harvest home milkweed seed is all about timing . Too soon , and the seed have n’t senesce yet and wo n’t burgeon forth . Too lately , and they ’ll have either be adrift away or make a messy web of white fluff ( called milkweed floss or milkweed silk ) all over the flora .
In late summertime , I often see milkweed pod mature in a skinny field or along the edges of trails where I ’m hiking or biking . This was how I originally collected my initial stash of milkweed seeds so I couldgrow milkweed at home . ( If you want to do the same , please make indisputable it ’s tolerate first and leave some pods on the plants so they can circulate by nature . )
The cum pods between different specie of milkweeds await a little different , but have a similar teardrop frame with a pointed end . While several species of milkweed are aboriginal to North America , you ’ll most often find these three silkweed in the wild :
The cognitive operation for picking and processing all of them are the same , however , and once you make love a couple tricks for cleanly break the come from the milkweed bagatelle , you ’ll be able to do it in mere seconds !
So how do you know when milkweed pods are ready to pick?
Milkweed pods are fledged when they set out to dry out out in August and September . They do n’t have to be to the full dry out and brown though — if you stuff a slenderly green cod and it pops open at a seam , it ’s ready !
The seeded player should be sinister brown and leathery . ( If they ’re cream - colorize , very pallid , or blank , then they are n’t ripe and wo n’t grow into a flora . )
Quick Tip
Occasionally you ’ll receive milkweed bugs crawl on a seed cod . These red and black insects feed on the source by pierce the pod and injecting digestive enzymes to liquidize the germ . If a seed pod is insure in milkweed glitch , chances are high that the seeds have been damaged .
Method #1
The key to easy harvesting is picking the seed cod before the frippery inwardly has expanded , make the fuel pod to burst .
Pick an unopened seed pod and mildly lend oneself pressure to the seam . If it does n’t unfold easily , the seeds inside are green . If the pod opens , it should be pretty wide-eyed to class the seeds from the fluff .
filch the cum mass at one destruction of the seedpod , and pull the source off with your other hand . ( It ’s kind of like clean the leaves off an herbaceous plant sprig . ) The seeds should fall away easily and you ’ll be left with a “ cob ” or strobilus of milkweed floss that can be fling .
Method #2
If you ’ve overlook the windowpane of opportunity and you ’ve got milkweed dental floss fly everywhere , the best direction to separate the seeds from the frippery is by didder them off !
Put the milkweed dental floss and seed ( or the total opened pod ) in a jounce with a few coin . Shake smartly . The coins will do all the body of work of separating the fluff and the seeds for you !
The seeds will determine at the bottom of the jar , so you’re able to simply lift all the frippery out . ( Milkweed floss can be recycled into stuffing if you ’re the crafty type . ) If you do n’t have a jar handy , a paper old bag works just as well .
Storing the seeds
After you ’ve collected all the seed , sandwich them in a damp newspaper towel and put them in a plastered shock or nil - top bag in the refrigerator for at least six weeks . They can stay in the electric refrigerator like this until you ’re quick to sow the seeds in spring . ( Just remember to periodically check on them through winter and spritz the paper towel to keep it lightly damp , but not dripping wet . )
Why the fridge ? Because milkweed seeds expect exposure to a period of very cold weather ( called cold social stratification ) so as to burgeon forth . ( This is one of the most common mistake for people who wonderwhy their seeds wo n’t sprout . )
If you do n’t require to deal with storage , you’re able to also scatter your milkweed seed in place in fall or winter and rent Mother Nature take tutelage of stratify them for you .
