AWESOME VIDEO! I harvest my seeds similar to how you do it but I hold onto the tip of the seed "spindle" and remove it from the pod, then rake the seeds off. It's so much easier with no fluff all over the place! As to the aphids on the plants, these are known as oleander aphids and are a non-native aphid and I had a Swamp Milkweed plant COVERED with them. The plant was so weakened that the flowers fell off and the whole plant died. While I may not get them all, I crush as much as I can and also use a water/dishwsoap mix on them, taking care not to spray monarch eggs or caterpillars. Again, GREAT VIDEO and thanks for posting it!
Thank you sir! I'm glad you found it helpful. Aphids have been so bad this year. But I've never had a plant completely die from aphids, yet. But I prefer to just crush them, as it is the most effective way I've found. You just have to wash your hands afterwards. This year I did get visited/defoliated by tussock moth and milkweed beetles though. So that has been interesting to watch. I clipped pods w/ the beetles and tossed them a good distance away. Just because I want some of the seeds for myself. I'll have to try your method by gripping the spindle tip this year too. Thanks for the tip.
I had aphids on my Swamp Milkweed this year, and when I figured out what they were, I went out however often and crushed them with my fingers. I didn't realize that those solider beetles were bad news, and I think they ate all my monarch eggs or baby caterpillars. But I'm wise to them next year.
@@Almamater8888 The tussock moths were my biggest surprise. They totally defoliated my plants. Came out one day looking for Monarch caterpillars but found all these muppet-like caterpillars. At least the birds like them!
@@Almamater8888 The aphids don't typically bother the monarch eggs or larvae. Unfortunately, ants, spiders, lacewings, and other predatory insects will.
In freezer for 28 days. On wet towel for as long as it takes to sprout. Had 20 % germination rate. Grew some in Cone-tainers. Put silk in suet cage ,had read that Goldfinch lined nests with. Peace
Hi, I just harvested mine along the roadway . my question is how long do I need to put them in the refrigerator so I can get a head start and plant them early inside? Thank you young man!
Hi - you should cold stratify them in the fridge, or winter sow them. If you do the fridge, they will need 30 days of cold stratification in a moist paper towel / zip-lock bag. See here for the fridge method: ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-JIgYeduDiM4.html Or if you want to try winter sowing, that works too. Just sow the seed in a suitable container, and the seed will germinate in the Spring. ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-SKXY6dl-5Tk.html
Question... If I dead head my coneflower... and they dry out ... do they have seeds to save? Or is it only the seed heads that dry out other actual plant worthy of saving?
Hi - it is best to leave the seed heads on the plant until they turn brown. Deadheading while the petals are just wilting will often turn into nothing, or very few viable seeds. Depending on your goals, if you just want to start another 10-20 plants, you probably only need to save seed from 10 of them.
We have very invasive milkweeds in our yard... My question is how to get rid of them?? They are in the horse pasture and string through it and into our yard and into our other families yard. Almost in a straight line... How do you get rid of them. We are told that there is a huge root system.
I've never tried to get rid of them, but I would probably try a herbicide. Knowing that it will take multiple applications. There will be an extensive rhizome root system, where the rhizomes are roughly the diameter of your pinky finger. These store lots of energy from which the plant will resprout from. I personally would rather spray than constantly dig.
I live in southern Colorado and have tons of milkweed, but not one butterfly, of any kind. We used to see thousands of Monarchs here during their migration. Sadly, the ranchers and the Dept of AG have killed most all flying insects here by using Roundup weed killer.
It's hard to tell from the video, but they should look like paper discs. From what I saw, I don't think it is milkweed seeds. At least not any that I am familiar with. I have harvested Swamp (pink), Butterfly Weed (orange), and common (white/purple). The seeds should really be thin, almost like paper.
I wait as long as I can. The longer they stay in the pod the more viable they are. You can get them a bit earlier but the germination rates are lower. I don't go looking until late August/ early September in zone 6
