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When is the best time to harvest milkweed

Dewey said:
Just a reminder to everybody to make sure you save the seeds from the pods and spread them around where you found them. Monarch butterfly need the milkweed plant to survive. The caterpillar feeds on the leaves. All we need is the fluff and it floats much more accurately by itself without the seed attached. No sense just throwing the seeds away or dropping them in thicker spots where they will not grow. Milkweed grows best in wide open areas.


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I guess some areas have more milkweed than they want, and in other areas, milkweed is in decline. I subscribe to an email outdoors letter and last year they had a story about the decline of milkweed in Ohio. They actually had a program that encouraged the harvest and propagation of milkweed seeds.
Areas like where I live have plenty of it. I could harvest a 5 year supply from one small patch and it would have no impact on the milkweed "crop".
Around here, there is no need to spread the seed. Other regions may be different.
I religiously use milkweed during hunts, but the way I set-up the pods (see pic in post #11), the seeds stay in the pods when I pluck a floater. I do not introduce milkweed to new areas. I'm not saying it shouldn't be done in some regions, but I try not to spread the stuff where I hunt. If an area doesn't have it, maybe the farmers don't want it, and if the area already has it, then I don't need to spread it.
 
Allegheny Tom said:
I guess some areas have more milkweed than they want, and in other areas, milkweed is in decline. I subscribe to an email outdoors letter and last year they had a story about the decline of milkweed in Ohio. They actually had a program that encouraged the harvest and propagation of milkweed seeds.
Areas like where I live have plenty of it. I could harvest a 5 year supply from one small patch and it would have no impact on the milkweed "crop".
Around here, there is no need to spread the seed. Other regions may be different.
I religiously use milkweed during hunts, but the way I set-up the pods (see pic in post #11), the seeds stay in the pods when I pluck a floater. I do not introduce milkweed to new areas. I'm not saying it shouldn't be done in some regions, but I try not to spread the stuff where I hunt. If an area doesn't have it, maybe the farmers don't want it, and if the area already has it, then I don't need to spread it.
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I agree. As with anything else a little common sense goes a long way. I would never spread seeds in an area where they are not desired. My advice was to spread them where you removed the pods originally to keep repopulating the plants in good areas.


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Good gosh don’t buy it. I’ve been sending it out on the Hunting beast the last few years for just shipping. If anyone needs I’ll mail u some.

Package will have 8-12 pods or more in each
 
The milkweed I have was purchased at a local nursery for a buttery garden. It must be a hybrid of some sort, because it does not make pods near as large as what I see here. It's in recovery now. The monarch butterflies came through and the caterpillars ate it to the stems.
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In NE wis., I like to pick it right around 9/1. I’ve picked earlier, but it seems to be best around that date. I usually will slit the pod, then put a bunch in a paper bag, then stick it on my dashboard when I’m at work, takes a day or 2to dry. Just don’t open the bag in your car, or you’ll be in for a white surprise if u r not careful.
 
I'm telling ya guys...keep the floaters in the pod. And keep them in the pod for use in the field.
The floaters stay pristine when left in the pod and a pristine floater drifts better on the wind than one that's been stuffed into a container.

Pick the pods when they just start losing the green color, and definitely before they naturally start to open. Put a rubber band around the pod or it will open on it's own as it dries and you will have a mess.

You can put them in a hot car to dry faster but I usually eat leave them out on a tray and they dry in about a month or so. That's why you pick a bunch when you pick...dry next year's and even more year's supply and store them in a bag. A dry pod lasts forever.
 
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Anobody said:
Good gosh don’t buy it. I’ve been sending it out on the Hunting beast the last few years for just shipping. If anyone needs I’ll mail u some.

Package will have 8-12 pods or more in each
Click to expand...
Do you have any left
 
I just keep an eye on them this time of year and when they start to go from green to brown that's about right. I just pick a bunch and leave them out to dry and then use as I need them. I still have a plastic bag in the garage from last fall, that way I don't have to wait on this years crop for the early season.
 
I could use some pods if anyone is shipping

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Anobody said:
Good gosh don’t buy it. I’ve been sending it out on the Hunting beast the last few years for just shipping. If anyone needs I’ll mail u some.

Package will have 8-12 pods or more in each
Click to expand...
I’ll take 2 packages I’d like to help out a friend here who missed the milkweed harvest. (Mostly so he won’t steal mine).
Pm? Or how do you do this
 
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