New butterfly gardener....

[harpo787]

My mother and I started creating our combination rock garden/butterfly garden a few months back, and recently started obtaining plants to get the butterfly end of things started. I suppose over time and in various posts/topics, I'll mention specifics, but for now I've got a question or two.

We've obtained both scarlet milkweed and giant milkweed, and both have started showing caterpillars from the Monarch. A week or so back, two turned into pupae (is that singular or plural?), while 2 other caterpillars went missing entirely, never to be seen again.

Oddly enough, one of the two pupae disappeared this last Saturday. A severe rainstorm had passed through a few days before, but they seemed fine at that point. I even took photos of it on Saturday before we went out to obtain a few items.

Well, while doing some garden maintenance, I noticed that the pupa was gone. I looked on the ground, no luck. It didn't seem to be a particularly windy day either.

I guess my questions are: is it possible that a predator grabbed the pupa? We do have several birds including blue jays who show up in our yard on a daily basis. The other question is, if the pupa did land on the ground and is hidden away somewhere under the mulch, is it possible that it could still hatch ok?

Oh yes...I've also noticed some ants(?) on the giant milkweed, and also noticed white spots...a fungus?

Thanks for any help!

[Jim]

I guess my questions are: is it possible that a predator grabbed the pupa? We do have several birds including blue jays who show up in our yard on a daily basis. The other question is, if the pupa did land on the ground and is hidden away somewhere under the mulch, is it possible that it could still hatch ok?

Yes, it is entirely possible that something snatched up your pupa (plural: pupae) - a bird or mouse is probably the most likely culprit but there are insect predators such as the wheel bug that will feed on pupae as well. If the pupa was hardened and not damaged in the fall then yes, there is a chance that it will emerge just fine...as long as it has something to crawl up on to expand and dry its wings (in your garden there should be plenty of options for this).

As far as your other missing caterpillars are concerned, they may have wandered off to pupate or fallen victim to predators as well.

Hope this helps - welcome to the forums!

[harpo787]

I think I saw this in the milkweed-type forum here in Monarch watch, but I figured I'd ask here anyways, and perhaps, confirm some information.

One of our scarlet milkweeds has been stripped down to roughly two or three leaves. Otherwise, it's bare. Obviously the caterpillars just go through it in no time.

So I transferred 5-6 cats from the stripped down scarlet to a newly purchased scarlet (got two today). I figured with no leaves on there, they would be unable to enter the pupa stage. Well, with all the cats we've had, it would seem to be a bit costly to keep purchasing new milkweeds.

If left alone, will the stripped milkweed recover, or do I need to cut it back a bit (get rid of twigs with no leaves on them etc.)? Also, in cutting it back, I'd like to start off new plants from the cuttings. I think I read they need to be six to eight inches long? Can it be just one straight stalk, or should it have a few branches coming off of it? Should it have a leaf or two on it already for photosynthesis etc.?

Any help is greatly appreciated!

[Jim]

If left alone, will the stripped milkweed recover, or do I need to cut it back a bit (get rid of twigs with no leaves on them etc.)? Also, in cutting it back, I'd like to start off new plants from the cuttings. I think I read they need to be six to eight inches long? Can it be just one straight stalk, or should it have a few branches coming off of it? Should it have a leaf or two on it already for photosynthesis etc.?

Any help is greatly appreciated!

Asclepias curassavica (Tropical Milkweed, Bloodflower, Scarlet Milkweed, etc.) will certainly recover, but yes, you should cut the plant back to 6 inches or so. New shoots will be produced and you can cycle these plants for several years.

From www.monarchwatch.org/milkweed/prop.htm :

"Growing Milkweeds from Cuttings
All milkweeds are perennials and some can be grown from cuttings. Cuttings provide a way producing new plants in a relatively short time and it avoids some of the difficulties of starting plants from seeds. To start cuttings, cut the stems underwater, then coat the bottom of the stem with a strong rooting hormone. The stems should be placed in sand, vermiculite, or potting soil that is kept continuously moist. Cuttings can usually be transplanted in 6-10 weeks. Survival is best when cuttings are made from green stems (1/3 inch diameter) obtained from plants fertilized two weeks earlier."

Hope this helps!

[harpo787]

Ok...I think this weekend I'm going to attempt to start growing some cuttings. Here's the "parent" plant, stripped bare by our voracious cat buddies:



I'd guesstimate that it's about 2 feet tall. How far back should I cut the original? Having roughly 8 main shoots, how many cutting do you think I should get from it?

Now I'm a bit confused as to which method to try, so I figure maybe I'll do a 50/50. One person says just stick it in a cup of water and it'll root, while Jim suggests the rooting formula and then sticking it in potting soil.

Also, would it be best to strip the plant of any remaining leaves to encourage new growth?

[harpo787]

Well, we pruned back this one (in the above pic) and got 8 or 9 cuttings from it which have all taken nicely. I used the rooting formula method, and that seems to work. Meanwhile, the other milkweed has since been pretty chewed up, so I'll have to cut that back, and I believe one of the newer ones has also been pretty ravaged. I'm thrilled that the shoots are taking nicely though...it'll hopefully cut back on the costs of getting new plants. I'll post a pic of how the plant's recovering next time at me mum's.

[Jim]

Glad to hear things are going well! Those big cats can certainly be voracious

Keep the updates coming!

[harpo787]

Well, I finally got a pic of it...we cut it back last week to about half of it's size. It seems to be producing new shoots quickly. It also ended up creating 9 new cuttings which we planted and seem to be doing ok.

I wonder...how long until the cuttings become fairly viable plants for feeding more cats?

[Sarah]

I would suggest waiting until the cuttings had a good root system. You don't want the caterpillars to strip the leaves and leave the plants with no system to help it get going again!

[harpo787]

Sarah: a good idea...for now the cuttings are just in pots off to the corner of the yard, but are still unprotected from monarchs deciding to lay more eggs.

The one in the photo though is the parent plant and definitely has a good root system going on.