RE: Need help planning ahead

[Lindabird]

Hi again!

I need some help. I am going to Las Vegas from 8/5 to 8/12. I have 17 Monarch caterpillars 2,3 & 4 days old. I have around 9 varieties of milkweed in my Monarch waystation. Will all of these caterpillars eat the variety of milkweed that I have to offer, or will they eat only the variety that I found them on?

I hope they aren't picky eaters, because I've already got them mixed up and don't know what I found them on. The first day I had them all in one container because I wasn't prepared and didn't know what to do.

Today, I separated them. I have most of them in their own container, but a couple of them have two in it. I'm using Gerber baby food containers. They are rectangle in shape. They are clear plastic with a clear lid. So far, it's working out well. I'm not sure how long I can keep them in these, but right now it seems perfect . Should I poke holes in the lids? I'm constantly opening them and checking them so I would think they were getting plenty of oxygen.

I got a late start in planting my milkweed, because I had to buy the seeds off of Ebay because I couldn't find any around here. I've got around 63 plants, and they range anywhere from 1" to approx. 20". Only two of them are blooming right now.

I'm thinking if I try to feed all of these from my milkweed, I won't have anything left for future Monarchs to lay eggs on.

I know where there is some common milkweed (I haven't checked for about 3 weeks though, caterpillars may have eaten it all by now.) If it is still there can I pick the leaves and save them for my caterpillars?

I'm going to see if my sister will babysit them for me. It's going to be a busy time for them, and I hate to miss it, but I have to go to Las Vegas with my husband for a convention.

If this common milkweed will work, how can I keep it fresh? Can I put the leaves in a plastic bag with a wet paper towel? Would it help if I refrigerated it? I probably won't pick it until Friday 8/4. I got chiggers so bad the last time I checked it out....maybe I'll just tell my sister where she can get milkweed!

Also, we have milkweed vine growing all over the place. My sister found two Monarch caterpillars on some last year, and I'm pretty sure that's what we continued to feed them. Would that work? If so, that would be great!

I've got nine black swallowtail caterpillars to worry about too! I guess I'll call my sister and say "Guess who's coming for dinner!"

I'll owe her forever!

I'd appreciate any advice anyone has to offer!

Thanks!

Linda

[jen]

Linda,
I would probably stick with the milkweed you found them on, most lkely it was common milkweed. I would then find a patch somewhere ( if it is the "chigger" patch, wear long pants, socks tucked INTO the pants, longsleeves, etc.) and pick either a whole lot of leaves to refridgerate, or several "whole "plants at the base. These you can put in water, like a vase, and have your sister just pick leaves off from these each day. They should keep for about a week. Just make sure she keeps cleaning out poop and giving each container a fresh leaf or two, depending on the size of the cats. Also, I went to a fabric store last week, and bought a yard of white bridal netting ( tulle) for 1.99 and cut it up into four large squares. I put this over my four large butter tubs, secured with a rubber band, now I no longer worry about suffocating the little guys. Hope your trip is fun, we used to live in Las Vegas about ten years ago!Good Luck,
Jen
P.S. Loved your " Guess who's coming to dinner joke!

[Jim]

It seems that you can switch monarchs to a new variety of milkweed as long as they are young, but they do not transfer well as they approach the end of their larval development.

Yes, you should have holes in the lid it's not so much about the oxygen but about airflow...a mesh lid would also work but may provide too much airflow that could cause the milkweed leaves to dry our prematurely. The main thing is you don't want condensation to build up within the containers, creating a breeding ground for bacteria and fungus. Keep these containers out of direct sunlight!

FYI - we have lots of milweed seeds in our Monarch Waystation Seed Kits - 6 varieties of milkweed and 6 additional types of nectar sources. They're on sale at the moment and would be fine for next season if stored in the refrigerator.

You can store leaves in a plastic bag in the refrigerator (add a damp paper towel) or an easier method would be to cut the milkweed plant and put it in water. You may have to recut it every few days under warm water so that the latex doesn't clog up the works and deprive the plant of water.

The viny milkweed is Blue Vine (Cynanchum laeve), a good late-season food source but probably not the most preferred milkweed:



Good Luck!

[John Beaulieu]

QUESTION FOR JIM...

If you (MW) have different varieties of milkweed, do you sell any packets individually for those that want to add other species to their collection? I could not find any listed when looking through the store products.

John

[Jim]

QUESTION FOR JIM...

If you (MW) have different varieties of milkweed, do you sell any packets individually for those that want to add other species to their collection? I could not find any listed when looking through the store products.

John

Unfortunately, given all of the costs associated with the storefront fulfillment it is not feasible for us to sell single packets at this time (this is compounded by the fact that we have surplus inventory of the Monarch Wystation Seed Kits). You could always get the Standard Kit that contains BUTTERFLY WEED (Asclepias tuberosa), SHOWY MILKWEED (Asclepias speciosa), COMMON MILKWEED (Asclepias syriaca), SWAMP MILKWEED (Asclepias incarnata subsp. incarnata), SWAMP MILKWEED (Asclepias incarnata subsp. pulchra), & TROPICAL MILKWEED (Asclepias curassavica) and donate the seeds you don't want to a school or other group...just a thought

We also have a California Kit that contains BUTTERFLY WEED (Asclepias tuberosa), SHOWY MILKWEED (Asclepias speciosa), TROPICAL MILKWEED (Asclepias curassavica), INDIAN MILKWEED (Asclepias eriocarpa), DESERT MILKWEED (Asclepias erosa), & SWAN PLANT (Asclepias fruticosa) in addition to the other nectar plants.

Complete details are available at http://www.monarchwatch.org/ws/seed_kit.html

and http://shop.monarchwatch.org/product.aspx?p=125522

[Lindabird]

Thanks Jen and Jim for your response. I'm learning a little bit here and a little bit there everyday. So, far the baby food containers are working out well. I have opened them a couple of times today emptying "poop" and putting new leaves in.

I think I'll cut some milkweed off and put it in water and also pick some leaves and put them in baggies with wet paper towels.

My sister is not going to know what hit her! I'm kind of jealous though. I wanted to witness it.

Oh well.

I'll let you know how it goes when I get back.

Linda

[Gwynne]

My sister is not going to know what hit her! I'm kind of jealous though. I wanted to witness it.

Linda

With any luck, you will be witnessing it all summer! I have 14 beautiful chrysalises now and think I will have more soon.

Also, every time I go out to get the guys dinner, I end up with more baby caterpillars and eggs! It seems to be a never ending cycle. Get dinner for four caterpillars and suddenly I have six additional mouths to feed! It is lots of fun though.

[Lindabird]

Gwynne...I hope I have more. I haven't seen any monarchs fluttering around for a couple of days now. I've got to go get some milkweed today and get them used to that kind. I've got nine varieties, I think. There are only two blooming right now, so it's kind of hard to tell. I just know what I planted. It rained really hard right after I planted and it flooded my garden, and all my seeds kind of floated to different locations.

I do know that if I feed them what I've got in my garden, I won't have anything left for them to lay eggs on.

I've got 63 milkweed plants right now.....which sounds like a lot, but they range from 1" to around 20". I didn't get them planted until late in May because I had to find seeds (Ebay). I wish I would have just ordered them here, but for some reason I didn't. I think I might order some more since they are on sale, then I'll have them here and ready to add early next spring.

Hopefully, all the ones I have now will come back and be much more established next year.

I need to get enough seeds for school too. We started a monarch waystation, but it will be at least until next year before it is actually a real Monarch waystation. I don't work in the summer, but they do have a summer camp there. I have been helping, and advising another teacher though.

So far, we have the area tilled, and sectioned off. Each class will have their own section to plant, and take care of.

Right now, we have a butterfly bush, beebalm, black-eyed susan, purple coneflower, and zinnias planted. Hopefully everything will come back, except for the zinnias.

Everybody was giving me a hard time about planting milkWEED in my what used to be vegetable garden. I was a little nervous. I had to research it. I even went to a master gardener plant sale and tried to talk to everyone I could and get their opinions.

I was really surprised though at the master gardener plant sale they didn't have any milkweed for sale. I did buy some Joe-Pye weed, but that's all they had.

I guess I better get ready to go get some milkweed. It's about 100 degrees, and HIGH humidity. I will die if I put on long pants, but I don't want chiggers either....especially before I go to Las Vegas. I just now am wearing shorts, because I had so many bites it was disgusting. I had to go to a tanning bed for the first time in my life, just to get enough tan to try to hide the scars so I can wear shorts in Las Vegas!

I have seen some milkweed in other spots too. Maybe I'll go there this time and there won't be chiggers. The place I have been going to is right by the road. I was only off the road about 1-2'. It wasn't like I was in the middle of a field....and I was only there for a minute or two.

[jen]

Linda? Are you there? I know Lindabird mentioned that she had nine black swallowtail cats to worry about when she goes to vegas for the week. If you are still home, Linda, What do I do with black swallowtail cats? I was weeding my garden this evening, and lo and behold, 5 fat black swallowtail cats crawling all over my dill!!! I was so astounded, I checked that patch a week or so ago, and saw nothing. Any advice what I should do? Leave them in the garden? Bring them in and rear? How do I do this? Is it similiar to rearing monarchs? My monarch cats are 5 days old, and two are 7 days, can I put them together to chrysalis? HELP! I wasn't expecting to "deliver" black swallow babies as well! Any advice? ,
Jen

[Gwynne]

Linda, I think if you find milkweed, you will find more eggs. I hear this year is a bumper crop! Every time I go out to get the guys dinner, I end up bringing home eggs and little caterpillars. I have seen very few monarchs but someone must be laying the eggs! Or one very exhausted female is flying all over this region.

I dont know what a chigger is. I will have to look it up and we can share experiences on chiggers and ticks. I had to get my pet cats frontline so that I dont give them ticks! Usually is the other way around but I never do things the usual way. Anyway, what I am saying in my usual rambling fashing is that if you are able to find more milkweed, you will probably find more eggs. I know you are disappointed that you will miss your first batch of babies, but ther will be more, I hear the season goes till October if I am not mistaken.

[Lindabird]

Gwynne:

I will probably find more, I'm sure. I went to this spot a couple of times and found several monarchs flying around.

I found a big Monarch caterpillar the last week of May or first week of June. I was sooo excited! I also found a furry yellow caterpillar on the same leaf. It was a Virginia white horn...or something like that. It was small and unremarkable really.

Anyway, I was so excited that I found milkweed the first time I went out looking for it, and there was a caterpillar! I didn't see any eggs....but at that time I wasn't sure what I was looking for.

I did find these white bumps under some of the leaves, but I don't know what they were. They never did hatch, so I finally threw them away. But now, I know they weren't Monarch eggs.

Chiggers are these little bitty critters that you can't see and they bite you and bury themselves in your skin. They itch sooooo bad. They like it where it is warm, and where your clothing is tight. I had them so bad, I just about had them internally, if you know what I mean! That sounds bad doesn't it? But then again, it was bad! Real bad!

I dread going to get milkweed, but I have to. I think I might pay my son to go get me some. He's always needing money!

[Gwynne]

Yeah, well try driving to work and going out in the morning and having a tick sitting on the driver's seat, just waiting for you!!

Yes, chiggers sound bad too. I also dont care to collect milkweed, but now that I am cutting the stalks and rinsing them off, it is much easierl. I was collecting individual leaves.

Then I have to go home and look everything over and make sure I dont have any eggs. I always do. I have to remove the eggs, but them in a baggie, look for more eggs, then finally wash off the plants. Last time I put them in my bathtub and let them soak for an hour or two. I wanted to get the insects off. I did scrub them, but of course I do have to scrub them again when I am getting ready to feed the wee beasties. Twice now I have gone to the refrigerator and gotten my milkweed out and found eggs! This was on milkweed that was previously scrubbed. The first one I didnt think would hatch but I still tried. The leaf turned black after a couple of days. I found another egg last night and will try to see if it hatches.