How To Grow Milkweeds From Seed - Secrets! - Proven Method! - Tips & Tricks!

We spoke to an expert that has growing Milkweeds down to a science. I am so happy to find out a tried and true way of growing these really important plants to support the Monarch Butterflies. We are located in Zone 9B in Corpus Christi, Texas.

[@seamus6994]

Funny how we work so hard to get our seeds to germinate and the plants to flourish. Yet when I was a kid, I remember a huge Milkweed growing in a small dirt square that a Telephone pole was in behind my grandma's house. It received water from rain was all. I was probably 6 years old when I learned what the plant was and why there were so many butterflies on it. Each year a new Milkweed plant grew there.

[@akashajoti6456]

It is quite ironic how delicate the plants are until they are established.

[@huntresskira]

"Monarch butterflies were in abundance just a few decades ago, but now they’re a rare sight indeed and that’s likely because they’re now endangered. And in Mexico where large populations of the insects go to hibernate for the winter, their diminishing numbers are on epic display. According to Mexico’s Commission for National Protected Areas and the World Wildlife Fund, their count was down 22% over last year." - March 23, 2023 I've ordered free milkweed seeds to plant for dear monarch butterflies

[@shawnahathaway4762]

Where were you able to order the seeds?

[@justyves]

Jim: "Yeah, there is nothing special". People act like it is so difficult to grow Milkweeds from seed. Nothing Jim did was in any way special or some "secret science". I am glad you shared this video because people can then stop worrying and being intimidated by all the other KZbin videos out there. Just keep it simple. :)

[@AishawithanEye]

I found this video to be one of the more complicated to follow.

[@audyo14]

@@AishawithanEye same I just wanted some instructions

[@marilynnschroeder4436]

This isn’t the first time I’ve heard about using rocks! Good advice!

[@thedayfliesby9427]

I’m seeing more monarchs around here in south Texas. I’m planting milkweed this year too. Thanks for the video

[@ianhernandez4405]

i’m just starting my monarch gardening journey in south tx too, how has it been for you?

[@bkibew9933]

Great job… I had my best year this year in southeast Houston, where it’s extremely hot by doing the same thing I used old soil, amended it with compost manure and an old bag of coconut shell mix the old soil was three years old from old pots. Lion it with some vermiculite started out with two pots. Now I have six simply by separating the original first two pots into three bunches. The pots were completely full of roots. it was amazing… And I only use common yellow milkweed, because of the dangers of the tropical milkweed to the butterfly population

[@mellowyellowmom7631]

God bless you for doing this important work! I’m trying to figure it out here in NY State. I hope to get a bunch of milkweed growing in my yard so I can do my part to help the monarchs. I don’t use any chemicals and I let the weeds grow because the weeds draw in so many pollinators. But no success with milkweed yet.🤞 Thank you for your dedication to this conservation effort!!!

[@JuniorFarquar]

Common sense seems scarce w her

[@mellowyellowmom7631]

If you can’t say something nice, don’t say anything at all. Do you want to spread darkness or light as you go through your life? People suffer enough without uncalled for meanness online.

[@DA-js7xz]

You can let them go dormant in the winter. They come back

[@kimandstevelimmcintyre657]

As a kid, I raised caterpillars on common milkweed leaves in large (peanut butter plus-sized) jars with lots of nail holes punched in the lids. The barbs under the nail holes gave all the holds they needed to suspend their chrysalids (after spinning some webbing over the prickly hole bottoms). I could unscrew the lids and set them out as emergence drew near (so obvious by colour changes to dark). Thanks for the video.

[@AfterPlasticSociety]

Amazing! I am glad you enjoyed the video!

[@jiho1988]

You can stratify them in the fridge for a few weeks. Wet paper towels, place your seeds, cover with wet paper towel and put it in a baggie in the fridge. Remove after a few weeks and plant and keep moist in the sun. Works every time.

[@indy87colts]

How long you keep them in fridge ? 4-6 weeks ?

[@jiho1988]

@@indy87colts I've done 2 weeks and it's been enough.

[@JoseMartinez-df2db]

Thank you! I’ll try this at home!

[@vgarcia9724]

Thanks for new ideas!!!!😁

[@live2loveothers]

What a great video!!

[@jackiebromm6270]

Excellent video and info!

[@bjones8354]

Wow! Loved the video. Thx!

[@isailugo7783]

Thank you for sharing your knowledge 🙏

[@shanata4116]

Great video! Very informative

[@saltlifegull4091]

Awesome~ that' crazy! Thank you.

[@Zabacleaning]

Fantastic video thank you

[@sean2val]

nice video thanks for the info cheers from Australia

[@IHeArTrOcK20]

Thanks for sharing ❤❤❤❤❤

[@CopanoTexian]

Thats awesome!

[@ModestMaker]

Nice - the secret is just to mimic what they do in nature. Awesome- thanks for this nice summary.

[@GrammyAmanda]

Thank you for this video! I’m in California, but we also have the hot, long summers and clay soil. I’m going to use these tips.

[@fitztastico]

3:40 From what I know, the opposite is actually true - plant roots benefit from air and oxygen. That is why clay is a tough soil to grow in because it compacts and does not allow for air pockets

[@Kneenibble]

That is true too, but the big air pockets from planting that he was talking about prevent good root-to-soil contact, which is not a good condition either.

[@gardener_dad]

Either way, it only matters in the first year. Milkweed should go into the ground at year two and will grow an enormous taproot. After that, it sends out rhizomes to create more plants. At least this is true for common milkweed. When I dig them up on my property for replanting, the taproot is usually at least 1.5 feet deep.

[@PixelPotato]

thanks guys!!!

[@mrsamancio]

Incredible how nature works, my milkweed don’t grow in pots, but they pop up in the backyard announced lol

[@4by4squared88]

Good to know. I have so many on my farm this year it’s amazing. Super, super dry year here. I’m going to collect all the pods and try what he suggests

[@WarmFuzzyVibes]

"This person here .. "? The expert has a name, right? 😊 Anyway, thanks for this information video! I am in 8b, Central Texas and I see rhe Antelope Horn milkweed growing in full sun at Pickle Research Campus (UT, in NW Austin), and it was in gravelly dry soil. I live four miles north of that but have clay soil so I grow natives that like the clay, but I do grow alot of other flowers in large pots and raised beds with better looser soil. I want to germinate some Asclepias. I have a packet of seeds (Asclepias tuberosa) the well-known butterfly weed with the orange flowers. Last year I bought an Asclepias plant that is more exotic (like swamp or for wetlands) the big box store sold and it lived one season but didn't come back. It needed alot of water. I figured it was better than no milkweed at all. However, I wish they sold the more regional native ones. So, seeds it is!

[@tibmartiekenitzer7843]

I think he was a little bothered that she said that also. I know when we do videos we get nervous. Or maybe he did not want his name everywhere. But I do believe one of the most respect ways to interview is to 1.) know the persons name and title. Or say: Hi, we are here with ____ and we met this way _____. I was able to tour his garden this summer and saw great results. Add pictures of them. He could get them for you. This a.) builds repor and gives credit to him and helps connect the audience with him. It also will make them confident with you and in a great mood. I loved the video. And look forward to more. I know personally how hard getting out there and doing an interview can be. The best thing is to do it over and over. I use to hate listening to feedback, but as I got older and more experienced and say results from making changes ... Now I really appreciate it, because it helps me grow and a broadcaster. Thanks! Martie

[@support_system24_7]

Thanks for the info. I grew butterfly weed from seed last year. They haven't emerged yet. I'm growing swamp milkweed now.

[@pattibrown1809]

Thanks for this!! I ordered the seeds and received them, but had NO IDEA how to plant them! ( I'm in zone 9b as well) Just got lucky finding your video on the search🤙

[@DJCannon5]

They like cold weather stratification, I planted mine recently so they get some freeze, you can put them in damp cold like a wet paper towel and bag in fridge, I opted to just give them atleast 3 weeks before last frost raking them in outside in a bed.

[@jmseipp]

So many types of Milkweed. Where I grew up in Rural Maryland, it grows a good 6 ft. Tall! And the leaves are really large. It grows everywhere alongside the roads and along the fields. . I’ve seen it growing alongside the roads and highways in Southern Colorado with huge broad leaves. In the Houston area it’ll grow to be about 4 ft. Tall and with smaller, narrow leaves. The Monarch Butterflies love it all! I too grow it in pots and being it in on super cold nights. That which I planted in the ground all died during the deep freeze. I just hose off the aphids.

[@marydiscuillo142]

Every region of the country has its own native species that are adapted to the climate. Tall big leaves common milkweed, tall and skinny in southern Calif narrow leaf etc. Most imp plant natives to where you live. All plants designed by nature to die back in winter. This encourages migration Tropical milkweed should never be planted, as it doesn't die back in warmer regions and tends to be the one most responsible for the oe parasites(fatal to the adults)

[@diannebartkus9893]

Cool video. Im wanting to grow these milkweed seeds to encourage and help out the Monarch Butterfies...🦋

[@warriorskitcat3859]

Me too

[@sanazia6636]

I like to poo

[@mmommo-hx4dx]

mine keep sprouting up...what this guy is saying is true!

[@craiginbatonrouge8161]

I’ve viewed a lot of milkweed videos and yours by far is the easiest and most reliable method and besides it’s only logical…

[@AfterPlasticSociety]

Thank you! I strive to give honest information based on facts and real life experiences!

[@DJCannon5]

I did my first Milkweed sewing recently, I am working an abandoned lot with rocks into a mixed garden. I went with raking in the seeds into the rocky soil thinking it might work, now Im seeing this video with the rocks and Im more hopeful, I really dont have extra money this year to run my grow lights for seedlings. Ive never grown weeds before but Ive seen weeds grow and figured theyd be fine in unprepared soil and rocks since they seem to grow in cracks around my house. I think my biggest mistake so far was defluffing the seeds inside my house!

[@chrisgrube8529]

Roll the seed pods in ur hands when they r slightly damp , the seeds will fall out and the fluff will stay inside .

[@angellabryan-favours3873]

@chris, hey, this was exactly what I was searching for in the comments. I need to know how best to get to the seeds for sowing. Thank you very much! again, it is well appreciated, especially if this works!

[@oreosk8ter]

In Florida my Milkweed grew year around. 🙂

[@6996katmom]

Thanks. I live in Texas City and have had no success with my seeds.

[@workingman32205]

air is a roots worst enemy.....you know ive been gardening 50 years and never thought of it but makes sense to me.

[@sabrinawoodard5788]

Cool! So you don’t clip the end of and put the in water u directly put the seeds in the pot between the rooks like shown! I have 4 different types

[@sherrifox8287]

What if you have hard winters? Should wee keep the seeds and plant early the following year?? Also if in ground will it come back? I find myself buying all new plants every year. They grow nice we gets lots of caterpillars I just can't seem to get them to come back yearly

[@danwhite1307]

Last year (2021) I had no germination = fail This year (2022) great germination - am about to transplant approximately 30 or so! = success! Hint: keep your seed packet. I lost track of mine, so I don't know the variety or habit. = fail.

[@elizabethd2862]

Do you stratify the seeds at all. I live in Wisconsin.

[@cosmos8760]

I thought they werent supposed to grow well in pots because the roots get so long. Awesome now i wont worry, bc i already started some in pots.

[@zebakhawaja]

Usually the milk weeds are planted near a river, pond and lake. Usually they grow themselves

[@tibmartiekenitzer7843]

I agree. They love muddy water logged ditches, but ditches can also have drainage.

[@twnfmtx]

Where do you buy ladybugs?

[@trumplostlol3007]

Just like how I grow my lettuce. LOL I don't even put rocks on the top. The mature lettuce plants will cover the soil with some exposed areas where lettuce seedlings will start to germinate and grow. LOL

[@howard977]

Common Milkweed, Asclepias Syriaca plant has 489 insect that need Common Milkweed to survive.

[@Cathy_MidwestHome_Hens]

I have swamp milkweed and also tuberosa. The tuberosa hates water.

[@pozzowon]

6:12 how do the native weeds survive the cold without a garage? Are they annuals in nature?

[@tibmartiekenitzer7843]

My guess is that they are perennial or it re-seeds. Milkweed grows so well in ND. We are a very cold area. The wilkweed goes to seed end of July when fall is milk. It puts on deep tap roots and then in spring comes back up. So to mimic it -- I believe you would find native milkweed. Also a good idea, because it would protect the butterflies as well. There is reasons to specifically plant native in these cases -- otherwise a theory is that butterflys do not sense the need to migrate south for more. I am not sure how correct that is, but I am getting more into that mindset. So if you have a native milkweed plant it in your end of summer. Let it die back and see if it comes back. I know that many people whom have cattle see milkweed as a noxious weed and will try to get rid of it. I am seeing both sides. It can spread very well and our native milkweed is cold hardy . What are your thoughts on this?

[@bkibew9933]

One thing I forgot to mention all my pots have holes in the bottom and I sit them on very inexpensive dollar tree 12 inch pot rollers that don’t have any holes in them my water from the bottom… Once in the morning, I just fill up the tray roller cause there’s no holes. The water stays there and the root systems grow so aggressively into the bottom of the pot. They suck it up, and about three or four minutes don’t want it because it is weed and it normally grows out in the forest along the salt marshes were from the north east of the sun in the shade… I don’t trust the store-bought milkweed here. A lot of it comes with diseases and some parasites that hurt monarch caterpillars.

[@DesertRose808]

Thought you were supposed to let them die back in the winter because they come back the next year

[@andrealuna1048]

How do you know if your milkweed plant is dying?

[@TOBYH]

I LIVE IN CA, ORANGE COUNTY, MINE WERE PLANTED IN THE SOIL, THEY GROW ABOUT 4-5 FEET TALL, I HAVE SOME IN POTS ALSO, THEY SAY TO TRIM THEM DOWN IN THE WINTER, THEY ARE COMING UP QUITE WELL RIGHT NOW, IT'S THE END OF MARCH.2022, I AM SENDING SEEDS TO 3 OF MY FRIENDS TODAY.

[@plantsim]

This is the info right here, I don't believe in doing pest management.

[@freebutterfly102]

It would be opposite of what your trying to do. Monarch babies will die, they will eat leaf and be poisoned to death. NO PESTICIDES FOR BUTTERFLIES 🦋🐛

[@freebutterfly102]

Sadly I bought another plant for my Gulf Fritillary Butterfly off Etsy lady treated with Neem Oil my 5 babies all died one almost hatched and died. My other one t survived because they had natural plant not treated. Even though nursery said Neem Oil shouldn’t kill caterpillars, it killed all 5 I was sooo sad 😣🌿🐛

[@JoseMartinez-df2db]

I wonder if by the accent I detect if he is of Native American heritage?

[@Pawpawtrees]

If your seeds dry out before you can collect them, do you cold stratify them for 3 months in a moist paper towel and in a block bag?

[@AfterPlasticSociety]

I heard about stratifying to increase your chance of success, but Jim never did that.

[@colleenross8486]

Why do they look identical to vincas!?! Lord, I can't tell the difference!

[@mikeCavalle]

What state are you in?

[@AfterPlasticSociety]

Corpus Christi, Texas

[@marydiscuillo142]

I'm sorry moving them in the garage is unnecessary. In nature the cold weather dies the plants off and then they come back in the spring. If u are growing tropical milkweed it will stay alive perhaps in the garage but it is a determent to monarchs (look up the oe parasites) Watering milkweed once or twice a day or every other day in winter also seems excessive as they are generally a drought tolerant plant- maybe u r growing swamp milkweed?? Can't argue with success, but I am quite curious of where u live, what type of milkweed your growing, etc. and your growing practices. Also a fine layer of soil over the seeds to keep them from blowing away and establish seed contact with soil perfectly fine. I nature the wind does this naturally. So much easier than rocks Thx.

[@warriorskitcat3859]

I tried and failed ( 3 times)

[@tiger1554]

Do we really need to be careful when growing Milkweeds? I heard they are toxic but multiple videos show people treating this plant like any else without garden gloves.

[@huntresskira]

I looked into this as well. infact some people actually cook with milkweeds, although it is not advised to. As long as you don't eat the sap, or perhaps avoid making contact with your skin, you should be fine. and definitely keep away from pets if possible!

[@tiger1554]

@@huntresskira Thank you so much! I no longer intend on eating it and I will leave that up to nature. I'm so relieved and eager to start planting my milkweeds now. I just need to figure out somewhere the animals won't touch.

[@huntresskira]

​@@tiger1554 no problem! also I would like to mention, I only saw the cautions of cooking with milkweed from one article. A separate article said only uncooked milkweed is dangerous, but I didn't look too much into it since I was only planning on growing them for butterflies. Hopefully someone here can answer or confirm this! I don't want to mislead wrong information, but if you wanted to try milkweed as an ingredient, do double check for safety! I am also excited to grow mine. Lot's of organizations online are shipping milkweed seeds for free due to the decrease in Monarch's migration the past several years by 22%. Best of luck for your plants :3

[@tiger1554]

@@huntresskira Thank you Kira! I will make sure to do my homework on that but I would not feel right eating the only food for the Monarchs. I have both common milkweed and Butterfly weed (Asclepias tuberosa). By the way may you please tell me where in your yard are you planting your milkweed and what type is it? That explains why quite a few people wanted to give me the common milkweed for free which is the most toxic and can spread underground. I have multiple native milkweeds but I'm still feeling conflicted about common milkweed despite the benefits of biodiversity. I'm afraid kids or their pets might eat the common milkweed since I like to plant lots of edible food forests.

[@Pierceb2]

@@tiger1554 Asclepias Tuberosa , Butterfly Weed will not spread by runners and in a good sunny spot will grow into a nice plant after a few years. Asclepias Syriaca is common milkweed and will spread by runners. I dealwith that buy removing runners with a spade an moving them. I have also growthem in a large pot or. Container. Monarch’s prefer to lay eggs on plants in sunny spot. Trick, on common milkweed in June cut some back hard and water so they will send up new shoots. In July Monarch’s will flock to lay eggs on new fresh soft leaves. Xerxes societies Monarch Watch website has tons of information as does KZbin. Plant a good pollinator garden too. My favorites are Zinnias and Butterfly Bush for Monarch’s to habitually stay in the garden.

[@Omophagy666]

Don’t buy ladybugs from the store, they are poached from fragile habitats!

[@whatagreatlife]

It seems like you’re not listening to him. You are asking him the same questions he’s already answered…….

[@fillmorehillmore8239]

So toss em in a sheltered spot and let er rip.

[@Fireworxs2012]

*Butterflies & White Supremacist's...Ummmm...?* 🤔🤔🤬🤬 *For the record, Milkweed is perennial, it frosts over very well and will survive winter without any special attention or shelter.*

[@erikaerika7788]

I am in florida ..so no frost .. trying again as i have not luck yet 😐..but 1st year trying....

[@Fireworxs2012]

@@erikaerika7788 *I'm guessing but I'm thinking that your troubles might have more to do with local soil conditions than weather issues. There are reasons plants grow in certain regions but not in others. I don't know what Milkweed's soil & nutrition requirements are, but I bet it wouldn't be too difficult to look up. You can also check with your local County Extension Agent's office. They normally have a lot of very useful information about local flora & fauna.*

[@iStumpleburg]

Great video! Unfortunate that he has a neo-nazi tattoo on his forearm though