Harvesting Seeds from Tropical Milkweed Seed Pods

Have you ever tried to harvest the teeny seeds from the seed pods of Tropical Milkweed? I have! Let me tell you that the first year I grew Tropical Milkweed in my front yard garden, I watched the seed pods open and disperse little cottony white parachutes with a teeny seed at the bottom. They'd blow everywhere and I'd find a lot accumulated on the rugs in my carport. The next year, I had a plethora of seed pods and cut off a few. And, then the Monarch caterpillars showed up and seemed to love eating the seed pods.

Monarch Caterpillars Eating Tropical Milkweed Seed Pod

Monarch Caterpillars Eating Tropical Milkweed Seed Pod

This year, it started off kind of funny with me harvesting the seeds from a seed pod. I had come out to my front yard garden to water plants and check the Tropical Milkweed for Monarch caterpillars. As I looked closely rather in the center of the plant, I saw what looked like an unusually flat, brown and white caterpillar!! Looking at it later in the day, I thought the same thing and what was it exactly. I started Googling and could just not find such an insect or bug. Take a look at the picture below ... what do you see??

Is that a Brown and White Caterpillar on my Tropical Milkweed?

The next morning, I was still seeing what I thought was an unusually flat brown and white caterpillar with two antennae on the bottom as it appeared to be upside down on the Tropical Milkweed leaf. It took another morning for me to finally notice that there was white cottony stuff emerging from that area ... Oh my goodness, that is the inside of a split seed pod. I had no idea that I had caught the seed pod in an early opening where all the cottony substance and seeds were flat.

Tropical Milkweed Seed Pod Opening with Seeds

On May 13, 2019, I started the process of harvesting seeds from the cottony substance inside Tropical Milkweed Seed Pods. In the photo above, that is the same seed pod that I thought was a brown and white caterpillar!!

Tropical Milkweed Seed Pod Opening with Seeds

Mother Nature is quite remarkable! Look at the intricacy of the composition from the inside of the seed pod.

Tropical Milkweed Seed Pod Opening with Seeds

I had put the seed pod to dry in my shed. Working with the seed pods, you want to be in a dry place and not outside where a wind gust can grab the cottony parachutes and put your seed in flight!!

Two Tropical Milkweed Seed Pods Opening with Seeds

When I did my first harvesting of seeds from the seed pods, I actually had two of them!! I found it is easier to have the cottony substance release the seeds if they are dried for a while.

Two Tropical Milkweed Seed Pods Opening with Seeds

Wow, take a look at all the seeds AND cottony substance. I kept having to wipe my hands in a paper towel as my fingers were getting really sticky and I couldn't separate the cottony substance from my fingers. It was a sticky wicket for sure!!

Two Tropical Milkweed Seed Pods and Harvested Seeds of One

After a lot of concentrated work, I was able to separate all the tiny seeds from the cottony substance and was ready to work on the second seed pod.

Harvested Seeds from Two Tropical Milkweed Seed Pods

Looking at the two piles of harvested seeds from the Tropical Milkweed Seed Pods, can YOU guess how many seeds there were in each pile??

TAKE A CLOSER LOOK AT THE SEEDS

Harvested Seeds from the First Tropical Milkweed Seed Pod

Harvested Seeds from the Second Tropical Milkweed Seed Pod

Before I started counting the seeds in each pile, I was guessing that there surely had to be about 50 or so tiny seeds in each seed pod. I was pretty close when you think about it. In the first pile, I counted some 85 ... now I think I might have been high on that count. In the second pile, I counted some 65! So, 85 plus 65 equals 150 with an average of 75. I would estimate that 70-75 seeds could be what you would expect in an average seed pod.

LET'S PLANT THOSE SEEDS!

I have bunnies in my yard like you wouldn't believe. Last night it was 8:50pm when I stepped outside to anticipate perhaps a little rain for us. I stepped to my sunflower garden area behind the shed and heard a sound from the front yard. I glanced down my golf cart path side yard to the front. A bunny hopped into view, then a second, and then a third. Bunnies!! The bunnies will eat your seedlings and munch on your flowering plants.

With anticipation of bunnies in my garden, I took poundable edging and made a rectangular planting area for the Tropical Milkweed seeds in my front yard garden.

Tropical Milkweed Seedlings Emerging on June 3, 2019

I started seeing little seedlings emerging fairly quickly. Looking closely at the tiny leaves, I thought, "some of those look like Vinca!" I have some pink Vincas here and there in my front yard garden and if you've ever had them, you'll notice that they can spread like you planted seeds here and there. So, I need to keep checking on the seedlings to see how many of those are indeed Tropical Milkweed.

Have you ever harvested the seeds from the seed pods of Tropical Milkweed? Who seriously knew it could be so interesting. That cottony substance is silk soft and a miracle of Mother Nature for sure!!

Pink Powder Puff Calliandra surinamensis

The Pink Powder Puff is one of the most interesting plant-tree! Taking a look at the Pink Powder Puff growing in my front yard garden, you're not sure what it actually is. Is it a dwarf-tree, or a plant, or a shrub?

Pink Powder Puff Calliandra surinamensis - August 27, 2018 PM

I am fairly confident that this type of mimosa is the Calliandra surinamensis of the Family: Fabaceae and Subfamily: Mimosoideae. It is also known as Surinam Powder Puff, Pink Powder Puff, Pompon De Marin, Surinamese Stickpea, and Officiers-kwast. It originates in the country of Suriname, in northern South America.

Pink Powder Puff Calliandra surinamensis - November 14, 2017

My Pink Powder Puff is now about one year old. The first couple of months, into cold weather, the plant did not achieve the look you see in the first photo above. It was approaching one year of age before it started to look like a dwarf-tree with quite the canopy. Right from the early age, it did have plenty of powder puffs but I don't believe I ever saw the bean-like seed pods until September 2018.

Close-up view of the Pink Powder Puff - July 2, 2018

It was the month of September 2018 when I began to see what looked like bean pods sprouting all over my pink powder puff. Some had turned brown and opened. I decided to clip them off, dry them, and harvest the seeds.

Drying Seed Pods of Pink Powder Puff - October 2, 2018

Once you start clipping those pods, you realize just how many there are. I originally had only a few that I put on top of a bin in the shed. I couldn't understand a couple of days later why they were lying on the floor of the shed. Then I put the lot of them on a tray on top of the washer ... come back a day or so to find several out of the tray, on the washer, and on the ground.

Opened Seed Pod of the Pink Powder Puff - October 2, 2018

I was standing outside the shed and could actually hear them POP when they opened up and again they were not in the tray. Just like the Mexican jumping bean!!!

Seeds from the Pink Powder Puff - October 2, 2018

October 3, 2018, it was late in the afternoon, around 5:30pm. I was out in the shed going through the seed pods to pull out those that opened and didn't yet release the seeds and picking up the loose seeds. All of a sudden, I heard a very loud SNAP!!! as one opened up, flew up in the air, hit the side of my left hand little finger and then flew on the ground next to the washer. I have never heard of such a thing ... it was kind of a violent action ... and very very strange. I rather suspected something like that after finding these all askew in the shed and then hearing something yesterday about this time as I was standing just outside the shed with the door shut. Like, WHO KNEW???

October 4, 2018 around 3pm in the afternoon ... I was out checking on how many seed pods had opened ... quite a few ... when they started ferociously SNAPPING. I lost a few that escaped from under the netting and flew off to my left into the shed. I sincerely think these are SNAP PEAS!!

Researching the seeds, I found a reference that tells you how to prepare the seeds for best use. It seems you need to scar them ... one recommendation was with sand paper. So, I think I will grab my emery boards and go to it before I try planting these.

Scarified Seeds from the Pink Powder Puff - October 3, 2018

I found a bit of information on how the powder puff seeds should be prepared for planting. Although my variety is not the strigillosa, I believe this information is still applicable.

"Scarify and inoculate seed with strophostyles spec.1 before planting. Scarifying (nicking or roughing the seed coat) seed greatly improves germination, and establishment time after planting. Walker (2005) found that mechanically scarified seed ranged in germination from 74 to 85 percent. Pitman (2009) used sandpaper to scarify powderpuff seed and had similar results. The average percent germination of unscarified seed was 14 while the scarified was 96. In both experiments, physically roughing the seed coat resulted in better seed germination than unscarified, chemical or heat treatments. If scarified seed is unavailable, plant in the fall, and allow seed to over winter in the soil." --USDA-NRCS Powderpuff Mimosa strigillosa

October 3, 2018 at 4pm I had used a sandpaper emery board on 12 of the seeds gathered from the seed pods. I picked up a Jiffy Windowsill Greenhouse seed starter kit to use.

Jiffy Windowsill Greenhouse - October 3, 2018

This is the first time I am trying this type of seed starter. It seemed pretty straightforward on the use. Open up the package as shown and then pour 1-1/4 cups of warm water into the tray. The peat pods will swell up.

Jiffy Windowsill Greenhouse Step 1 - October 3, 2018

You can see in the previous photo how the individual peat pods have swollen after absorbing the warm water.

Jiffy Windowsill Greenhouse Steps 2-3 - October 3, 2018

In the next step, you gently open the tops of the peat pods by pulling at the netting cover. For the following step, I used a metal bottle stopper with a pointed-edge to create seed holes about 1/4 inch deep. I carefully dropped only one scarified seed in each hole although the kit recommends 2-3 seeds. I then gently covered the hole with the peat.

Jiffy Windowsill Greenhouse Final Step - October 3, 2018

It's important to keep your kit covered as shown above. It should be kept out of direct sunlight. I placed mine on the kitchen sink near the outside window ... if I had enough room in the window base, I'd set it there. It is suggested that once you see a seedling that you should prop the cover open. And, once all seedlings have emerged, to remove the cover. You need to make sure you keep the peat pods moist. That's pretty much it ... now it is a waiting game to see if these seeds will sprout seedlings!! Hopeful.

EXPLODING SEED PODS

After witnessing many more of the ferociously opening SNAPPING seed pods, I started Googling to see WHY. First reference I found actually talked about exploding seed pods! about "the evolutionary innovation of a fruit wall that can store elastic energy through growth and expansion, and can rapidly release this energy at the right stage of development."

Exploded Seed Pod of the Pink Powder Puff - October 4, 2018

There are actually other plants that have the ability to shoot out their seeds! One plant has pods that can actually shoot out their seeds up to 50 feet! Boy, you have to be careful around these opening seed pods because you might lose an eye ... safety glasses recommended.

EXPLODED SEED PODS OF OCTOBER 4, 2018

It was a little earlier for me, in the afternoon of October 4, 2018, right around 3pm, when I was out in the shed tending to the seed pods. I had the white netting over them and could see that several had exploded open! At one time, the netting was actually askew from the ferocious nature of the exploding seed pods! I gingerly lifted the white netting cover and then SNAP!!! with such a force, a couple of the seeds pods opened and flew off the tray onto the shed floor. Holy smokes!

In the previous five photos, these were a handful of those seeds pods that fiercely opened or exploded as I was standing in the shed. Looking at each photo, you can see what seeds were still in the pod and indentations where the other seeds flew out. Pretty cool, eh??

HOW MANY PINK POWDER PUFF SEEDS?

Pink Powder Puff Seeds - Calliandra surinamensis - October 5, 2018

Take a look at the circular collection of pink powder puff seeds! I've lost a few into the shed floor, given a couple of the seed pods to neighbors, and still have a few to open. That could easily account for 40 more seeds. I planted 12 seeds in the Jiffy Windowsill Greenhouse. I also left many early opening seed pods on the plant ... no telling how many seeds got shot into the ground ... maybe 100 or so?

How many pink powder puff seeds to you think are in that circular collection? Overall, how many seeds do you think have been produced this year by my PPP plant? Hey, leave me a comment on your educated best guess! I'd love to hear from you.

Pink Powder Puff - Calliandra surinamensis - October 5, 2018 AM

Here is a morning shot of the Pink Powder Puff plant in my front yard garden! The late afternoon photos will show a more streamlined plant as the leaves seem to fold up for night fall. Pretty, isn't it?

PINK POWDER PUFF SEEDS - KNICKED

I've decided to try a second-go-around with 12 of the pink powder puff seeds. I had an empty pink egg carton available this morning. I grabbed my nail clipper and gingerly knicked or cut into the sides of the 12 seeds.

Pink Powder Puff Seeds Knicked - Calliandra surinamensis - October 5, 2018

Using organic potting mix, I filled the egg carton's twelve spaces. With the metal bottle stopper, I created little pockets in each of the soil-filled spaces. I dropped one knicked seed in each pocket and gently covered with soil.

Pink Powder Puff Seeds Knicked in Egg Carton - October 5, 2018

After thoroughly watering the soil until it was very moist, I covered the egg carton. I've labeled it with today's date and time initiated into the soil -- October 5, 2018 - 11:15am.

Pink Powder Puff Seeds Knicked in Covered Egg Carton - October 5, 2018 - 11:15am

To try and speed up the germination process, I have placed the covered egg carton on the outside lower step leading into my Florida Room. At the moment, it is getting some direct sunlight. I've also covered it with a dry dish rag. It should be out of the direct sunlight in maybe 1.5 hours. I will keep checking on it and move it into the shade if necessary!

UPDATE: Well, I hate to admit it, but I gave up on trying to grow the Pink Powder Puff inside. I have seen many a seedling popping up in my front yard garden ... I try to NOT pull them out, but let them be to see if another beautiful PPP might emerge.

MY ORIGINAL PINK POWDER PUFF

Julie Ann Brady - Pink Powder Puff - May 12, 2019

In the photo above, you can see a lot of growth on the edges which gave my PPP a drapey look. I decided to give it a bob haircut, so to speak.

Julie Ann Brady - Pink Powder Puff - May 15, 2019

My PPP weathered the bit of cold weather we had. I think there really wasn't a Winter to speak of in Leesburg Florida for the end of 2018 and beginning of 2019.

It is now March 2020! My PPP has had no issues with the previous Winter season spikes of cold weather. I can't tell you just how many times I have pruned the PPP to keep it contained within the space in the middle of my front yard. It has gotten so full and high that I need to use a rake to grab the projectiles for trimming. I have gotten so many compliments from neighbors passing by who marvel at the pretty pink powder puffs.

Julie Ann Brady - Pink Powder Puff - March 6, 2020

In the March 6, 2020 photo of my PPP you can see how it has taken on a heart-shape! That was not intentional but just sort of happened that way. I had trimmed the plant that morning and came inside to look out my kitchen window to take a photo. A heart is what I saw!!

Julie Ann Brady - Pink Powder Puff - March 13, 2020

One week later, on March 13, 2020, I climbed under the PPP and trimmed up about a foot and a half to clear growth from the base. It took a hand saw on a few of the tiny branches down below. I also pulled out the metal edging I had around the base that was put there to support the low-lying branches from lying on the ground.

Orange African Marigolds at 59 Inches

I love marigolds! I live in Florida and have a lot of direct sunlight. Marigolds are great blooming plants that are pretty reliable and love the full sunlight.

In March 2012, I planted a tray of yellow marigolds throughout my front flower bed. Then, I put 4 of the yellow marigolds in a large pot. It seemed like the next day that I received a promotion in the mail that included a package of marigold seeds. I added those to the middle of the circular flower pot, amongst the already blooming yellow marigolds.

Yellow Marigolds Blooming Heartily
Orange African Marigolds from Seed Just Erupting in the Center
Jacksonville, Florida : April 5, 2012

On April 5, 2012 I noticed that the orange African marigolds were beginning to emerge through the soil. If you look in the middle of the above picture, you can see little seedlings peeking through the soil.

Fast forward to July 27, 2012 and here are the orange African marigolds which were planted from seed. The bloom first started to open perhaps two days ago.

Orange African Marigolds at 39 Inches
Jacksonville, Florida : July 27, 2012

I was consulting the online almanac to determine the average size of marigolds. I learned there are some 50 species of marigold! That's amazing. It seems that most marigolds that we see are from three different species. One of those happens to be the Tagetes erecta which are reportedly the tallest of all marigolds coming in at three to five feet. The Tagetes erecta are sometimes referred to as African or American marigolds. Well, I'm pretty sure that I planted Tagetes erecta or African marigold seeds!

The online almanac provides a pretty comprehensive care and maintenance guide for the marigolds. I learned that I should have separated those seedlings when they were 2 inches tall. Marigolds not only love direct sunlight, but a fertile soil that is well-drained. In that pot I have a bottom area of sandy soil for drainage and added potting soil to the top portion.

Well, it's pretty amazing to see orange marigolds at 39 inches! I guess I never expected such a "large" plant from seeds. At first, I thought perhaps I was growing a tomato plant! How about that? Are you ready to try growing African Marigolds? Gosh, 200 seeds are just $1.85! Let me know if you've tried growing African Marigolds from seed. I'd love to see your pictures!

UPDATE:  Growth Alert! It is the "power of ten" - 10 inches!
Jacksonville, Florida October 17, 2012 - My Orange African Marigolds have grown even more! On October 17, 2012 I measured them once again.. They now have grown another 10 inches and are 59 inches tall!

Orange and Yellow African Marigolds at 59 Inches
Photographed at 10:30am on October 17, 2012

Jacksonville, Florida September 23, 2012 - My Orange African Marigolds have grown a bit! On September 23, 2012 I measured them. They now have grown another 10 inches and are 49 inches tall!

Orange and Yellow African Marigolds at 49 Inches
Photographed at 4:20pm on September 23, 2012

Jacksonville, Florida July 27, 2012 - My Orange African Marigolds have surely grown from those little seeds! On July 27, 2012 I measured them. They are officially 39 inches tall!

Not only do I have pretty spectacular Orange African Marigolds, but I now have Yellow African Marigolds mixed in! You can also see the regular Yellow Marigolds to the right. I think it is pretty incredible how these flowering beauties grew from little seeds. At 39 inches, I added a growing brace to stabilize the growing plant and keep it erect.