commonly called Antelope Horns. It is native to Oklahoma, as are the other species I'm growing. You'd probably have about as good a luck just tossing them out in the field. The seeds I grew didn't seem to like the potting soil very well. Once I got them in the ground, they took off like a house afire. I will have A. syriaca (common), A. viridiflora (green milkweed), A. incarnata (Swamp--heehee, we can really use that now!); A. verticillata (whorled milkweed), and A. purpurescens (purple milkweed). You're too kind! I hope we have increased the desire in other Oklahomans to grow milkweed and enjoy these beautiful butterflies. Seen anymore moths, lately? Are you raising the Walnut Sphinx? I keep checking my saplings (some are about 5' tall) in hopes of finding one. I also check the Elderberry to see if I ever get a Cecropia. Susan
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I suppose there's no harm in reminding new members to read the FAQ's (such as for the Seed Saving & Tomato Forums) before posting a question? ;-) Trudi, I can't help noticing that you recommend the _fermentation method_ in the Seed Saving FAQ's - and I agree with that post. While fermentation takes longer, it improves germination & is safer than using chlorine products. I am _not_ saying that the cleanser method doesn't work (not having tried it), only that fermentation has a proven track record. Ranjana, there are several existing FAQ's on this issue, and some very good threads (one of them is linked below). A GW search will show you many more. You will note that there is considerable disagreement, between those devoted to various schools of thought. Personally, I recommend the fermentation process; it is fairly fool-proof, and has become the standard for tomato seed saving. It does, however, require a fairly large amount of seed & juice to be effective. If you are saving only very small quantities & do not intend to share your seed, other methods may be more appropriate for you. To the methods listed under the FAQ's for cleaning your seeds, I recommend adding your blender as the last step. It will remove any clinging debris (or chlorine, if using the cleanser method), and may be all that is necessary if you want to clean, say, one tomato's worth of seed. Place the seeds in the blender, and fill with water. Use your lowest speed; the tomato seeds are small & hard, and most will not be harmed. Pulse briefly several times (longer if processing a whole tomato). Then allow to settle for a few seconds; the good seeds will sink to the bottom. Pour off the water slowly - most of the bad seeds & debris will follow the water, while the good seeds remain in the bottom. If the solution is thick, pour off a little water, refill to top, and stir; otherwise, some good seeds may be lost. Add water & repeat the process until the seeds are clean, then pour through a fine-mesh strainer. There are also many drying methods; I drain as much water as possible from the strainer with a paper towel, then pour the seeds out onto a tray lined with newspaper. Spread the seeds out with your fingers, and continue moving them around until they no longer stick together (if you have a ceiling fan, I have found it to be very helpful in accelerating this process). Then remove them from the newspaper, and place on a hard surface or screen to finish drying. If you have forced-air heat, the dry winter air indoors should remove enough moisture to allow long-term storage. Package your seed in mid-Winter, and store away from heat, light, and moisture. Here is a link that might be useful: Tomato seed fermentation
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mboston_gw
16 years ago
Good to hear these ideas. Funny story: I have been bringing in seed pods, trying to get to them before the milkweed bettles. I usually put them in my closed hand since I never have anything with me when I need it. I grab a napkin or papertowel, put the pod in, fold it over and rub it to get the seeds loose. This one time I must have gotten it just at the right moment cause as I was putting it on the paper towel the pod exploded and the seeds with silk went everywhere. My two mini labradoodles are barking up a storm, grabbing at the stuff flying in the air, sniffing it when it lands and getting it stuck to their noses, in their fur, etc. Took me forever to clean it all up and try to recover the seeds. If milkweed starts growing on my pups, we'll know we have a new growing medium! Ha Ha!
tdogmom
16 years ago
Tee-hee! LabraMilkweedles? New breed?
tracey_nj6
16 years ago
I usually wrap the pod (only when dry or it'll mold) just as it splits in a coffee filter. Key words = just as it splits. I can fit multiple pods in each filter; just keep wrapping them around each other until they filter is full. For those I don't catch fast enough, like last year, I put them in a paper bag with some coins and "shake the snot out of them" too. I haven't found this to be somewhat effective, but there's plenty of seed I must dig out myself. Those that are wrapped in the filters for a few days/weeks, are rather easy to separate, since they stay intact and somewhat closed, but still, must be done outside. I try to grab the fluff by the seam and pull it out; the seed normally all falls into my cup. It's time consuming, but I'll just hang out on the deck, soak up some rays, and pull, pull, pull. I try to do this with a bit of wind, but not to much ;)
rjj1
Original Author
16 years ago
Tdogmom,

Thanks for the tip. Adding a bunch of coins to my 2 gallon plastic tub worked great. I probably only had 20 seeds to pick out of the rolled up tufted fluff.

randy
susanlynne48
16 years ago
Just had to get those last few, huh, Randy? Heehee!

Yes, CalSherry taught me the milkweed "seed from fluff" technique last year and it worked beautifully. Are you getting seed from your green milkweed, Randy?

Susan
rjj1
Original Author
16 years ago
Hi Susan

Yes, it's the viridis in the pasture. A few pods opened yesterday and that area looked like it had snowed. :-)

Picked a few this morning that just started to split. There are literally hundreds of pods, so I think it should be ok for me to pick a few more to start closer to the house.

I'll have plenty of seed if you are interested in some.

randy
tdogmom
16 years ago
You are most welcome! Trial and error, trial and error...

Sharing is GREAT! :)
susanlynne48
16 years ago
You got it, Sherry! Most times that's all we have to go by, huh?

The other little pipevine cat that I had that exhibited the ADHD behavior died last night. I was afraid it would because it wouldn't eat. Just wandered around everywhere. So sad. The last two I have now, I may have enough pipevine to feed. They sure do grow slowly compared to other butterflies I've raised. I'm wondering if I should give them some serpentaria foliage to eat (they're on clematitis right now).

Susan
kris10powell
16 years ago
I learned today that if they are slighly damp after a rain that I can take them all off the white stuff withoug any mess :) I pinch the bottom of the pod, then slid my fingers from top to bottom over the seeds and 97% of the seeds fall into my paper bag. Although my favorite past time prior to discovering this was to shake a paper bag full of the fluffy seeds until all the fluff flies away (without my seeds)

Kristen
susanlynne48
16 years ago
Randy, would love to have some viridis. Not sure if mine grew or not (winter sowed some seeds). I grew several containers of various species of milkweed, but in trying a new method to mark my containers this year, I lost all the markers and I do not know the ID of any of them, except for incarnata and verticillata (which is really obvious by the foliage).

BTW - the willows are doing just marvelous!

Susam

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