cold stratifying milkweed seeds in fridge

[njhilbilli]

We have a red milkweed growing nearabouts, and I believe it's fairly uncommon. Orange, really, with small blossoms. Only one match in the milkweed catalog, they called it "butterfly" but no info about region or habitat. The pods are long and thin like a pencil, rather than plump and oval like their common cousin's. Finally stashed a pod, at the appropriate time this fall. Read that you can cold stratify seeds in the fridge, but the article failed to outline just how cold it needs to be. I'd really like to get good germination, as I'm intent on gifting as many seedlings as I can to other enthusiasts !
Laying on the bottom of the fridge compartment (freezer is below) the baggie reached the freezing point. One shelf higher, it will never freeze, even lightly. Is that too warm ? Should I rotate it every few days ? I know, way too much time on my hands if I'm obsessing over ThIS ! What else is winter for ?
...............thoughts ?

 

[journey11]

Welcome! Those are lovely and you will attract many monarchs with them hopefully!

It doesn't hurt a seed to freeze if it has been dried sufficiently. I store all of my seeds at -10 in my deep freezer to preserve their viability. (There are some others that will require cold and wet stratification, so the drying process wouldn't apply to those.) Anyhow, basically you need to simulate winter conditions like those your seeds would experience in their natural habitat. I'd put them in a glass jar or freezer bag, because the freezer can dry them out too much if air circulates on them. I give mine at least 6 weeks in the freezer and bring them out and put them in the fridge until shortly before I'm ready to plant them. A seed that requires cold stratification is not completely mature until it has gone through the process. It "wakes" them up.

Good luck and I hope you get a good turn out! My grandma converted all of her flowerbeds to native perennials and the butterfly milkweed in her beds attracts a bunch of monarchs. She usually gets to watch a few dozen chrysalises attached to the brick walls of her house grow and hatch new monarchs each summer.

 

[lesa]

Good luck! I hope it works for you...Was just reading this morning that there is a huge decrease in Monarchs right now. Hardly any arrived in Mexico this year. Very sad. I rarely pull up milkweed- I always hope some Monarchs will find the plant. Sounds like Journey has some great advice. And... Welcome! Welcome!

 

[PhilaGardener]

Welcome, njhilbilli! You could also try wintersowing them outside. This is similar to what journey11 described using the freezer, but subjecting seeds like milkweed to freeze-thaw cycles and temperature variations mimics natural seasonal cues and give excellent germination rates. As a bonus, the seedlings should be in synch with the season and do not require a lot of hardening off or other special handling. There are a great set of FAQs at http://www.wintersown.org/wseo1/FAQs.html that will tell you all about it. Good luck!

 

[njhilbilli]

Thanks guys ! I will put some outside, as we just got our January thaw. One pod yielded about 80 seeds, so I can afford to experiment. It is sad about the Monarchs... wonder what's going on ? We think our understanding is so complete...

 

[PhilaGardener]

A lot of the blame has been attributed to the heavy use of toxic agrichemicals by big agriculture (particularly the use of Roundup to eliminate all "weeds", including milkweeds, on millions of acres of GMO crops like soybean and corn) as well as to pressures on the extremely localized Monarch wintering grounds (literally a few acres of high altitude coniferous forest in Mexico.)

This article (link) from the well respected environment360 blog at Yale University offers a scholarly synopsis of the Monarch's plight. 2013 was the worst migration on record and that certainly fits with my observations in PA. What can we do? Start more milkweed seeds! Join with Project Monarch Watch (link), the Xerces Society (link) and others (link) to provide more host plants for these most regal of butterflies!