Great video! I'm a winter sowing milk jug convert though. I've found it to be much easier and it's usually more successful than the indoor germination method...for me at least :P
I have a winter sowing series coming up - truly love winter sowing and I'm a huge advocate for it :) Since our plant nursery opens in early May, its important our seedlings and plugs are more mature than they would be with winter sowing, so indoor planting works best for that purpose. Plus it's a big pick me up to see the green leaves popping up indoors when it's still snowing outside. Pros to both methods and they both end in beautiful native flowers so I have no complaints!
Hi Ann I live Maine and it’s mid-October I got lucky and found some dry/split MW pod …how to store until Feb. in plastic or glass jar and wait until Jan to put in fridge?TY Sandi plus I have some pods are soft/yellow, will they dry out/split…?
Yes definitely save in a plastic/glass jar as long as they're completely dried out! You only want to stick them in the fridge when you're about a month out from wanting to plant them. Milkweed seeds do well with about a 30 day stratification period, if you leave them in the fridge much longer than that you'll run the risk of a) mold or b) premature germination. for your soft/yellow pods - try to set them out in an area with good airflow but out of direct sun. Keep them separated from your other seeds. There's a chance these may start to rot, and if that's the case you want to make sure your other seeds are protected and isolated from them!
Yes! Seedlings will benefit immensely from the grow lights. When they’re small you’ll want the lights 24-36” above the seedlings to keep them from getting leggy. Thanks for your kind words!
Leaving them outside should help with their natural cold stratification process! Just keep a close eye out for birds and critters that would love to eat those seeds as a spring snack. Hope you get some growth this year!
aint that the truth! we had like 10 ground squirrels and a mess of chipmunks and I think they ate everything that sprouted last year, and then NO rain all summer. I love those little guys but wish they would go away. might have to do something drastic this year, but so far only one squirrel and theres a big black feral cat here now. I am gonna try to sprout some milkweeds and make a cage around them. gardening is so frustrating sometimes. If they do grow, the deer love the flowers! arg!@@BrightLaneGardens
I use this seed collection kit amzn.to/4dctinC - but really there's a lot of options for storing seeds over the winter. I do recommend against the paper envelopes, only because that still leaves them susceptible to water damage via humidity. Any plastic container (old medicine bottles work great!) or glass container will safely hold your seeds. Keep in a cool-ish area and out of the sunlight. They'll be good to go in the spring! Just keep in mind that milkweed does like a cold stratification period, so you will want to plan ahead for that.
I'm growing Butterfly weed, Swamp Milkweed and Common Milkweed. For some reason Common Milkweed is always the hardest to grow from seed even with cold stratification.
I’ve heard others comment that common milkweed is a tough one! I did notice my very young seedlings seemed to struggle once they sprouted, but a strong grow light seemed to help a lot! This will be my 2nd year of indoor starting, but I’ve been winter sowing these for a while! They have a high failure rate, but fortunately the mother plants release so many seeds they have a lot of backups!
@@BrightLaneGardens Is it necessary to cold stratify in hot places like Houston, TX? You made a wonderful video. Thank you so very much for educating us so graciously. Most gratefully appreciated.
Honestly, I had to rewatch twice to get all the information. Keep getting distracted by your beauty. Thanks. I'm going to start my milkweed garden for my kids. They love butterflies.
Someone once said to me that the easiest animal interactions for children to enjoy are those of insects! They are abundant, harmless for the most part, and at perfect eye-level for kids to discover. This really spoke to me and has been a big focus for me to bring more bugs & friends to our yard with native plants! Thanks for watching and for your kind comment!
oh yes! not an issue. If you plan to transplant outside in the next 4 ish weeks I would leave them both. If you're planting into a container or a raised bed you can trim one out so the other has plenty of room (sometimes called 'thinning'). But either way, they'll grow!
This is super-helpful! I am in zone 8A, and am a total newbie to this. I have some seeds, but am concerned about the timing- do I need to wait to start?
You can always give it a try! Right now the biggest risk is the seed might dry out too quickly with the summer heat. Make sure you keep it moist and water thoroughly after transplanting in the ground.
You read my mind! I was just wondering how I was going to plant my milkweed seeds. I got my bare seeds from Seed Savers. It seems most of the seeds that I have will require cold stratification. Milkweed, lavender, echinacea. I'm in Kansas (6b) and I think I'm getting a very late start. This is my first vegetable garden (all starting from seed.) And the first time I am starting native prairie flowers from seed. I'm feeling failure already. About that pump sprayer...I used to use bottles like that with disinfectant in my dental office. That spray tip is weak and prone to irreparable damage if tipped over. SUBSCRIBED
You’re going to do great! I was so nervous for my first set of native seeds, it was so validating to see so many of them successfully germinate! Don’t be too concerned over the timing, I’m planing my seeds to be ready to sell at our plant nursery by May, so I start earlier than most! You’ll have plenty of time to get yours germinating and growing healthy roots to plant in the ground. Believe it or not, milkweed can be planted in the ground through early September in many cases. As long as your region isn’t prone to early frosts, your planted milkweed will have enough time to successfully establish roots before winter, and they often benefit immensely from the rain we tend to get in the fall. If you’re in a rush, you can usually adjust the cold stratification period by several days, so maybe shoot for 20-22 days instead of 30! Mine germinated within a few days of planting in the soil, and now they’re growing like crazy. Happy planting, and thank you for subscribing!
Mine are off to a slow start right now too, they shot up and seemed to plateau after a few weeks. In previous years I had the same experience with my indoor seedlings, but they really took off once being transplanted outside. I might transplant mine into larger containers and start setting them outside during the day. We’re still getting into the 30s at night up here in Michigan so it’ll be a few more weeks until I can transplant outside!
We hear this a lot with seedlings! Did you start them in containers or right in the ground? Typically with my indoor seedlings I notice they REALLY want actual sunlight once they reach a few inches tall, so at that point I start moving my containers outside. I also like to amend my soil with some compost or worm castings before transplanting outside. Try to give a nutrient boost with compost and make sure your soil isn't compacted too much!
Thank you for this!
I'm glad you found it helpful! Happy planting!
Great job!
Thank you!!
Beautiful
Thank you! Cheers!
Do you have a link for the spray bottle you used? The link in the description is for glass bottles.
Sorry about that! Here's the spray mister that I use for my seedlings! amzn.to/3VQGgCF
Great video! I'm a winter sowing milk jug convert though. I've found it to be much easier and it's usually more successful than the indoor germination method...for me at least :P
I have a winter sowing series coming up - truly love winter sowing and I'm a huge advocate for it :) Since our plant nursery opens in early May, its important our seedlings and plugs are more mature than they would be with winter sowing, so indoor planting works best for that purpose. Plus it's a big pick me up to see the green leaves popping up indoors when it's still snowing outside. Pros to both methods and they both end in beautiful native flowers so I have no complaints!
Hi Ann I live Maine and it’s mid-October I got lucky and found some dry/split MW pod …how to store until Feb. in plastic or glass jar and wait until Jan to put in fridge?TY Sandi plus I have some pods are soft/yellow, will they dry out/split…?
Yes definitely save in a plastic/glass jar as long as they're completely dried out! You only want to stick them in the fridge when you're about a month out from wanting to plant them. Milkweed seeds do well with about a 30 day stratification period, if you leave them in the fridge much longer than that you'll run the risk of a) mold or b) premature germination.
for your soft/yellow pods - try to set them out in an area with good airflow but out of direct sun. Keep them separated from your other seeds. There's a chance these may start to rot, and if that's the case you want to make sure your other seeds are protected and isolated from them!
Thanks Anna. Your videos are very well done. I don’t have a greenhouse. Should I put these under grow lights once they sprout?
Yes! Seedlings will benefit immensely from the grow lights. When they’re small you’ll want the lights 24-36” above the seedlings to keep them from getting leggy. Thanks for your kind words!
I left all my gathered milkweed seeds outside all winter. Hope I get some to grow this year as Ive been tossing seeds out for years with no luck.
Leaving them outside should help with their natural cold stratification process! Just keep a close eye out for birds and critters that would love to eat those seeds as a spring snack. Hope you get some growth this year!
aint that the truth! we had like 10 ground squirrels and a mess of chipmunks and I think they ate everything that sprouted last year, and then NO rain all summer. I love those little guys but wish they would go away. might have to do something drastic this year, but so far only one squirrel and theres a big black feral cat here now. I am gonna try to sprout some milkweeds and make a cage around them. gardening is so frustrating sometimes. If they do grow, the deer love the flowers! arg!@@BrightLaneGardens
If you collect your seeds in the fall, what do you do with them till early spring?
I use this seed collection kit amzn.to/4dctinC - but really there's a lot of options for storing seeds over the winter. I do recommend against the paper envelopes, only because that still leaves them susceptible to water damage via humidity. Any plastic container (old medicine bottles work great!) or glass container will safely hold your seeds. Keep in a cool-ish area and out of the sunlight. They'll be good to go in the spring! Just keep in mind that milkweed does like a cold stratification period, so you will want to plan ahead for that.
I'm growing Butterfly weed, Swamp Milkweed and Common Milkweed. For some reason Common Milkweed is always the hardest to grow from seed even with cold stratification.
I’ve heard others comment that common milkweed is a tough one! I did notice my very young seedlings seemed to struggle once they sprouted, but a strong grow light seemed to help a lot! This will be my 2nd year of indoor starting, but I’ve been winter sowing these for a while! They have a high failure rate, but fortunately the mother plants release so many seeds they have a lot of backups!
Agreed
@@BrightLaneGardens Is it necessary to cold stratify in hot places like Houston, TX? You made a wonderful video. Thank you so very much for educating us so graciously. Most gratefully appreciated.
Honestly, I had to rewatch twice to get all the information. Keep getting distracted by your beauty. Thanks. I'm going to start my milkweed garden for my kids. They love butterflies.
Someone once said to me that the easiest animal interactions for children to enjoy are those of insects! They are abundant, harmless for the most part, and at perfect eye-level for kids to discover. This really spoke to me and has been a big focus for me to bring more bugs & friends to our yard with native plants! Thanks for watching and for your kind comment!
If both seeds germinate in the same hole, is that okay?
oh yes! not an issue. If you plan to transplant outside in the next 4 ish weeks I would leave them both. If you're planting into a container or a raised bed you can trim one out so the other has plenty of room (sometimes called 'thinning'). But either way, they'll grow!
This is super-helpful! I am in zone 8A, and am a total newbie to this. I have some seeds, but am concerned about the timing- do I need to wait to start?
You can always give it a try! Right now the biggest risk is the seed might dry out too quickly with the summer heat. Make sure you keep it moist and water thoroughly after transplanting in the ground.
@@BrightLaneGardens I think I can do that. Thank you for your reply!
You read my mind! I was just wondering how I was going to plant my milkweed seeds. I got my bare seeds from Seed Savers. It seems most of the seeds that I have will require cold stratification. Milkweed, lavender, echinacea. I'm in Kansas (6b) and I think I'm getting a very late start. This is my first vegetable garden (all starting from seed.) And the first time I am starting native prairie flowers from seed. I'm feeling failure already. About that pump sprayer...I used to use bottles like that with disinfectant in my dental office. That spray tip is weak and prone to irreparable damage if tipped over. SUBSCRIBED
You’re going to do great! I was so nervous for my first set of native seeds, it was so validating to see so many of them successfully germinate! Don’t be too concerned over the timing, I’m planing my seeds to be ready to sell at our plant nursery by May, so I start earlier than most! You’ll have plenty of time to get yours germinating and growing healthy roots to plant in the ground. Believe it or not, milkweed can be planted in the ground through early September in many cases. As long as your region isn’t prone to early frosts, your planted milkweed will have enough time to successfully establish roots before winter, and they often benefit immensely from the rain we tend to get in the fall. If you’re in a rush, you can usually adjust the cold stratification period by several days, so maybe shoot for 20-22 days instead of 30! Mine germinated within a few days of planting in the soil, and now they’re growing like crazy. Happy planting, and thank you for subscribing!
@@BrightLaneGardens THANK YOU!
How is the process going? Are you making a video of the next steps? I’m growing common for the first time and it seems they are growing sooooo slow🥺
Mine are off to a slow start right now too, they shot up and seemed to plateau after a few weeks. In previous years I had the same experience with my indoor seedlings, but they really took off once being transplanted outside. I might transplant mine into larger containers and start setting them outside during the day. We’re still getting into the 30s at night up here in Michigan so it’ll be a few more weeks until I can transplant outside!
I started milkweed from
Seed plants grew to around 6 inches been in ground for 2 months hasn’t grown any is that normal
We hear this a lot with seedlings! Did you start them in containers or right in the ground? Typically with my indoor seedlings I notice they REALLY want actual sunlight once they reach a few inches tall, so at that point I start moving my containers outside. I also like to amend my soil with some compost or worm castings before transplanting outside. Try to give a nutrient boost with compost and make sure your soil isn't compacted too much!