Hi guys, I am in need of help. I am new at planting seeds and have no knowledge what so ever on how to start. I would like to plant seeds of the CALOTROPIS GIGANTEA aka CROWN FLOWER. Can some one possibly help me and guide me on what I need to do? If germination is the first process for rooting, what do I need? Any ones help is GREATLY appreciated! jasmine

If you can't take care of them all the way through adulthood--you could probably really up their chances by raising them through at least the first few instars, until they get about a good inch and getting fat in containers. It's easy to keep track of the hatchlings, and plant material then too. The cats wouldn't be able to get into it, and the container would disguise any interesting activity from them. Just a thought--when you see the female lay eggs, clip the leaves and place them in your prepared container. I usually have a clean, well-rinsed and dried container (have both plastic and glass), place a small piece of paper towel about the size of my thumb nail, dampened at the bottom of the container. Then I place a paper towel or two over it, and place the leaves with the caterpillars on it. I often will put the leaf top down on the towel, and then place a second leaf top up (so the bottom side is facing the egg or caterpillar); they prefer to be on the underside of the leaf. I check on them several times per day, which allows air exchange and check on the status of the leaves. If they are wilting, I put in fresh leaves, or if they have been in there for more than a day. I clean out the frass too and change the towels at least once a day and refresh the damp bit of towel. This has worked out well--learned it from people on the forum here. The humidity of the closed container is good for the caterpillar and for the leaf. As long as the leaf stays fresh looking for at least a day, I know the humidity is right--that can take a little fiddling with and using your best judgment. Too much or too little of humidity can be bad, but there is some leeway too. Worth giving a try. Take care.

Hi Mary, Hope this finds you doing well and that you had a very good growing season. These seeds did really well. They have been in flower for the past three months. I've never had a milkweed bloom so much. The first batch never did germinate. I have had tons of insect visits during this time but only two small pods that have not really developed much. I had three Monarch caterpillars on the plants and they pretty much stripped(ate) most of the foliage but the plants put out more leaves after the caterpillars molted.. I still have them in a 12" pot but will probably divide them once they stop flowering and plant them in the garden. I was wondering how your seed production has been this year? I would like to get a bunch of seed from somewhere to grow and distribute to all the folks here in my area who are into this like you and I. Any chance you might have some to share again or know someone who does and/or somewhere I can purchase some. Thanks for any help. Regards, Mark

(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.