Anyone growing milkweeds and when do we transplant outside?

The milkweeds are outgrowing their homes and was wondering if anyone has started them inside during the winter? and if so, when can we transplant them outside? I have a couple of climbing milkweeds, desert milkweed, and a couple of others. Getting ready for the butterfly feed.. lol.

Thanks for any info on these. THis is the first year for me with them and would appreciate any help in our zone.. we do get frosts a couple of times, these past two weeks we did get a couple of nights in the low 20's..

Thanks again.

A.


Edited to say: thanks for e-mail .. transplant after the last frost date.. now I have to figure out my last frost date..

This message was edited Jan 29, 2006 6:47 PM

Hi Antoinette. For your last frost date, call the Riverside Co. Master Gardener's office. I've just started planting milkweed for a butterfly garden, so I'll be watching this thread. I'm planting native milkweed now. We had a few nights in the upper 20s here, but not for a couple of weeks now.

Kathleen
Bonsall is east of Oceanside, north of Vista

Hi Kathleen,
Well, I took the plunge and potted them up in three gallon pots, left them outside for tonight, let's see what happens to them overnight. They just keep growing, what I did notice is that one of the cups grew so lanky that the tops wilted and died off, now new side shoots are growing on them. Maybe I should just have mowed them down a little for another month or so.

I may just run outside and bring those babies back into the house. WHERE IS SPRING WHEN you need it? lol.

Antoinette

Spring? We haven't really had winter except for cold nights! No rain for weeks and weeks.

I take it you started yours from seed? I was given some wild milkweed seed, but not instructions. Is there anything special to do to them before starting? My plants are one gallons I bought at the native plant nursery, so those aren't a problem.

Kathleen

Yes, I started them from seed.. very easy, although this was my first time. Used Jiffy Mix seed starter, put a bag of Jiffy Mix in a bucket, used hot water to wet the whole thing, make sure it is not dripping wet, but moist. Filled clear plastic cups with the mix, put the seeds on top of soil, and mixed with a stick just enough to get a little soil on top of seeds, some of the seeds were actually still sticking out of the soil. Used bottom heat, a 6" dome, and lights. They almost all sprouted. There are about 8 kinds that I started.

Some are climbers and I am anxious to see those. A couple of desert milkweeds and some others that I did not even bother to write the names down on. Right now they are transplanted into the bigger pots, and I did put them outside for the last three days, but brought them in at night, just incase..

These were all started on Dec 1, 2005.. so they are ready to go outside. Hopefully they will get aclimated these next few days and I can leave them outside for good.

Sounds easy enough - I think it's a lack of bottom heat that gets me in trouble. I read somewhere you can rig light bulbs under the shelf to supply some bottom heat. I don't have a mat.

Thanks.

Kathleen

Welll, so far they have survived outside this past week left out all day and all night. Hopefully the weather will hold till April. The lights on the bottom should help, or place them on top of the frig, or computer.. unless you have one like mine that is really a thin screen.

A.

A.

A,

Good for you. Yes,I hope we don't have many cold snaps this spring - I can remember 30's at Easter a few years ago when we lived in Carlsbad of all places. Our bougainvillea was never the same.

Haven't had much luck with the refrigerator top - out of sight out of mind. DH built me a work bench in the garage and then added a shelf with grow lights on a timer and another moveable shelf underneath. I ordered a mat from Lee Valley today (love their catalogs). Small potatoes compared to some I've seen, but I don't need much. No excuses now!

Also read about digging a small pit, fill with manure, cover, and put small pots on top. Manure creates heat as it decomposes. I think we have a bag behind the garage, so might try that once seeds are sprouting.

Now that our water 'crisis' is over, I can get my plants in the ground and watered properly. :-)


k

Well, after last night, I expected to see dead plants, but they are hanging in there. I did use row covers for two nights in a row and will leave them on the plants for another couple of days/week if needed. They look great out there, so, I am hoping for some butterflies to visit here agian this summer and instead of eating all the passies, they can munch on some milkweeds too.

Our Bougie did not do well here either, actually, the one that did take and was protected, we had to move out of that area and all the others died on us. It may just be too cold here at night.

I have an extra heat mat if you would like it, it is a small one but it will be good for one tray. Let me know and I'll mail it to you.

Antoinette

Goodness, Antoinette, that is generous - are you sure you don't need it? Small is good, as my seed starting area is small, too. My address is in the exchange.

Our temps here have been crazy, too. Last Sunday it was 91 and within three days the daytime high was 60. Finally got some rain, though, last night and today!

Fingers crossed for your wee plants.

Kathleen

Oky Doki,

will send it out sometime this week. It sure has been cold here. It's a miracle everything outside is still doing well, and the row cover is still around the plants.

I did lose several of my sedums, aeoniums and a couple of my tender Agaves froze, darn.... :( some were the variegated ones.. oh well.