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Drying time & method for milkweed pods

H

hairy chinch bug

Active Member
Joined
Mar 30, 2018
Messages
110
Location
western il
So I have found a fair amount of pods this year and wanted to find out what is required for drying times and various methods. This is not an end point, but rather a initial beginning place for the general discussion.

I will post my results when I get the pics loaded and the general procedure written out (which will be short). I started on the 25th and have results for two simple methods now. I plan to split the lots adding additional drying to the 2nd half of each lot.

Please contribute if you have had a experience that will add to the end result of getting better milkweed floss available to us in time for your first day of season.

My first day of deer season is Oct 1; so it easy for me, Just pick three pods on the day before season.

Happy Hunting,
HCB
 
So here is what I have so far.

Dehydrator method:
Picked pods green on Aug 30th in Hancock Co IL. Pods were dripping latex.
We have had little to no rain for three to five weeks, so this may be a contributing factor for successful drying this year.
Arranged the pods out evenly on one tray in the dehydrator.
Set dehydrator on 115 Deg F, turned it on and walked out.

Air Dry / Dehydrator combo method:
Picked the pods green on Aug 25th, pods dripping latex significantly.
"Stored" the pods uncovered in the floorboard of the car for 5 days.
Arranged the out evenly on one tray of dehydrator; set to 115 Deg F and began the drying cycle.

The results -Both look great and ready to use. the Combo method is significantly dryer (5 additional days) and I will need to hold the pods together to keep floss from spreading. The 1 day dehydrator method is also fine, but I had to peel open a section to get to the floss. BUT, the floss pictured above is from the 1 day dehydrator method.

Again - I will begin another round of pods this week and will split the 2 lots and add additional dry time. I feel they would mold at this stage if left in the ziplocks.

HCB
 
I picked a few several weeks back and put them in the dehydrator on medium. Some were ok and some not so much. They shriveled up. Picked some more Friday and ran them on the low setting. They all dried very well with hard cracked open shells.
 
They will definitely mildew if left in a plastic bag based on past experience. Rubber band works good to keep the silk contained. Separate the seeds from the silk before using.
 
briand60 said:
I picked a few several weeks back and put them in the dehydrator on medium. Some were ok and some not so much. They shriveled up. Picked some more Friday and ran them on the low setting. They all dried very well with hard cracked open shells.
Click to expand...
Would you share your USDA plant zone Not sure if we had floss that could have dried out in mid August It would be interesting to know the earliest time frame one can harvest salvageable floss.

Sent from my SM-G960U using Tapatalk
 
I picked some that small but dried brown already on the plant around Aug 15th. Pick some more a week later and a bunch that were much larger and still pretty green. Wrapped rubber band around them and put them on a tray on front porch to dry out.
I live in western Iowa around the Omaha council bluffs area.Screenshot_20200831-232117_Gallery.jpg
 
I pick mine and let them dry on their own indoors. When they split their ready to go. Then I put them in ziplock bags ready to grab as needed.

The absolute best pods are the ones that opened naturally on the plant. Pretty much anywhere I hunt I come across milkweed patches and earlier in the season I pick some freshly opened ones on my way in to hunt some days.

Also save the seeds and spread them where you picked the pods so you have plenty supply for the future. Monarch butterfly will appreciate it too.
 
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Milkweed around here in central NC is usually ready to be picked around mid September. There's a field I know about right at the entrance of some public I hunt. I make it a habit to grab as many pods as I can carry after every hunt on my way to the truck. I keep a lot and give a lot away. If they are still green when I pick them I just take them home and lay them out on the deck in the sun for a day or two til they change colors. I don't wait for them to split or anything. Once the pods turn brown or black they are dry and ready to be used
 
Murph4028 said:
Milkweed around here in central NC is usually ready to be picked around mid September. There's a field I know about right at the entrance of some public I hunt. I make it a habit to grab as many pods as I can carry after every hunt on my way to the truck. I keep a lot and give a lot away. If they are still green when I pick them I just take them home and lay them out on the deck in the sun for a day or two til they change colors. I don't wait for them to split or anything. Once the pods turn brown or black they are dry and ready to be used
Click to expand...
Question for you @Murph4028 , since VA and NC have some similar terrain features I was wondering what type of location features are found in the areas you find milk weed. I've been looking for it here in Central VA for over a month and have yet to see any of these pods hanging. It's a plant I've never paid attention to so I'm not sure if its that I'm unfamiliar of what I'm looking at or if its because there is just not any around where I'm at. I've been looking in overgrown fields and roadsides but just haven't found them. I have googled pictures and feel confident in what I am supposed to be seeing. I have seen a couple of plants that fit the description from a leaf and height perspective, but they lack the flowers and pods. Also if you've got a picture of what it looks like down in NC that would be great.
 
I can only speak for pods picked in my area, so your milage may vary.
IME, it's a mistake to pic them too early. The floaters just aren't fully developed yet. The floaters of immature pods seem to have an "off-white" color and I've found that the floaters do not expand open when plucked. They just don't float as well. I tried picking too early last lear because I needed a lot for "Pods for a Cause" but I had to throw some away because they just weren't ready to be picked. I experimented with different drying methods and got poor results. Even after 6 months of drying time, an immature pod still didn't have acceptable floaters. In the case of pods, you can't rush Mother Nature.
The best case scenario is to leave them on the plant until the pods are just about ready naturally split. Then pick a crap-load of them and you will be ready for several years. They store well in a paper bag with rubber bands around the pods.
The next best scenario is to leave them on the plant until just before bow season (in my area) when I actually need them, instead of picking a bunch of immature pods and trying to artificially dry them.
A hot vehicle dashboard or attic will help get them over the last hump towards being dry, but if you pick enough of them for the future, then there should be no hurry.
I like just spreading them out on some newspaper in an air-condition environment or near a dehumidifier.
Don't forget the rubber bands.
 
One more tip...
After they are dry, take each pod and moderately squeeze and roll them between your fingers, almost like you are rolling a cigarette (or whatever, lol). It kinda pre-separates the tiny hairs of each floater. They expand better when plucked which makes them float better.
It also tends to keep the seeds in the husk a little better.
 
Here in upstate NY they are generally ready just a week or two before the October 1st opener. Last year i didn't pick any and used cattails instead. They were ok but not as good as milkweed.
When i went stream fishing this spring i found some leftover pods from last year that must have gotten preserved under the snow. I was very excited and grabbed those. No trout,but milkweed harvest was good.
There will be more to pick this fall,seems like it was a good year for it here.
 
Some good info guys. Like I say, it is not an issue for me this year b/c I will not start my season until October and I could have went straight to pods on the way to a stand. I really am looking for solutions, ideas and data on what is too early and will not produce usable floss from milkweed.
With the thought of; what is a viable solution for when I do need floss early and have none left from last year.

@briand60 Could you find the results by using an online "growing degree days" ( https://nutrien-ekonomics.com/tools-to-calculate-fertilizer-needs/calculators/gdd/ ) calculator for your:
ZIP to compute the value based on
CORN (50 Deg F) beginning on
04-01-2020 ( about the first day I needed to mow the yard)
to date of harvest?

My pods were harvested (Aug 25th) with just over 2500 GGD and seem perfectly fine. But when I use the 15th the value is 2315 GGD. Roughly 9% in ten days!

I would be curious to know if (you all, y'all, yuones, all yall, all yas) have values in that range. And some ranges which fail to produce good pods. May need some North Northerners to collect some failed data!!
 
I have a few woolite mesh wash bags (the kind the lady folk put their under britches in when putting them in the wash machine).

I pick the pods, the later, the better. Make sure they are cracked open and put them in the bag. I’ll put the bag on the dash of my truck to get the heat, and then at night, put the bag in front of a room fan or over air duct to get flowing air.

Once dried, they stay there until needed. One large mesh bag for the dried out pods and a smaller one for the pods that I am drying.

And no floaters and/or bugs getting out of the mesh bag at an inopportune time. Easy peasy.
 
BuckTown said:
Question for you @Murph4028 , since VA and NC have some similar terrain features I was wondering what type of location features are found in the areas you find milk weed. I've been looking for it here in Central VA for over a month and have yet to see any of these pods hanging. It's a plant I've never paid attention to so I'm not sure if its that I'm unfamiliar of what I'm looking at or if its because there is just not any around where I'm at. I've been looking in overgrown fields and roadsides but just haven't found them. I have googled pictures and feel confident in what I am supposed to be seeing. I have seen a couple of plants that fit the description from a leaf and height perspective, but they lack the flowers and pods. Also if you've got a picture of what it looks like down in NC that would be great.
Click to expand...

I always find pods in fields that aren't bush hogged that get a lot of sun. It's everywhere here
 
I take sewing thread and wrap the lower half of the pods then set out and let dry. This way they only open up half way allowing my to pick out as needed. What’s also convenient about this method is I can just toss them in a pocket without the hassle of having to have a secondary holding device.
 
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