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.

@BrightLaneGardens

3 ай бұрын

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!

@moomoo3031

3 ай бұрын

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'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.

@BrightLaneGardens

2 ай бұрын

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!

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

@BrightLaneGardens

3 ай бұрын

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!

@krazmokramer

3 ай бұрын

@@BrightLaneGardens THANK YOU!

If both seeds germinate in the same hole, is that okay?

@BrightLaneGardens

2 ай бұрын

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!

I started milkweed from Seed plants grew to around 6 inches been in ground for 2 months hasn’t grown any is that normal

@BrightLaneGardens

Ай бұрын

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!

Do you have a link for the spray bottle you used? The link in the description is for glass bottles.

@BrightLaneGardens

2 ай бұрын

Sorry about that! Here's the spray mister that I use for my seedlings! amzn.to/3VQGgCF

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🥺

@BrightLaneGardens

2 ай бұрын

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!