Help with milkweed problem!

I came home from work today and noticed several of my scarlet milkweed ( http://davesgarden.com/guides/pf/go/604/ ) stalks beginning to wilt - I had the same problem the other day, but without as many stalks affected. Upon closer inspection, they are breaking at the base. I twisted them gently and all of the stalks broke apart at the base. I don't see any invaders at the base of the plant, but they look rotted. Here are a couple of pics. I lost several nice stalks today, and I have tons of monarch cats on them right now. I am worried I won't have enough plant left to go around! Please let me know if any of you have seen this and/or know what to do about it. The plant is 3 years old and was very healthy looking until a couple of days ago. I seem to be losing about 3-4 stalks per day.

Thanks in advance!

Russell

This message was edited Apr 11, 2011 8:25 PM

Pic of the leaves...droopy!

That's too bad!

Has it ben wet there?

Maybe inquire at NABA
http://www.nababutterfly.com/milkweed_tropical.html

We haven't had a drop of rain. It is super dry right now. I will take a shot at the site you provided. Thanks for the link.

Russell

And how about aphids… seen any of those?

Good luck!

yakmon,

Is this the only species of milkweed you're currently growing? Are all of your plants about 3 yrs old? Since these are tropicals, maybe they're reaching the end of their natural life? I've really no idea what might be the cause and feel so terrible for you and the little cats. You can take cuttings from your growing plants, providing they've not infected with something, which would be far quicker than growing more plants from seed but still won't help quickly enough to feed your existing cats. Put out the call to your fellow local gardeners and see if someone in your area can help you with feeding your little cats.

Do you have seed to germinate to replace the plants that are dying?

Mary

Thanks for the comments. Mrs Ed - no aphids at the moment. I had a few about 3 weeks ago, but I blasted them with water and they haven't returned. I removed off the affected shoots last night and disposed of them, and everything held it's own today - no additional lost shoots! The cats have grown tremendously over the last few days and appear to be about ready to move to the next stage of their lives.

Mary, I am growing the scarlet and a yellow variety, although the yellow plants are extremely small - just pulled up some volunteers from my Mom's house and tucked them in "Monarch row." :) I have taken some cuttings of the existing plants and will try to get more started. If all else fails, my neighbor has a large milkweed collection and she loves her cats too! I might be able to get them a new home across the street. My wife was laughing at me inspecting my fallen shoots for stowaways, but I pulled 4 off and placed them back on the living portions of the plant.

As for seeds - either mine didn't make seeds last year, or I don't know what I am looking for. The yellow variety I received from my mother makes a kind of seed pod with fuzz that blows away with the wind, but the I didn't see any seeds from my scarlet variety last year.

I am hopeful that the worst is over and we will have some newly hatched BFs soon. I will keep you all posted.

Thanks again for the help.

Russell