Milkweed Pods

[Gibby]

Never used them before but would like to start this year
When is the right time to harvest them?

[dan]

Never used them before but would like to start this year
When is the right time to harvest them?

There starting to look about ready now... I would wait a couple of weeks. ( Mid August to early September )

[bbvideo=425,350]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6IklHk8zgRc[/bbvideo]

[Beason]

i say whenever you find em. but late aug early sept is when the pods open naturally.

[cornfedkiller]

I waited until they opened naturally, which was like early september if I remember correctly - but like jack mentioned, you can pick them whenever you find them...Just let them dry out and you can get all the silk out of them.

[GRFox]

Where can I find milk weeds? I have never seen anything around here that looks anything like that milkweed pod. Are they regional, can I buy some?

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[Zap]

Where can I find milk weeds? I have never seen anything around here that looks anything like that milkweed pod. Are they regional, can I buy some?

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I can send you some if you cannot find any...

[dreaming bucks]

Where can I find milk weeds? I have never seen anything around here that looks anything like that milkweed pod. Are they regional, can I buy some?
I see them in the ditch a lot...

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[Gibby]

I found a pile of them today
So if I pick them now I can just let them dry out?
Will they still open naturally once dried out if they are picked now?
Do the pods change colour at all when they dry out?

Sorry for all the questions but this is all new to me

[dan]

Where can I find milk weeds? I have never seen anything around here that looks anything like that milkweed pod. Are they regional, can I buy some?

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They grow along ditches and the sides of trails... Once you get an eye for it you will see it all over the place.

Common Milkweed is an important plant because so many species of insects depend on it. Monarch Butterflies, Milkwee Bugs, and Milkweed Leaf Beetles only eat milkweed, and could not survive without it. Many other species of insects use milkweed as their primary food source, or as a major food source.

Common Milkweed grows up to six feet tall. It has large, broad leaves, usually four to ten inches long. They sometimes have red veins.

This plant is found in fields, gardens, and along roads.

Common Milkweed flowers are pinkish-purple clusters which often droop.

Fruits are green pods which turn brown before bursting open to let out fluffy seeds.

Common Milkweed, when broken, lets out a milky sap. This sap has poisons in it, called Cardiac Glycosides. Some animals can eat the glycosides and not be harmed. When the Monarch butterfly's caterpillar munches the leaves of milkweed, the glycosides go into its body, making the caterpillar poisonous to predators. Even after the caterpillar has changed into an adult butterfly, it keeps the glycosides in its body.

Milkweed flowers bloom from June to August, and are visited by many species of moths, butterflies, bees, and other insects. The flower nectar and pollen does not have glycosides in it, so these animals do not become poisonous.

Milkweed is a shelter and hiding place for other species as well. Yellow Jackets eat bees and flies which get trapped in the flowers, and crab spiders ambush visiting insects.

[dan]

I found a pile of them today
So if I pick them now I can just let them dry out?
Will they still open natuarally once dried out if they are picked now?
Do the pods change colour when they dry out at all?

Sorry for all the questions but this is all new to me

I cut a slice in the skin so they dry well and put them on my dash or in a well ventilated area to dry... If they dry to much the seeds will come out. Once they start to dry keep them in a bag that allows them to breath.

[dan]

This is milkweed in spring... Right now they have pods, not flowers.



This is what the pods look like now...

[dan]

[BassBoysLLP]

Everything I've seen in WI thus far still has flowers, but I'm walking SW WI this weekend. At least a couple more weeks before you see pods in central WI. If you find one, you'll likely find a bunch. A couple gallon size freezer bags and you should be set for a good while. I found a long lost loin and some milkweed seeds in my freezer from 2009 last month. Milkweed seeds were still good. Loin turned into a fawn loin after I trimmed the freezer burn.

[BassBoysLLP]

I found a pile of them today
So if I pick them now I can just let them dry out?
Will they still open natuarally once dried out if they are picked now?
Do the pods change colour when they dry out at all?

Sorry for all the questions but this is all new to me

I cut a slice in the skin so they dry well and put them on my dash or in a well ventilated area to dry... If they dry to much the seeds will come out. Once they start to dry keep them in a bag that allows them to breath.

They'll "slow dry" in any frost free freezer too. . .

[BigHunt]

they grow like weeds behind the shop i havent picked in two years but this year i am, ive been looking out the window at all the plants the buds look big and full