Your Monarch Butterfly Garden will be a Success!
How to germinate milkweed seeds successfully
Do you have common milkweed seeds? Showy milkweed seeds? Swamp milkweed seeds? Other kinds of milkweed seeds? — These native milkweeds are usually difficult to germinate. If you just scatter seeds on the ground… they will often not sprout.
But, have no fear! Try this Wet Paper Towel Method.
It is always better to grow your own milkweed plants from seed rather than buying from nurseries.
You can’t always trust your local garden centers / nurseries. Sometimes they spray pesticides or insecticides to keep them looking pretty. These chemicals are very poisonous to our caterpillars. That’s why we like to grow our own plants without using any chemicals so we can help the monarchs become the healthiest and the strongest butterflies!
Try with about 10 seeds first.
When you get the hang of it after this first batch, you can work on another!
Don’t pour too much water!
Just make the paper towel damp inside the ziplock.
Label the bag so you'll remember!
Place the bag some place warm, away from direct sun as this may damage your seeds.
Some seeds start germinating in only 3 days! Some seeds take 2 weeks. Be patient, and leave them in the bag. At first, you would notice a small root coming out of the seed. It is better if you wait until you see the first two leaves as pictured.
Get some soil and be ready to plant them!
If it's early spring, and already warm outside, you can plant them directly into the ground!
Don't forget to water them everyday. When the seedlings are still tiny, they like to stay moist. (Once they grow a little bigger, they don’t need to be watered as much.)
If it’s still cold outside, keep your seedlings in pots. You can bring them outside during the day in the sun, and bring them back in when it gets cold at night.
Milkweed plants love lots of sunlight once they sprout. Plant them in a place where they will get at least 6 hours of sun everyday.
When the monarch butterflies arrive in your area this summer, they will come to your plants and lay eggs. They can smell and sense the milkweed plants from high above.
Then you will officially be a host family for the cute monarch caterpillars! Enjoy your journey with the monarchs. Make sure to plant lots of nectar flower plants around your milkweeds also! The caterpillars will eat your milkweed, and the butterflies will sip the flower nectars.
