nativeplantlover said:Hi Joanna
and good for you... I've done winter sow in milk jugs, works great!
mellielong said:Even in Florida, this is the time to plant milkweed seeds. Our native species require the small bit of "cold" we receive. I'm no expert on growing anything not in a subtropical zone, but I say go for it!
I just remembered a site I've ordered seeds from before and they have good instructions for planting milkweed. If you know what species you have, that would help. Here's a link to their milkweed species. You can read the instructions for sowing the seeds, but it seems like most of them say to plant in the fall, the plants germinate in the spring, and then you thin them. http://www.everwilde.com/store...
DomehomeDee said:I think the biggy here is knowing if you're milkweed is native to your climate or not. If it's native, put it in the ground.
DavidLMO said:Any you save will need 30 + days of cold moist stratification in the refrigerator.
When you plant them in the ground in the Fall, Mother Nature does the stratifying for you. Same for those that you "winter" jug plant. If you do jug plant, you may need to add a bit of water if you lack snow.
When I start them indoors, I usually put in fridge in moist sand in March and then plant in seed starter trays in April. Take outside in early to mid May.
You can spread the seeds any time now til Spring outdoors.
nativeplantlover said:Joanna, I'm further south than you are, but I'm assuming they sent you seeds of the common milkweed(Asclepias syrica)?
Here's a link to photos of the sprouts.
https://duckduckgo.com/?q=comm...
Many plants look alike in the very beginning b/c they have only the first two little leaves called cotyledons. The plastic jugs help retain some moisture while at the same time keeping the little plants a bit warmer than the surrounding air.
joannakat said:
Interesting....so conceivably, instead of the whole refrigerator thing, I could plant them in those little biodegradable pots (like these: http://www.greenhousemegastore...) outside by submurging the pots in the soil, and then in the spring when they sprout, transplant them to their permanent locations? Does that make gardening sense?
tx_flower_child said:I have extra seeds if anyone is interested. Be a shame for them to go to waste.