Anyone have any emergency milkweed? The 30 or so caterpillars have totally stripped mine and the nurseries don’t seem to have any. I really don’t want to lose them. –T. Kinsey, San Antonio
I, too, have run out of food (asclepias tuberosa) for my Monarch caterpillars. I have approximately 14 caterpillars ranging from the 1st through the 5th instar. The little ones can’t eat the hard stem, which is all that is left. I am scrambling around asking everyone I know if they have any butterfly milkweed and so far, no luck. –C. Nugen, Stephenville
I have a great number of monarch caterpillars on the milkweed plants in my garden, more than I have ever seen!! Only thing is, I think there are more than there is food. Will they find nearby plants to eat or start eating the stems of the plant? Please help as I am bit worried that they will not all get to the next life stage. –L. Jarvis, San Antonio
Monarch butterflies have been arriving in the “Texas funnel” for weeks, laying their first generation of eggs on milkweeds in yards, gardens, and throughout the state. But judging from emails, text and Facebook messages I’ve been getting, we just don’t seem to have enough milkweed to keep up with their voracious appetites. The creatures eat 200x their birthweight in milkweed leaves by the time they bust their stripes to form their gold-flecked jade chrysalises.
The milkweed shortage appears to be the result of the Monarchs’ early arrival and crazy weather this year. When the Monarchs arrived in March, a lot of wild milkweed wasn’t even out of the ground yet. The wet, mild winter provoked a bountiful wildflower showing, creating serious competition from more aggressive species. Then we had a slew of 80- and 90-degree days that sped up growth of both the caterpillars and plants. Result? Lots of caterpillars and not enough food.
What to do if you find yourself with dozens of hungry caterpillars and no milkweed for them to feast on? If you don’t have access to milkweed in the wild nor from fellow gardeners, your best bet is to call local nurseries and ask if they have any Asclepias in stock. Be sure to ask for Asclepias, the scientific name, since it’s not unusual for nurseries to sell “butterfly bush” or “butterfly weed” which are great nectar plants (often in the Buddleia family) for all types of butterflies, but useless for hosting Monarchs or other milkweed feeders.
Next, tell the nursery staff that you are raising caterpillars. That means the plants you purchase for caterpillar food must be free of systematic pesticides. Nursery staff will often swear they have not sprayed anything on the plants, but that doesn’t mean the grower didn’t.
Fat and happy Monarch cats devoured Sharon Sander's milkweed patch
Two friends experienced this difficult lesson in the past week. Sharon Sander emailed with joyous photos of hundreds of Monarch caterpillars decimating the milkweed patch at the River Road Community Garden. Sander asked if I had any extra milkweed. Since I did not, I encouraged her to seek out pesticide-free milkweed at one of our local nurseries.
Beautiful Asclepias Curassavica from Shades of Green turned out to be full of pesticides
Sander located milkweed at Shades of Green Nursery in San Antonio. She explained to nursery staff that she was raising caterpillars and was told no systematic pesticides had been used. She brought the plants home and moved 200 caterpillars to the robust plants.
The next day, “They all died,” Sander wrote via text message. Sander contacted Shades of Green, an excellent nursery, and was given pesticide-free replacement plants. Still, a sad lesson.
Wendy Meyer, co-manager of Shades of Green was very apologetic about the incident and said that unbeknownst to Shades of Green, the grower had used the pesticide Dursban (chlorpyrifos) on the milkweed plants. Supposedly Dursban dissipates in 10-14 days, but in the meantime is readily absorbed into the plant tissue and anything that eats the plant.
Boo-hoo! Dead Monarch caterpillars fall victim to pesticide laced milkweed
Jenny Singleton of Grapevine relayed a similar story. Upon leaving town for vacation, she stocked up on milkweed for the hungry Monarch caterpillars she was leaving behind. ”I went to my favorite nursery to buy more milkweed and left the new, full plants next to the eaten up ones,” Singleton wrote in an email. “Checked on them this AM and to my horror, I’ll bet 75% were dead! I was sick!”
Unfortunately, nurseries don’t always know their growers as well as they should. And most plant shoppers won’t buy plants with bugs on them. Milkweed plants are an ecosystem unto themselves and attract aphids, milkweed beetles, milkweed bugs, various flies and wasps. Pesticides will kill all these pests–as well as Monarch eggs and caterpillars. It’s a challenge for growers who are often inclined to spray plants immediately before shipping to make them attractive and insect free to shoppers.
Tropical milkweed is easy to grow
If you don’t know the provenance of your host plants, the best solution is to GYO (grow your own) milkweed. Milkweed flowers develop a plump seed pod. Tropical milkweed, while not native, is easy to grow and a Monarch butterfly magnet. Remove the seeds from the milkweed fluff and sow in pots or the garden. We’ll detail that process in a future post.
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Drive out along the highways and country roads out-of-town and harvest your milkweed. For goodness sakes, there are tons and tons of milkweed along right-of-ways. There certainly is no need to purchase milkweed at this time of year! It is extremely abundant now. Take plastic bags and gather it. You will probably catch more eggs and larvae on the leaves. Refrigerate until you need the milkweed, or make several trips as you run out.
If you don’t know what native milkweed looks like, do a Google search.
Good advice, Mary, for those who have time to go milkweed foraging. Also make sure you’re not on private property.
MM
The roadside milkweed people are seeing is Antelope Horn Milkweed, native to Texas. I have tried to transplant some several times with no luck. Unless you are prepared to constantly be going out and picking enough leaves for a day or so for your cats, I would suggest releasing a good majority of the caterpillars y’all have directly onto the milkweed beside the roads. Obviously don’t put more than 1 or 2 on a plant unless it’s a huge plant or again they’ll run out. Just my suggestion.
I’ve tried transplanting too. No luck. That darned taproot is too deep!
Here in Fort Worth I see milkweed growing all over, but for some reason I never find caterpillars on it. It is the type with the green flowers and skinny leaves. Don’t they like all types? Also, it seems I mainly see them in the fall on their way back south. Is that normal?
There is no native milkweed growing along roadsides in & around Corpus Christi – I have a few friends that raise monarchs and tropical milkweed and we try to help each other out. Sometimes all stores are out of tropical milkweed too, and I have also had the experience of purchased plants sickening or killing the caterpillars.
I’m thankful that my tropical is coming back and I have several volunteers also. I hope I get lucky and get some visitors again like last year.
Dursban is an organophosphate. Organophosphates are contact insecticides (sprayed on the plant) and are not systemic insecticides as far as I know. There are some translaminar insecticdes (sprayed on the plant) that are systemic.
As far as I know, Dursban is no longer available for use by the general public and it’s application is not without hazard.
http://www.livestrong.com/article/237492-dursban-warnings/
From 1st to 5th instars (hatching from the egg to the last stage before forming a chrysalis), monarch caterpillars will grow 2000 times in body weight. They are eating machines.
if you have the tropical milkweed you can cut the stems off and put them in water . this will grow leaves back on the stem as well as let the plant grow back up. the stems will root in the water as well. but i have done it with stems stripped of leaves by monarchs just to supplement the “food” for the cats. also you can freeze milkweed. so i cut mine back and freeze stems when they get big and bloom all season long so i can stock up on it in case i have alot of monarchs when they head south for winter. as well as i cut them back at the end of the season before the frost gets them and freeze then as well . i have also got it on the roadsides. but i tend to get the stems and leave the plants so it will be there if i need it. i know a nursery that ships here in ga
is the red & yellow tropical milkweed at this site .they also have it in yellow . if you need to buy some here is the web site
http://thymeafterthyme.com/
this annual grows so fast i don’t mess with the other milkweed & bfly weed because it is grows too slow . i but seeds off ebay for trpoical milkweed and it is easy to grow. i have found here it does better in part shade…the summer heat is so bad . i also started keeping it in pots since i have to water it more .
i also joied a bfly group on yahoo garden with butterflies…you might join and post there about needing milkweed and maybe someone ther ecan help from your area. here is the link below ..good luck !
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/gardenwithbutterflies/
I planted the nasty, sad, emergency milkweed that I purchased in December to feed my late-year caterpillars in the garden and they have begun regrowing into nasty, sad, new plants. But the second group of caterpillars is on them and eating the ugly-looking leaves. Even though these plants look bad, the caterpillars are making it to the chrysalis stage, so do I just let them be and hope they’ll eventually turn into beautiful butterflies themselves? I do have some new plants trying to come up, but they’re getting eaten as soon as they break the soil. In addition, I now have a lined snake that’s dug a hole in my milkweed and I have to get him out because it’s a threat to the caterpillars. I’m telling you, my caterpillars have to be brave to live in my garden!
To help answer the question about digging antelope horns.
The article and photos are from the Boerne Chapter of NPSOT’s website.
http://npsot.org/wp/boerne/2011/04/14/rescues/
The milkweed did not survive, nor did the other 2 that were “rescued.”
What does it mean to rescue a milkweed?
Plants from an area were “rescued” because the area was being cleared for development.
Wow, you warriors in Texas have a much more difficult time with the milkweed than those of us in Minnesota. Keep fighting for those Monarchs so they get to us and we can do our part.
I’ve found that the monarch caterpillars also love dill weed.
Monarchs will not eat Dillweed – that’s the host plant for Black Swallowtails. Monarchs only eat milkweed varieties.
I’m in far far NW Houston, and I have a LOT of milkweed again this year, and 11 caterpillars. I can supply weed or take the caterpillars.
DoraAnderson@sbcglobal.net
I am trying to grow my own Milkweed from the seeds that I have been collecting from the seedpods, but I am not having much luck. I have put them in pots to start but only getting a few coming up. Please publish the instructions ASAP because I know there are many of us that need HELP.
Thank you for all you do…
Nancy Miyares (Apopka, FL.)
My new milkweed must have had systemic pesticides because all of my caterpillars have died
~ My chrysalides are still hanging in there and 3 have hatched so I’m releasing the butterflies today. My question is: Should I get rid of this milkweed?? I haven’t planted it yet but I have lots of babies on it and also, if these new butterflies feed on the nectar from those plants, will it poison them too?
Oh, what a bummer! Hate it when that happens. If you had some successfully eclose that fed on that milkweed, then it’s probably not pesticides. There’s a slew of Monarch diseases, as well as pests that can effect successful completion of the life cycle. You can clean rinse the milkweed with a 10% bleach solution to disinfect it, but the milkweed will take a beating–and obviously don’t do that with caterpillars on there.
There definitely appears to be more sickness and diseases when caterpillars are crowded on one plant or in a cage or container. Scientists believe that milkweed that doesn’t freeze back each season is more likely to “hold” sickness producing germs, but it hasn’t been proven.
If it is, indeed pesticides, than I believe that the nectar is also effected, although it depends on how recent and strong the dose.
Sorry you had this happen, Marci. I have milkweed seeds to share. If you want to start over, contact me offline.
MM
I got around 20 through the chrysalis stage and I’ve released about 15 butterflies so far and I’m just waiting for these last 5 to emerge! It’s been really fun to watch them. When they fed on the milkweed I’ve had in my yard, they were fine. It’s the new ones that all died on that ‘pesticide-free’ new stuff. I now have two batches of milkweed and the caterpillars are going crazy on both of them but they are chomping back the unhealthy looking plants now more than the ‘healthy’ looking ones. I have plenty of seeds coming out so I’m OK there but thanks for the offer! The original milkweed is also coming back! I guess that makes sense that disease-infested milkweed would have to freeze back in order to come back disease free but would that be the same for systemic pesticides? I’m wondering if this MW is worth planting? I’m going to start w/another terrarium today. I have about 12 caterpillars on the other types of MW and they might be close to eclosing so, hopefully, I wont run out of food!
I’m in Fort Worth. Has anyone seen cats here yet? My milkweed is still pretty small and I haven’t seen any Monarchs in my garden yet.
I’m in San Antonio and found 2 Monarch caterpillars on some wild Antelope Horn Milkweed in my back yard (wild cause it sprung up on it’s own 2 years ago in the middle of the yard). One cat is very big the other one is probably 2nd instar. Brought them both inside (can’t have wasps or anything getting to them) and threatened hubby not to mow the plant over
Yes, a recent research paper has found significant concentration of systemic insecticide in the plant’s nectar.
I HAVE THOUSANDS AND I MEAN THOUSANDS OF MONARCH BUTTERFLIES AT MY HOUSE! IT IS CRAZY. I HAVE NEVER SEEN ANYTHING LIKE THIS. I GOT ONLINE TO SEE IF I COULD FIGURE OUT WHY AND WHERE DID THEY COME FROM?
SPRINGTOWN TEXAS
Wow, that is amazing. Usually we get these kinds of reports in the fall when they migrate en masse to Mexico. Their spring during migration is less intense, as they trickle through at a more stretched out pace. Please send photos.
ok i got some great photos this morning in the sun! thousands of them in my fron yard. how do i send them or post them?
Email one to me at butterflybeat@gmail.com, or share them via Facebook or Flickr and send a link.
Wow! I’d like to see that too!
In my tiny garden. as soon as one group matures another one is right behind just in time to eat what little is left of the leaves from the caterpillars before them. But of the three generations thus far, only three butterflies have gotten to the chrysalis stage (I didn’t see if healthy Monarchs emerged), as the rest have all been Tachinid Fly victims in the end. They all look like plump, healthy caterpillars one minute, then later in the day they’re writhing in pain and expelling green fluid–an autopsy showing three maggots inside. So upsetting no to be able to prevent this! Getting plants is hard enough–keeping Tachinid Flies away makes it 99% harder!
I feel your pain. Tachinid flies: very sinister.
MM
How exciting. Haven’t seen any in my garden in Keller yet. Hope to see them soon! Guess I need to get more milkweed. I only have a plant returning and some seedlings so far but no monarchs. Haven’t seen any swallowtail either and I have tons of fennel.
I hope Cindy will report her amazing observation to the citizen science resource at Journey North….so important in getting a sense of the numbers over time.
Annie Oklahoma
http://www.learner.org/jnorth/maps/Gallery.html
I will try to send photos. Hard to catch them. I have been taking pictures and hard to capture that many. When i walk out of my garage they all fly like a worlwind. My trees are weeping something that they have never done. My trees are covered with butterflies. If i turn on the water hose they love it. Then they are all over me and ground. I feel so special having so many.
This may hold an answer for you in the future if milkweed goes short.
Pumpkin seems to be consumed by the caterpillars with no apparent negative effects.
These people at link are still studying.
Where do you get a pumpkin in spring then?
I suggest we all freeze a few chunks this fall, for spring 2013.
Better than nothing.
Annie, Oklahoma
http://www.butterflyfunfacts.com/pumpkin.php
I live in Ventura, CA. on the coast. I just released 30 Monarch butterfly’s. I order my milkweed plants live from “Live Monarch.com If you buy 20 plants they are 1.00 each. I have my pots all ready for when they come. I had the same problem when I was running out of the Tropical Milkweed. Bought one thinking it was not treated with insecticides. It was. I only lost 4 cats. The rest were fine. I tossed that plant away. I grow mine in pots and have them surrounded on my patio. This site is great as it has the habitat enclosures that I put the chrysalis in. this is my second year of rearing Monarchs. I have 4 other friends doing it also. Check out this site. Lots of helpful hints.
Hello everyone! It’s great to see so many dedicated butterfly lovers out there!
I too have searched far and wide for emergency Milkweed… I called every nursery I could think of and asked if they knew whether or not their plants had pesticides on them. I finally found a nursery that had some very beautiful Milkweed, along with 100′s of cats on them. I bought every plant they had and they even gave me every cat they could find. The next day I went outside to check on the cats and nearly all of them had died, with only a few clinging to life. It felt like someone had kicked me in the stomach.
I was furious, so I took a deep breath and calmed myself down before calling the nursery. They too seemed very upset and promised that they knew nothing about the pesticides being on the plants, saying that they specifically asked their grower for unpoisoned Milkweed for the Monarchs.
So, with that nightmare behind us, my question is “IF we buy Milkweed from nurseries, how long should we ‘quarantine’ the plants before offering them to the caterpillars? Should we ‘flush them’ with water and scrub the plant to remove the poison?” Now, let me give you the rundown on our system for Milkweed. We grow Milkweed from seeds as much as possible. We have some large Milkweed planted in our flowerbeds, but once we find cats on them, we move them to potted Milkweed for them to eat, leaving the flowerbed Milkweed intact for the butterflies to lay more eggs and feed on the nectar. We rotate plants in and out of our screened patio, giving them a chance to grow as many leaves as possible before we move the cats to them to feed on. We also have a huge problem with Green Anole lizards thriving in our yard, and are pretty sure they’re one of the reasons some of our cats end up missing or chrysalis’ disappear or get chewed on.
I have made several large screened cages to put the pots of Milkweed under, to protect the cats and newly emerged butterflies from predators. Our “system” of rotating the plants has been working so far. We’re seeing more and more butterflies, and constantly having to grow more Milkweed. It’s been tough keeping up with the demand, and a lot of work, although it’s been enjoyable and rewarding “work”. There are nurseries in our area (Houston/Galveston) that are having some awesome sales on their plants and their Milkweed is tall, bushy and beautiful!
Which brings me back to my question… How long should we ‘quarantine’ nursery-bought Milkweed, to be sure we’re not poisoning our precious cats??? Also, thanks goes out to each and every one of you for doing what you do to help these butterflies! I appreciate YOU!!! Keep up the Good work!
P.S. – We have also been fortunate enough to have lots of Gulf Fritillary and Giant Swallowtails choose our yard to go through their amazing transformations, on our Passion Vines and Citrus Trees!
Hey there Jorge,
Sounds like you have a fantastic butterfly garden at your house. Congratulations!
As for how long to quarantine milkweed, the only safe bet is a year, according to my friends at the International Butterfly Breeders Association. Systematic pesticides can stay in the plant for up to 12 months. It’s a drag, isn’t it, when you spend $5 -8 per plant and then they kill your caterpillars.
It happened to me early this summer. I ran out of milkweed and went to my favorite local nursery, Fannick’s. They swore the milkweed was clean, but my caterpillars died within 48 hours of putting them on the plant. The four plants cost more than $30, but Fannick’s did not offer to replace them or refund my money. I cut them to the ground and am letting them regrow–separate from my other milkweed pots. Before I unleash any number of Monarch caterpillars on them, I will put ONE on, and let it complete it’s life cycle.
As for rinsing plants, my understanding is that you CAN rinse off certain types of sprays, but I’m not sure exactly which ones. I will do some research and write a future post about that.
Thank you for writing and sharing your experience.
MM
We live in New Jersey and for the first time grew the Pink Milkweed plant, from seed, to encourage the Monarchs to our garden. We have several cats, they are just munching away at the leaves. But, being the novices we are, do the cats need to form their cocoon on the milkweed plant or do they roam to other plants in the garden? Also, what method is the safest for moving the cats to a “protected” milkweed plant?
I’ve really enjoyed reading this website, thank you for providing such great information and inspiration. Barbara
“Do the cats need to form their cocoon on the milkweed plant or do they roam to other plants in the garden?” The caterpillars will do both – they’ll either form their chrysalis on a milkweed leaf or they will crawl off and end up on another plant, under the eave of your house, on a fence, railing or other protected structure.
“Also, what method is the safest for moving the cats to a “protected” milkweed plant?” I usually pick the leaf that the caterpillar is on off of the plant and lay it at the base of the plant I want the caterpillar to be on. That way you don’t have to touch it and risk injuring it.
Good luck!!!
Thanks, Lisa. I was getting worried. We’ve had 5 or 6 cats, chubby and healthy looking just “disappear”. Now I feel better.
Another question: our plants have a huge amount of yellow milkweed aphids on them. We haven’t sprayed anything on the plants except a gentle spray of water to get rid of them. But, they keep coming back. The plants will die back to the ground during our NJ winter and that will kill the aphids for this year. Any ideas?
If any of you want me to send common milkweed seeds please email me. I have a ton of them up in Ohio that I would be happy to mail. I can send the entire pod, but you will have to refridgerate them for several weeks before planting them. (Cold Stratification Method) Simply put, they will not germinate unless they have been fooled into believing they have over wintered. Careful though…these plants can spread quickly so you will need a decent sized area for these grow.
That’s a generous offer, Teresa, but everyone needs to be mindful to try and plant species native to their area and specific ecosystem situation. What species do you have available? =–Monika
I have kept a butterfly garden for about 10 years and enjoy watching the process of “making” new butterflys. I continue to learn and enjoy the websites others post. Good info for us amatures. I have wood chip mulch all around my milk weed plants and try to keep weeds from popping thru so I continually pluck up any thing “green” showing thru. Now while looking at a site on growing milkweed from seeds, I think some of what I’ve been plucking us is more milkweed trying to come thru. I will deffinitly be more careful and let some of these little green things develope.