I planted milkweed last year and it grew like crazy. I'm not sure of the proper name, but it had red flowers. In the fall, I noticed there were all these little white things up and down the plant. They weren't on any other plants, just the milkweed. I left the plant over the winter, but I cut it down this spring. I suppose I got a little pruning crazy. :/ It's sending up new shoots right now, so I'm not concerned that I killed it. My concern is that I ended up cutting off butterfly eggs and throwing them in the bushes.....which, from what I've read, gives them no living plant to feed on. Should I have left it intact? Would the stalks have greened up again? Any idea what those little white things were?
milkweed-should I cut?
I cut my milkweed to make it bushier, makes more for them caterpillars to eat later. Eggs are laid on the undersides of the leaves as a general rule and not easy to spot. You could have had aphids or even scale, so cutting back and throwing away was for the best, I'd say. Liz
I totally agree with Liz. Could be aphids, scale, white fly, many things ....
Mine get whacked back several times a year due to Milkweed bugs and aphids and leggy growth. Pruning them back does make them bushier. :-)
Yes, sounds like a pest...maybe Mealys...so many bugs like milkweed. I've noticed if I cut back the mw to the woody part, it takes a long time to regrow.
The other day I checked on a tall 5' mw and ALL the leaves were gone! They were there the day before and no cats were on it, they are always put in the bf cage. Any ideas what could have munched it? Weird, isn't it?
It's probably a GIANT Monarch cat!!! Watch out .... he may be looking for dessert!!! LOL!
To eat a plant that fast it was either a LOT of cats (who may have moved on looking for more) or something else ..... like too much water and all the leaves dropped off and blew away.
Heehee....I'll keep an eye open for the giant cat! Maybe he's hiding in the AC unit!
The leaves have a littles nub left on the plant and they have chew marks, none on the ground. The plant is by the side of the house, in front of the privacy fence and about 6' from the house. I check for cats every day, seriously, it's one of my daily tasks.
I figure it had to be something that flew in, ate, and flew out, some sort of mw night bandit. I may have to set up a security light. It also ate some leaves off of the little surrounding plants.
Rox - That's truly weird!!! Do let us know if you spot the culprit! I can't imagine anything eating MW unless it's supposed to because the plant is toxic. I don't know of any moths that eat MW. Hopefully not a deer. It will be one sick deer!!!
There's no way a deer could get in this area, it has 2 gates on each end...I know, it's the weirdest thing.