Milkweed Care Guide

Add this to your annual or perennial garden in full sun (6-8 hours) and watch it attract pollinators!

This plant prefers moist, well-draining soil.

Average humidity between 40-60% is fine for this plant.

This plant enjoys full sun and warm temperatures.

Outside: Add this to your annual or perennial garden in full sun (6-8 hours) and watch it attract pollinators!

Milkweed doesn't need fertilzer and will thrive in poor soils.

Outdoors: Before planting or repotting in a container, water the plant in the grower pot well. Find a spot in the garden where there are at least 6 hours of direct sunlight each day. Be generous by digging a hole twice the pot's width and 1 inch shorter than the grower pot to raise above the soil level for good drainage. Use a pitchfork or a sharp object to stab the soil walls to make several indentions for the roots to take hold. Tickle the roots to loosen them if they wrap inside the container. Place the plant in the center of the hole. Fill the hole with water first, so the roots get another good drink. Next, backfill with native soil mixed with compost by one-third to one-half (if the native soil is clay). Add a rooting hormone fertilizer to this backfill mixture. Tamp the soil firmly down around the edges and mound up. Avoid covering the original soil level of the plant that was in the container. Add mulch as needed but not next to the stem or branches of the plant. Water lightly. Continue to observe the soil moisture each day, depending on the temperatures and soil drainage.

Deadhead after the flower has died by cutting back to the leaves of the plant. If the flowering season is over, trim back milkweed stalks 6-8" above the ground in the fall. This pruning will help reduce OE spores, a disease that attacks the evolution of the adult butterfly while pupating.

Flat seeds will be produced in 3-4" long spindle-shaped pods. Seeds have fine silky hair that effortlessly floats through the air. Moisten the seeds for several hours in water and drain. Mix with a stratification mix and place in a refrigerator for two weeks. Scatter these seeds on the soil's surface and cover with 1/4 inch apart. The seeds will not germinate until the seed goes through a freeze and thaw process to soften the seed coat. Expect germination in the spring after the soil warms.