my mg's have gone wild. i haven't been able to harvest any seed pods yet, i keep looking, hopefully I will be able to harvest enough for next year and to share. will the vine die after the first frost? can I harvest then? any one that can help me I am looking forward to hearing from. thanks again for everyone's help this past season, tis truly appreciated. ~ sherry not to bad for .97 cents at wal-mart :)
yup the vine will die maines colddddddd
Sherry1961, What a nice display! I like the Halloween touch!
I'm not sure if you were asking how to find the seed or not! If not...just disregard!
To learn how to find the seeds, pick out a couple flowers that are easy to see - eye level! - and watch them after they wither and die. The seed pod will develop where the base of the flower tube was. You will see it get bigger - a roundish shape nestled between the pointy green things - sepals - that were at the base of the flower. As it matures it will turn brown and the walls of the pod will become thin and crispy! After the stem supporting the pod dries out and turns brown, you can harvest the pod, break it open and it will contain the dark seeds. Set them out for a while inside the house to make sure they are dry, put them in an envelope or some other container, keep them dry and cool and you'll be all ready for next year!
I don't know for sure, as we don't get to much frost here!, but I bet many of the pods will continue to develop even after the first frost kills the leaves. Especially if it is not a continuous deep freeze after that first frost. Plants have a very strong desire to ripen their seed!
Good luck and you should have more than enough seed for yourself and to trade for some new ones too!
- Arlan
Sherry1961 - Nice healthy looking MG's...
Here are a couple of photos from the PlantFiles for a visual reference...
A mature dried Ipomoea purpurea seedpod
http://davesgarden.com/pf/showimage/31407/
Ipomoea purpurea dried pods and seeds
http://davesgarden.com/pf/showimage/1569/
TTY,...
Ron
