Here in Missouri, I struggled getting any seeds to grow. My seeds that I stored in an outside shed did not sprout. I had some seed pods on plants that are currently growing. I dug a hole next to the plant, opened the dried pod, sprinkled the seeds. All sprouted!! I did it again in a different location, all sprouted!! Going to keep planting!
If you are interested in growing milkweed, consider trying the Winter Sowing Method. I tried this for the first time this past winter (I'm near Toronto), planting milkweed seeds in November in a jug with moist potting soil. I left it outside through the winter, very low maintenance. I had about a 75% success rate, and was able to carefully transplant into the ground in June once the stalks were large enough, and they sprang right up from there - I even had a few monarch caterpillars show up! I wasn't expecting to see any the first year but I am thrilled.
Cool experiments! I tried my own with common and swamp milkweed in plastic baggies of water on heat mats under grow lights. I got sprouts within a week of both with more new sprouts daily for about another week. Not all seeds sprouted but I was thrilled with this and they are now growing in pots. Hoping they make it to Spring!
I have heard from others that it takes longer for milkweed seeds to germinate than one would think. Your data shows that the important thing is to just do it and see what happens. Thanks for sharing the experiment. It is fun to be in science class again Mr. Lund.
I'd be interested in knowing how the different seedlings fared once they went into the ground. I tried to grow Showy Milkweed a couple of years ago and thought, "Stratification? Meh. Too much hassle." So I put them straight into little peat pots, and yaay, nearly every one of them sprouted! And grew very fast. And tall, and spindly. And within a couple of weeks, even under a grow light, every seedling keeled over and died. Friendly guy at the nursery said that if I'd stratified them, they'd have grown more slowly, but the seedlings would have been sturdier, put down stronger roots, and likely survived. So this year I'll be following the directions exactly, which will involve putting the seeds in a damp soil mix and keeping them in the refrigerator (not the freezer) for a month. Hoping for better success, because ordering milkweed seeds is a LOT cheaper than the pre-grown plants!
Heat mats have been shown to increase germination rates, so I think you are on the right track with heat being an issue. I’m also wondering if higher stratification temperatures and moisture should be components you should consider? Like trying damp paper towels with seeds that are placed in a refrigerator instead of dry in a freezer? I watched some videos where people had high/fast germination success with that type of cold, moist stratification. I’m wondering how cold do the seeds have to get? Do they have to actually freeze? Love all your monarch and milkweed content! Thank you!
What I'm curious about is with the moist paper towel fridge stratification, when are those reporting success counting their first day of germination. For example, if I take seeds and keep them at room temperature, and put them on moist paper towel in a container, I'm counting that as Day 1 of the germination process. If a seed sprouts 20 days later, I'd say it took 20 days of germination. Now, if I take those same seeds and instead of keeping them at room temperature, I again put them on a moist paper towel in a container, but then put them in the fridge for two weeks, what am I counting as my first day of germination? If they are in the fridge for 14 days, and I take them out, and 6 days after that they sprout, that's still 20 days of being in contact with moist paper towel. Yet, some internet blogs may be reporting that if you cold stratify on moist paper towel for two weeks, you'll have seeds sprout after just 6 days of germination. In reality, the fridge may have had little to do with it, other than slightly slowing down the process as it's colder. It would take truly testing it out to see (and I'm tempted). Still, what I can say from an experiment which will be the next episode, I've had room temperature seeds sprout after just 6 days of soaking in water, but this was also outside (so about 80 degrees F on average), and seeds that were not cold stratified. Results are already interesting!
That’s a good question! I would say you need to count the start of germination on the day the seed came into contact with moisture. I’m starting a small farm and dealing with a lot of seeds and once they get wet there is no going back. None of the seeds I work with require cold stratification, so I’m still trying to figure out what works best for them. I also purchased a bunch of different types of wildflower seeds for the pollinators that all need cold stratification, so hopefully I can use this info to get those going too. If you stored your milkweed seeds over winter at room temperature (like I unfortunately did), I’m thinking that possibly combining the cold hardening with the start of germination could be considered a time saver as the hard outer shell of the seed hopefully would start breaking down while getting the required time in the cold. But are you thinking the cold is just not that important? I’ll be very interested to see that next post! I was wondering something similar with just the pure volume of seeds my plants produced last year. I’m lucky enough to have tons now so I can even give it away locally at my Monarch Waystation! 😀 I don’t need a super high percentage of germination really, but I would like it to be as quick and easy a process as I can make it. Thanks for taking the time to help educate all of us!
Okay, spoiler: As we'll see in the Seed Scarification experiment, I was able to get many non-cold stratified seeds that had been kept at room temperature throughout winter to sprout having gone from dry to soaking, in as quick as 5 days, the bulk, within 10 days. But these were 80F or above daytime outdoor temperatures. I'm very confident temperature is an important factor in the speed, and the warmer the better (up to a burning/crispy point, of course).
Hey Rich, I had trouble germinating any seeds that I stratified in the freezer this spring. I did however have great success with cold stratifying seeds on a moist paper towel in the fridge for 3.5 weeks. Almost ALL sprouting within a few days.
Hey Jake! A question I would want to follow up with is, in the moist paper towel cold stratification, while they were in the fridge, were they kept moist at all times? Reason I ask is that I consider germination to have started (or my attempt to germinate a seed) with when I begin giving it the chance to absorb water. I've also recently had some non-cold stratified seeds that were kept at room temperature sprout after only ten days of soaking in water for the germination technique. This summer has been all about the milkweed for me, and doing some back yard experiments. Next episode out will show a new germination technique, plus, what scarification of seeds is about, including an example of it and a non-example of it. Should be interesting. I think fridge germination is another avenue to explore, and one of the cool things about milkweed is that I can still certainly work with germination experiments even if snow starts hitting the ground.
@@MrLundScience I actually discovered the fridge stratification technique from a Facebook group I am in. The seeds remained moist the entire time they were in the fridge. I placed the paper towel & seeds in a plastic bag that I sealed shut. Not sure if this is the "best" method, but it certainly worked better than dry stratification in the freezer for me. I suppose the best success I had was from seeds I collected from pods in the spring, so they were exposed to natural conditions all fall and winter. Looking forward to more milkweed videos! I started raising monarchs last summer in Mt. Pleasant, MI and your videos were a super valuable resource.
Hello Mr. Lund (it’s always hard not to call a teacher by Mr. or Mrs./Miss) I am in my 2nd year of monarch raising and wanted to thank you for getting me into it. Having a blast down here in Fort Wayne Indiana. I will be tagging this year for the first time and wondered if you have gotten your tags from Monarch Watch yet. Keep up the awesome videos. They are very helpful and much enjoyed! Just ANOTHER guy trying to help out the butterflies. jg
Milkweed needs sunlight to germinate... I listened close but didn't hear you mention that. I planted stratified and non-stratified seeds. Both sets germinated within a few days with an extremely high success rate. I live in southeast Michigan.
Hey Lund, i sent a SASE to the Live Monarch Foundation, when i get the seeds, i'll probably do the TP role idea, wait for them to get mature enough to develop a root system.
Help. I live in Michigan and have common milkweed growing in sand on Lake Huron. I put milkweed seeds in damp sand and put in fridge since the Fall when I collected them. Are they ok or did I kill them? I was planning to plant in the ground after the frost. Thanks liz
A quick question: I have collected quite a few pods....they are dryed, brown and separated from the silk husk. Without harvesting in fall or germinating...can they stay, as his, in a brown bag....thank you so much ..
Rich, I'm having a bumper crop of Monarch caterpillars this season that they consumed every leaf of milkweed that I planted. I placed around 15 or so in a butterfly house but won't place anymore because there's no food for them. I don't want birds to eat them just wondering if in one of your posts you gave a info for a substitute food for caterpillars?
I'm not sure if this can help in time, but here is a video on artificial milkweed and what success I had with it. ua-cam.com/video/qBGliMU8GjE/v-deo.html But, it can take time to order and ship, and I have no idea what that supply chain is like during the pandemic. In a pinch, I know that there are people who have found that later instar caterpillars (4th and 5th) will sometimes feed from other types of vegetation, but there is plenty of controversy there. A concern is that it is a less healthy diet for them, which I agree upon. But another concern is that if you don't go with that option, they could starve, which is obviously less healthy, so I agree there too. It's a bit of a quagmire I will not be stepping in at this time, but, I can say that there is that information out there, just not with myself as the source. I hope this can help you in some way, but I suppose if I were in your shoes, I'd be driving around, trying to find some more milkweed in nature. I wish you luck!
Hiya so we got some butterfly’s and one of them can’t fly at all and he keeps falling on his back is that dangerous for him because if I’m in bed and he was on his back all night could he possibly die from that
My monarchs started puking...a lot. I don't understand why they are doing this. I read it could be pesticides but I called our village office and they said it is very unlikely that the field we are collecting from is spraying pesticides. Please help!
My caterpillars aren’t eating! They keep starving to death. I tried getting different milkweed nothing. I tried cleaning more. Nothing. My daughter even tried hand feeding them nothing. I hate seeing my daughter find deceased caterpillars almost everyday. I want to help these little guys! What can I do?
I suppose the question that comes to my mind, and perhaps I'm just uninformed about this, but what's the difference between "moist stratification" and starting the germination process? If we are moist stratifying, isn't that doing the same thing I do to start my germination process? If I take two containers with paper towel, put seeds in both, and spray both down with water to moisten it, and leave them on the counter, I'm germinating them, and thus, have started the germination process. But, rewind...if after closing the lids on the containers, I put one in the fridge and leave the other on the counter, do I have one container that is germinating at room temp and one that is germinating in the fridge, or, do I have one that is germinating at room temp and one that is moist cold stratifying? Do you see what I mean? What is moist stratification, other than refrigerated germination? I think the semantics might be getting us on this one.
@@MrLundScience I don't think moist stratification is refrigerated germination. The seed will never sprout in the fridge. I've seen recommendations for moist stratification anywhere from 2-6 weeks. The moist period is supposed to simulate the real world conditions the seed would experience following winter, then in the wet spring prior to warmer weather. Seeds don't germinate until they've reached the proper temps.
The first time I've tried raising monarchs, and I took in three. All of them went into Chrysalis form, but it's day 14 and none of them show any signs of emerging. Is this something that happens? Could you tell me most logical reasons they wouldn't emerge?
@MrLundScience I came across this article, any thoughts? phys.org/news/2020-08-monarchs-captivity-worse-migrating-wild.html This is my 3rd year rearing monarchs similar to your method, so wild caught eggs or instars, matured in captivity, then release. I have not kept any past late summer(metro detroit). I want to do more good than harm, have you heard anything more about the info stated in this article? Thanks. You're awesome!
When it comes to the new study, do you remember the previous year's study by the same authors? At any rate, I was in contact with one of those authors, Dr. Kronforst. At that time, he helped answer some questions of mine in the making of the following video: ua-cam.com/video/LjEgU0Ub5hY/v-deo.html That video shows an outdoor rearing set up that he said suitably mimics what they did to rear their wild Monarchs outdoors as well. And again, that was all last year. This new study doesn't really change much for us. But, just like last year, the science journalists who write the articles usually know only a passing amount of the science on a topic (hey, it'd be tough to know it all), and have been pretty sloppy, just like last year, in their wording. I read the entire study. Kronforst and Tenger-Trolander do a clear job throughout the paper of making the distinction between when they are talking about Monarchs that have been commercially bred, versus Monarchs that are eggs from the wild (wild sourced). And their warnings and concerns expressed throughout the paper are that the breeding of Monarchs can quickly erode some/most/enough of the genetic information for migratory orientation behavior as to avoid it. As for rearing wild sourced eggs, last year, the idea was based upon the evidence, "Try to rear them as outdoors as possible." This was because we didn't know *how much* of the outdoor cues they need for developing proper migratory behavior. What the new study shows us is that even rearing them in containers by an open window isn't enough. Thus, if they are migratory season butterflies, they should be reared in an outdoor set up. Unfortunately, many articles are now talking about this paper, and using quotes that are from the authors expressing concerns, but to shorten the quotes, leave out the full context of the paper and thus, leave out that the sharp concerns they had were really about breeding. Instead, you see an alarming quote from the scientist, and the science journalist continues the thought in the article, as if the quote was directed at rearing of any Monarch, be it bred or wild sourced. So, once again, it's a mess. What the bottom line we can get from this study is that if we are rearing Monarchs in outdoor set ups that mimic what was done in their study, this is now the second study that shows they will still be able to orientate properly. After all, in both studies now, the researchers have outdoor reared wild sourced Monarchs, AND shown that they have the behavior to orientate/migrate correctly. The only edit I would give to my update is that instead of saying "Try to rear outdoors as much as possible" for the migratory generation, it should now be "Rear that generation outdoors, or don't rear during that part of the season." Does all that make sense?
Here in Missouri, I struggled getting any seeds to grow. My seeds that I stored in an outside shed did not sprout.
I had some seed pods on plants that are currently growing. I dug a hole next to the plant, opened the dried pod, sprinkled the seeds. All sprouted!! I did it again in a different location, all sprouted!!
Going to keep planting!
If you are interested in growing milkweed, consider trying the Winter Sowing Method. I tried this for the first time this past winter (I'm near Toronto), planting milkweed seeds in November in a jug with moist potting soil. I left it outside through the winter, very low maintenance. I had about a 75% success rate, and was able to carefully transplant into the ground in June once the stalks were large enough, and they sprang right up from there - I even had a few monarch caterpillars show up! I wasn't expecting to see any the first year but I am thrilled.
Cool experiments! I tried my own with common and swamp milkweed in plastic baggies of water on heat mats under grow lights. I got sprouts within a week of both with more new sprouts daily for about another week. Not all seeds sprouted but I was thrilled with this and they are now growing in pots. Hoping they make it to Spring!
I have heard from others that it takes longer for milkweed seeds to germinate than one would think. Your data shows that the important thing is to just do it and see what happens. Thanks for sharing the experiment. It is fun to be in science class again Mr. Lund.
I'd be interested in knowing how the different seedlings fared once they went into the ground. I tried to grow Showy Milkweed a couple of years ago and thought, "Stratification? Meh. Too much hassle." So I put them straight into little peat pots, and yaay, nearly every one of them sprouted! And grew very fast. And tall, and spindly. And within a couple of weeks, even under a grow light, every seedling keeled over and died. Friendly guy at the nursery said that if I'd stratified them, they'd have grown more slowly, but the seedlings would have been sturdier, put down stronger roots, and likely survived. So this year I'll be following the directions exactly, which will involve putting the seeds in a damp soil mix and keeping them in the refrigerator (not the freezer) for a month. Hoping for better success, because ordering milkweed seeds is a LOT cheaper than the pre-grown plants!
Freezer? Every other place says frig Getting ready to do this on Jan 1 and looking for confirmation. Thanks dude.!
Heat mats have been shown to increase germination rates, so I think you are on the right track with heat being an issue. I’m also wondering if higher stratification temperatures and moisture should be components you should consider? Like trying damp paper towels with seeds that are placed in a refrigerator instead of dry in a freezer? I watched some videos where people had high/fast germination success with that type of cold, moist stratification. I’m wondering how cold do the seeds have to get? Do they have to actually freeze? Love all your monarch and milkweed content! Thank you!
What I'm curious about is with the moist paper towel fridge stratification, when are those reporting success counting their first day of germination. For example, if I take seeds and keep them at room temperature, and put them on moist paper towel in a container, I'm counting that as Day 1 of the germination process. If a seed sprouts 20 days later, I'd say it took 20 days of germination. Now, if I take those same seeds and instead of keeping them at room temperature, I again put them on a moist paper towel in a container, but then put them in the fridge for two weeks, what am I counting as my first day of germination? If they are in the fridge for 14 days, and I take them out, and 6 days after that they sprout, that's still 20 days of being in contact with moist paper towel. Yet, some internet blogs may be reporting that if you cold stratify on moist paper towel for two weeks, you'll have seeds sprout after just 6 days of germination. In reality, the fridge may have had little to do with it, other than slightly slowing down the process as it's colder. It would take truly testing it out to see (and I'm tempted). Still, what I can say from an experiment which will be the next episode, I've had room temperature seeds sprout after just 6 days of soaking in water, but this was also outside (so about 80 degrees F on average), and seeds that were not cold stratified. Results are already interesting!
That’s a good question! I would say you need to count the start of germination on the day the seed came into contact with moisture. I’m starting a small farm and dealing with a lot of seeds and once they get wet there is no going back. None of the seeds I work with require cold stratification, so I’m still trying to figure out what works best for them. I also purchased a bunch of different types of wildflower seeds for the pollinators that all need cold stratification, so hopefully I can use this info to get those going too. If you stored your milkweed seeds over winter at room temperature (like I unfortunately did), I’m thinking that possibly combining the cold hardening with the start of germination could be considered a time saver as the hard outer shell of the seed hopefully would start breaking down while getting the required time in the cold. But are you thinking the cold is just not that important? I’ll be very interested to see that next post! I was wondering something similar with just the pure volume of seeds my plants produced last year. I’m lucky enough to have tons now so I can even give it away locally at my Monarch Waystation! 😀 I don’t need a super high percentage of germination really, but I would like it to be as quick and easy a process as I can make it. Thanks for taking the time to help educate all of us!
Okay, spoiler: As we'll see in the Seed Scarification experiment, I was able to get many non-cold stratified seeds that had been kept at room temperature throughout winter to sprout having gone from dry to soaking, in as quick as 5 days, the bulk, within 10 days. But these were 80F or above daytime outdoor temperatures. I'm very confident temperature is an important factor in the speed, and the warmer the better (up to a burning/crispy point, of course).
Just great! Thanks for the INFO👍👍👍
Cool shirt. 😊
Hey Rich, I had trouble germinating any seeds that I stratified in the freezer this spring. I did however have great success with cold stratifying seeds on a moist paper towel in the fridge for 3.5 weeks. Almost ALL sprouting within a few days.
Hey Jake! A question I would want to follow up with is, in the moist paper towel cold stratification, while they were in the fridge, were they kept moist at all times? Reason I ask is that I consider germination to have started (or my attempt to germinate a seed) with when I begin giving it the chance to absorb water. I've also recently had some non-cold stratified seeds that were kept at room temperature sprout after only ten days of soaking in water for the germination technique. This summer has been all about the milkweed for me, and doing some back yard experiments. Next episode out will show a new germination technique, plus, what scarification of seeds is about, including an example of it and a non-example of it. Should be interesting. I think fridge germination is another avenue to explore, and one of the cool things about milkweed is that I can still certainly work with germination experiments even if snow starts hitting the ground.
@@MrLundScience I actually discovered the fridge stratification technique from a Facebook group I am in. The seeds remained moist the entire time they were in the fridge. I placed the paper towel & seeds in a plastic bag that I sealed shut. Not sure if this is the "best" method, but it certainly worked better than dry stratification in the freezer for me. I suppose the best success I had was from seeds I collected from pods in the spring, so they were exposed to natural conditions all fall and winter. Looking forward to more milkweed videos! I started raising monarchs last summer in Mt. Pleasant, MI and your videos were a super valuable resource.
Well, now you have inspired me to do some experiment of my own 🤔
Hello Mr. Lund (it’s always hard not to call a teacher by Mr. or Mrs./Miss)
I am in my 2nd year of monarch raising and wanted to thank you for getting me into it. Having a blast down here in Fort Wayne Indiana. I will be tagging this year for the first time and wondered if you have gotten your tags from Monarch Watch yet.
Keep up the awesome videos. They are very helpful and much enjoyed!
Just ANOTHER guy trying to help out the butterflies.
jg
Milkweed needs sunlight to germinate... I listened close but didn't hear you mention that.
I planted stratified and non-stratified seeds. Both sets germinated within a few days with an extremely high success rate. I live in southeast Michigan.
I’m raising a monarch 5th instar caterpillar right now almost to chrysalis
Very cool! Excited for you, for sure!
MrLundScience I will show you them later
@@fangzilla3367 mine have olredy turned into chrisalia
MrLundScience and plus on your raising monarchs part 4 Chrysalis What was that music that played when they were going into the Chrysalis
Great content, quality! I had to sub, 😉
Hey Lund, i sent a SASE to the Live Monarch Foundation, when i get the seeds, i'll probably do the TP role idea, wait for them to get mature enough to develop a root system.
Help. I live in Michigan and have common milkweed growing in sand on Lake Huron. I put milkweed seeds in damp sand and put in fridge since the Fall when I collected them. Are they ok or did I kill them? I was planning to plant in the ground after the frost. Thanks liz
Hello, I would like to know how the OE virus that kills the monarch caterpillars arrives, please help
A quick question: I have collected quite a few pods....they are dryed, brown and separated from the silk husk. Without harvesting in fall or germinating...can they stay, as his, in a brown bag....thank you so much ..
Rich, I'm having a bumper crop of Monarch caterpillars this season that they consumed every leaf of milkweed that I planted. I placed around 15 or so in a butterfly house but won't place anymore because there's no food for them. I don't want birds to eat them just wondering if in one of your posts you gave a info for a substitute food for caterpillars?
I'm not sure if this can help in time, but here is a video on artificial milkweed and what success I had with it.
ua-cam.com/video/qBGliMU8GjE/v-deo.html
But, it can take time to order and ship, and I have no idea what that supply chain is like during the pandemic. In a pinch, I know that there are people who have found that later instar caterpillars (4th and 5th) will sometimes feed from other types of vegetation, but there is plenty of controversy there. A concern is that it is a less healthy diet for them, which I agree upon. But another concern is that if you don't go with that option, they could starve, which is obviously less healthy, so I agree there too. It's a bit of a quagmire I will not be stepping in at this time, but, I can say that there is that information out there, just not with myself as the source. I hope this can help you in some way, but I suppose if I were in your shoes, I'd be driving around, trying to find some more milkweed in nature. I wish you luck!
Hiya so we got some butterfly’s and one of them can’t fly at all and he keeps falling on his back is that dangerous for him because if I’m in bed and he was on his back all night could he possibly die from that
My monarchs started puking...a lot. I don't understand why they are doing this. I read it could be pesticides but I called our village office and they said it is very unlikely that the field we are collecting from is spraying pesticides. Please help!
My caterpillars aren’t eating! They keep starving to death. I tried getting different milkweed nothing. I tried cleaning more. Nothing. My daughter even tried hand feeding them nothing. I hate seeing my daughter find deceased caterpillars almost everyday. I want to help these little guys! What can I do?
I've been told, 1. Refrigerator not freezer. 2. Moist stratification, not dry. 3. Heat germinating seeds to 80 degrees
I suppose the question that comes to my mind, and perhaps I'm just uninformed about this, but what's the difference between "moist stratification" and starting the germination process? If we are moist stratifying, isn't that doing the same thing I do to start my germination process? If I take two containers with paper towel, put seeds in both, and spray both down with water to moisten it, and leave them on the counter, I'm germinating them, and thus, have started the germination process. But, rewind...if after closing the lids on the containers, I put one in the fridge and leave the other on the counter, do I have one container that is germinating at room temp and one that is germinating in the fridge, or, do I have one that is germinating at room temp and one that is moist cold stratifying? Do you see what I mean? What is moist stratification, other than refrigerated germination? I think the semantics might be getting us on this one.
Perhaps, but freezing can kill some of the "germs". And I've noted that germinating at ~80 degrees is very helpful.
@@MrLundScience I don't think moist stratification is refrigerated germination. The seed will never sprout in the fridge. I've seen recommendations for moist stratification anywhere from 2-6 weeks. The moist period is supposed to simulate the real world conditions the seed would experience following winter, then in the wet spring prior to warmer weather. Seeds don't germinate until they've reached the proper temps.
The first time I've tried raising monarchs, and I took in three. All of them went into Chrysalis form, but it's day 14 and none of them show any signs of emerging. Is this something that happens? Could you tell me most logical reasons they wouldn't emerge?
@MrLundScience I came across this article, any thoughts? phys.org/news/2020-08-monarchs-captivity-worse-migrating-wild.html
This is my 3rd year rearing monarchs similar to your method, so wild caught eggs or instars, matured in captivity, then release. I have not kept any past late summer(metro detroit). I want to do more good than harm, have you heard anything more about the info stated in this article? Thanks. You're awesome!
When it comes to the new study, do you remember the previous year's study by the same authors? At any rate, I was in contact with one of those authors, Dr. Kronforst. At that time, he helped answer some questions of mine in the making of the following video: ua-cam.com/video/LjEgU0Ub5hY/v-deo.html
That video shows an outdoor rearing set up that he said suitably mimics what they did to rear their wild Monarchs outdoors as well. And again, that was all last year.
This new study doesn't really change much for us. But, just like last year, the science journalists who write the articles usually know only a passing amount of the science on a topic (hey, it'd be tough to know it all), and have been pretty sloppy, just like last year, in their wording. I read the entire study. Kronforst and Tenger-Trolander do a clear job throughout the paper of making the distinction between when they are talking about Monarchs that have been commercially bred, versus Monarchs that are eggs from the wild (wild sourced). And their warnings and concerns expressed throughout the paper are that the breeding of Monarchs can quickly erode some/most/enough of the genetic information for migratory orientation behavior as to avoid it. As for rearing wild sourced eggs, last year, the idea was based upon the evidence, "Try to rear them as outdoors as possible." This was because we didn't know *how much* of the outdoor cues they need for developing proper migratory behavior. What the new study shows us is that even rearing them in containers by an open window isn't enough. Thus, if they are migratory season butterflies, they should be reared in an outdoor set up. Unfortunately, many articles are now talking about this paper, and using quotes that are from the authors expressing concerns, but to shorten the quotes, leave out the full context of the paper and thus, leave out that the sharp concerns they had were really about breeding. Instead, you see an alarming quote from the scientist, and the science journalist continues the thought in the article, as if the quote was directed at rearing of any Monarch, be it bred or wild sourced. So, once again, it's a mess.
What the bottom line we can get from this study is that if we are rearing Monarchs in outdoor set ups that mimic what was done in their study, this is now the second study that shows they will still be able to orientate properly. After all, in both studies now, the researchers have outdoor reared wild sourced Monarchs, AND shown that they have the behavior to orientate/migrate correctly. The only edit I would give to my update is that instead of saying "Try to rear outdoors as much as possible" for the migratory generation, it should now be "Rear that generation outdoors, or don't rear during that part of the season." Does all that make sense?
I now have a super strong urge to know what is in your freezer. 🤔
David S David, he probably doesn't have anyone you know in his freezer. Lol
Is that more of a comment on assessing what kind of person I am...or a comment on how large David S's social circle is?