How to Plant Milkweed for Monarchs from Seed or Starter Plants 

A well-done, informative video, and Alejandro is a real pro in front of the camera.

Thank you! I just heard Monarchs are dying on the news today and quickly ordered this seed and found your video. Very helpful thank you. I’m hoping my plant flowers and draws the attention of many butterflies!

Alejandro is a superb teacher on a very important topic.

Wow, great video! I could not find any other video or site that dived this deep into the process of growing Milkweed from seed.

Could listen to this guy all day

Just the info I needed and very well presented - so happy I found your channel

Good Indo and presentation. I noticed I get Milkweed Aphids (non-native) on my A. fascicularis seedlings and that they were on your bench plants. Very easy to treat with some soapy water. Otherwise, they can kill the seedlings.

Great video! I've found I get better germ when I cold stratify the seeds for a month but maybe that is a regional thing? I live in No. Cal. Keep up the great work!

Excellent instructions… thank you!

Thank you Alejandro! Your passion and positive attitude is contagious. You have a bright future. God bless you!

Thanks, bro. Super helpful.

Love it!

Excellent teaching video. Thank you.

Very nice 👍

Nice job explaining

Thank you sir, very informative, !!!

Great educational video. Now I know how to plant this lovely native. Thank you Alejandro!

Far and away THE BEST how to video. Thank you!

TYVM!

Great video with a very thoughtful delivery. Excellent information!

❤muy bien explicado. Gracias

Such a great guide!

Thanks. I needed the tutorial!

TY for this informative video

Thank you for the info!

Excellent tutorial!!

Than you.

This is one of the best video I’ve seen. Thank you

Super Informative. Thank you!

Thank you so much for the information.

Great information. Thank you!

Excellent and through video

Very well explained

Good information. Very useful.

Thank you for the excellent instruction! I feel more confident to begin this project. Bendiciones!

Very informative video, thank you very much.

thanks for this video I definitely learned some things.

Thank you for this informative video. I just started the process today. Looking forward to those Monarchs!

Thank you

Wonderful presentation! Thank you Alejandro! I agree with someone else who wrote what a professional job you did. Bravo to you.!

Awesome. I was wondering about some of what you covered, Alejandro. I look forward to talking with you again at TPF, too.

I'm growing 4 types of milkweed plants. Gay Butterflies, Hello Yellow, Soulmate and Butterfly weed. My kiddos gifted me seeds for my birthday. Hopefully all are native to where I live in Texas and they wont disrupt the Monarch butterflies migration route. Great video .

I sowed some in the last week of August and they sprouted, just out of curiosity, because I harvested the seeds from the wild. I'm hoping the seedlings will survive the Southern California winter.

I gathered a buttload and just scattered it in appropriate places like the wind does

Thank you so so much for the great video!! I’m newbie raising monarch!… but this year I raised 56 monarch butterflies 😀 …Was kind of expensive since cats eat like crazy!!😅😅 Two questions!! If I can ask 🙃…When is the right time to start to grow native milkweed from seeds here in CA?…. and what you do to eliminate those yellow little monsters?

Awesome work. About how long does it take to get from germination in the plug flat to up-potting into 4” pot to transplanting in the ground? I’m in the southeast and have some Swamp Milkweed seedlings and I’m wondering when I should up-pot.

Thank you, this is super helpful! Where should the seed plugs be housed while the seeds germinate? Outside or inside? Sunny or partly sunny spot? Thanks in advance!

Thank you! Can you share any information about how and when to gather seed from an existing narrow leaf milkweed plant?

Great information. Thank you. I'm in zone 8A - (Mississippi) and was told to get Asclepias Tuberosa Milkweed vs. Asclepias Curassavica Milkweed. Can you confirm this?

How often should I water during dry season? Should I use and compost or fertilizer?

Is raising showy milkweed the same? I want to get an early start and plant indoors.. is this possible?

Did you prechill the seeds before planting in the plugs? I have some Asclepias speciosa seeds and I have read that prechilling improves germination. How long would you recommend prechilling?

Hi! Would the same planting timeline apply somewhere hot like Sacramento?

Will seeds survive if they were frozen a couple weeks?

Which milkweed is good for Florida monarch butterflies.

How much space between plants if you are planting starter plants?

Hey Alejandro! I'm doing a habitat enhancement project in Norcal for the burrowing owls, and now, the monarch butterflies as well. We haven't been successful growing milkweeds from seed directly at the project site, so we're looking to have community members start them from seed for transplantation in the early spring of next year (like Feb/March). Given our timeline, is it ok to plant the seeds now and they'll be ready for transplanting in the spring? If we start them now, should we expect to move them into 1-gallon containers (or just larger containers) at some point? We'd been buying milkweeds in 1-gallon containers, so now we have a lot of those that we can reuse for this project, but should we even use them or is it best to transplant them before they'd need a gallon container? We'd been purchasing the gallon-sized milkweeds because we suspected they'd be more successful at our project site.

Hola dónde te encuentras ? Yo estoy en tucson he intentado germinar las semillas desde el año pasado y no crecen!! Podrías enviarme de la semilla que tú utilizas ?? Como te contacto ? Gracias

Does this method apply the same way to A. speciosa and A. eriocarpa? I have both those seeds but not narrow leaf. Thank you!

What happens next? How often do you water initially them maybe when a month or two goes by and then full size.? My soil is hard and clay like so am sure its different than your sandy soil. I just dont want to overdo. Thank you!!

How long does it take the baby milkweed im growing(from seed)to become established and can back off watering? Is it like 1 year like other plants?

Can I have your greenhouse? 🥳

Hi there! I live on the east coast of the U.S. particularly in the tri-state area. Your vid was very informative! I know you mentioned best time to plant the seeds is during March - July... However, I've also heard that you can plant seeds in the fall or winter months. Is that accurate? Thanks

Is milkweed a perennial? If so, when and how should you prune?

Can the seedlings be transplanted into the ground from the small plugs or should they be moved into a larger container before putting them in the ground?

Alejandro how do you keep the aphids and other bugs out from the milkweed plants? Thank you

When do you put them in ground. How big are the seedlings to be

I am in Chicago, IL & want to start the seedlings inside. Can I do this if so do I need to take any other steps? Thank you

I just planted 5 of these narrowleaf milkweed in my yard. My fear is that they will go out of control and would spread too much.

Which milkweed varieties should I start in North Carolina? I live in the Southeastern part of the state,on the edge of the Sandhills and the coastal plains.

Alejandro I have very sandi soil in florida, have a hard time reasing milkweed

Another tip - make sure there are no tussock moths or caterpillars around because THEY WILL devour the milkweeds. I have seen this first hand and have resorted to cutting the plants down. I don't want to but the tussocks are a relentless, poisonous creature.

You mentioned the seeds will get sunlight even though they are under 1/2 inch of soil. How do the seeds receive sun half inch under the soil? That's confusing to me. I only mention as some type of milkweed need sunlight to germinate. To me the varieties of milkweed seeds needing sunlight to germinate should not be half in under the soil. Can you explain more places

The main problem I have is the seedlings grow to 2-3 in and then a monarch lays eggs on it . They eat the small plant and and go wander out looking for more ! And then there’s the virus NPV which will wipe out every one ! 😩

How many 4” plants should be planted in each 3ft x 3ft area?

How long does it take the start to grow until it can benefit the Monarch butterflies?

Great video, but how do you get your fingernails so clean!? :)

What state is this?

Can milkweed become invasive?

Here after watching " The Guardian of the monarchs" in Netflix 😭

Are you not concerned about the absolute aphid infestation on those baby seedlings?

WOW...those seedlings were full of APHIDS!

Does anyone know how "toxic" milkweed is? I prefer to be like Alejandro and garden without gloves personally because I like touching the earth.

Bro the milkweed doesn’t look like this😐

that doesn't look like milkweed, and it takes 3 years to flower yo