Milkweed pods...

[IkemanTX]

I've tried to find them but have no idea where I need to be looking. Where do you find them in the southern parts of the world? Someone please guide me

I find them in roadside ditches, fence rows, public land fallow fields... kind of all over. Once you find your first patch, you will literally see them everywhere. Kinda like when you buy a new model vehicle.

Our best producer around me is Staghorn Milkweed, also called spider milkweed or antelope horn milkweed.

There is also butterfly weed in the area, but it doesn’t pod out nearly as well here.

................................................................................All climbing methods, platforms, saddle designs, and/or use of materials possibly mentioned in the post above are not peer reviewed for safety, and should only be used as an example of my own method. Do your own research and testing before becoming confident in any DIY solution to support your life.
-IkemanTx

 

[nmcnelis5149]

Does any know where to get milkweed in lower Alabama can't find anywhere

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[fbwguy]

I find them in roadside ditches, fence rows, public land fallow fields... kind of all over. Once you find your first patch, you will literally see them everywhere. Kinda like when you buy a new model vehicle.

Our best producer around me is Staghorn Milkweed, also called spider milkweed or antelope horn milkweed.

There is also butterfly weed in the area, but it doesn’t pod out nearly as well here.

................................................................................All climbing methods, platforms, saddle designs, and/or use of materials possibly mentioned in the post above are not peer reviewed for safety, and should only be used as an example of my own method. Do your own research and testing before becoming confident in any DIY solution to support your life.
-IkemanTx

Excellent photos for ID.

 

[Allegheny Tom]

I DESPISE milkweed. That crap is nearly impossible to control. A homeowner nearly 1/2 mile away planted some for the butterflies and it has ruined every field including ours.

I can understand your position on it.
My neighbors hayfield is being overtaken by milkweed.
But I think, as hunters using the stuff, we have a lot of control over whether we inadvertantly introduce the stuff.
1st, I never release a floater with a seed still attached. Besides not wanting the seed to start a new colony where it isn't welcome, floaters don't drift as well with the seed attached, so why let it happen?
Secondly, milkweed doesn't grow in a wooded environment where we are most likely to be using it while on stand, so the odds of a loose seed germinating are pretty slim that it will grow a plant.
Hey, in some places, there are programs to propagate the stuff. They do it every year in Ohio.
I prefer not to be responsible for uncontrolled seeds. I love milkweed floaters, but I don't release seeds.

 

[Allegheny Tom]

Does any know where to get milkweed in lower Alabama can't find anywhere

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Read my thread "Pods For a Cause".

 

[public_land]

I agree, spreading plants across the landscape is never a good policy. No matter how "beneficial" it may appear. I am collecting on the properties I hunt. I also plan to remove the seed from the "fluff". As a land manager, the biggest headache I face is fighting invasive and non-native plant species. A few of them will be around for generations, likely forever, even with intense management strategies focused on control of those target species.

 

[SaddleUpPartner!]

I can understand your position on it.
My neighbors hayfield is being overtaken by milkweed.
But I think, as hunters using the stuff, we have a lot of control over whether we inadvertantly introduce the stuff.
1st, I never release a floater with a seed still attached. Besides not wanting the seed to start a new colony where it isn't welcome, floaters don't drift as well with the seed attached, so why let it happen?
Secondly, milkweed doesn't grow in a wooded environment where we are most likely to be using it while on stand, so the odds of a loose seed germinating are pretty slim that it will grow a plant.
Hey, in some places, there are programs to propagate the stuff. They do it every year in Ohio.
I prefer not to be responsible for uncontrolled seeds. I love milkweed floaters, but I don't release seeds.

As an HVAC guy you get programmed to hate 'floaties' like cottonwood or milkweed(mostly cottonwood). It gets into A/C units and causes all kinds of issues with airflow. Once I discovered milkweed could be used for hunting I changed my opinion a little and also with it helping butterflies. More butterflies leads to more pollination which leads to more plants etc. Now I'm excited to pick milkweed pods later this summer!

 

[bow shot]

I can understand your position on it.
My neighbors hayfield is being overtaken by milkweed.
But I think, as hunters using the stuff, we have a lot of control over whether we inadvertantly introduce the stuff.
1st, I never release a floater with a seed still attached. Besides not wanting the seed to start a new colony where it isn't welcome, floaters don't drift as well with the seed attached, so why let it happen?
Secondly, milkweed doesn't grow in a wooded environment where we are most likely to be using it while on stand, so the odds of a loose seed germinating are pretty slim that it will grow a plant.
Hey, in some places, there are programs to propagate the stuff. They do it every year in Ohio.
I prefer not to be responsible for uncontrolled seeds. I love milkweed floaters, but I don't release seeds.

If you pick them before they get too ripe just open them up and you can rub all the seeds off the silk super easy. Then just dry the silk however pleases you.

 

[IkemanTX]

I agree, spreading plants across the landscape is never a good policy. No matter how "beneficial" it may appear. I am collecting on the properties I hunt. I also plan to remove the seed from the "fluff". As a land manager, the biggest headache I face is fighting invasive and non-native plant species. A few of them will be around for generations, likely forever, even with intense management strategies focused on control of those target species.

Milkweed is native in all states in the lower 48.
It was heavily wiped out with the advent of modern herbicides and is the ONLY family of plants that several species of pollinators (including monarch butterflies) can live off of in their caterpillar or larval state.

I sprinkle that shiz everywhere like fairy dust!
Or is it Frank’s Red Hot Sauce...?

 

[Bwhana]

Here in NC, I have only seen a handful of plants in the wild in the past 20 years. I got some pods off here last fall and threw all the seeds in a vacant spot in a mulch bed. I now have about 20 plants, but they have only reached about 12-16 inches tall and no flowers so far. Does it take them a couple of seasons to mature?

John H.

 

[IkemanTX]

Here in NC, I have only seen a handful of plants in the wild in the past 20 years. I got some pods off here last fall and threw all the seeds in a vacant spot in a mulch bed. I now have about 20 plants, but they have only reached about 12-16 inches tall and no flowers so far. Does it take them a couple of seasons to mature?

John H.

You may have a variety adapted to a longer growing season, and you may not get pod production out of them.
Check with your local NRCS office, and they should be able to get you the info for viable seeds suitable for your area.


................................................................................All climbing methods, platforms, saddle designs, and/or use of materials possibly mentioned in the post above are not peer reviewed for safety, and should only be used as an example of my own method. Do your own research and testing before becoming confident in any DIY solution to support your life.
-IkemanTx

 

[public_land]

Sorry. To clarify, I was not referring to milkweed as an invasive species. But there are landowners that do not want it. All I meant is I understand the difficulty of fighting plants that, for whatever reason you may not desire. I primarily attempt to control Johnson grass and sericea leslideza. Both are non native and invasive.


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[bow shot]

Sorry. To clarify, I was not referring to milkweed as an invasive species. But there are landowners that do not want it. All I meant is I understand the difficulty of fighting plants that, for whatever reason you may not desire. I primarily attempt to control Johnson grass and sericea leslideza. Both are non native and invasive.


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Understood, no worries!

 

[IkemanTX]

Sorry. To clarify, I was not referring to milkweed as an invasive species. But there are landowners that do not want it. All I meant is I understand the difficulty of fighting plants that, for whatever reason you may not desire. I primarily attempt to control Johnson grass and sericea leslideza. Both are non native and invasive.


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................................................................................All climbing methods, platforms, saddle designs, and/or use of materials possibly mentioned in the post above are not peer reviewed for safety, and should only be used as an example of my own method. Do your own research and testing before becoming confident in any DIY solution to support your life.
-IkemanTx

 

[Bama_Xander]

Does any know where to get milkweed in lower Alabama can't find anywhere

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Not sure about lower Alabama, but if you are driving North up I-65 you can find it on the sides and medians right after you cross into TN.

 

[nmcnelis5149]

Thank you

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[nmcnelis5149]

Not sure about lower Alabama, but if you are driving North up I-65 you can find it on the sides and medians right after you cross into TN.

Thanks

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[LilHoss]

Finally found some this weekend. Or at least got a chance to actually get. Out and find some.

 

[LilHoss]

The pods are really small. The biggest one is I don’t know 3” in or so.

How many pods do you need?

When do you harvest? After they get dry and turn purple?

 

[nmcnelis5149]

The pods are really small. The biggest one is I don’t know 3” in or so.

How many pods do you need?

When do you harvest? After they get dry and turn purple?

I think they turn grey before they have fluff