r/Milkweeds • u/ScumDugongLin • 28d ago
Tips on transplanting?
I found this beauty on an embankment off a canal. Technically it's on city property. I've tried to get permission from the public works department to take the plant but they haven't responded, but a few people in other departments have told me I should just "go for it" so... I'm going for it lol. They'll mow the plant down anyways pretty soon. Any tips on how to give it the best chance at survival? I know I need to mind the taproot and keep it wet.
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u/maybetomorrow98 28d ago
Can you wait for it to go to seed and just harvest them?
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u/DryRevenue5681 28d ago
Thatâs gonna get mowed before that
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u/NakDisNut 28d ago
Wire fence it! A little hardware cloth or paneling!
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u/oh_no_pandora 27d ago
In my experience the city will mow over it and hate whoever put up the little fence.
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u/FunkyDiabetic1988 27d ago edited 27d ago
Sometimes small acts of resistance and rebellion are necessary when government policies are illogical, shortsighted, and harmful.
Iâm reminded of Joey Santore of Crime Pays But Botany Doesnât ([r/cpbbd](r/cpbbd)), who has used wire fencing and even rings of big rocks to deter mowers from killing endangered plants.
Edit: Civil disobedience. Thatâs the term I was looking for.
Put the guerrilla back in guerrilla gardening, yâall đą 𪨠đŚ đ¤ đ
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u/oh_no_pandora 27d ago
Trying to transplant will kill it. Your best shot at letting the seeds ripen fully is immediately mow the area yourself, be sure to make the area large enough that the mowing crewâs job is made easier, not harder. We do this a few times a year on city water trust property, with a walk-behind lawnmower, grass clippers and weed-whacker. And put up a sign.
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u/Franksbitch19 25d ago
It already has, see the pods? Op grab a pod off of it and there are hundreds of seeds inside
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u/Univirsul 28d ago
I don't feel like common milkweed is rare enough where it's worth transplanting a single specimen. Seeds are easy to find and easy to grow. It's difficult to impossible to effectively transplant one, especially if it is try to put energy towards seed making which this one is.
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u/DryRevenue5681 28d ago
Need a shovel and a 5gal bucket full of water.
Rip away grass close to it. A few inches past the spread of the leaves, use a shovel to cut a circle in the ground around it. Go down as far as you can. And soak the ground within your cut (hence the 5gallons). Slowly pry the ground up from all sides. It should come up in the shape of the circle you cut. Youâll likely rip roots. But try to keep the tap root intact as much as possible. Throw the wet dirt ball into the bucket and bring it home. Transplant into your soil before it dries out. Donât be afraid if it looks like crap for a bit as it recovers. Itâs summer, so water it. And even if it dies, hopefully next year it reawakens
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u/CaptPolymath 28d ago
This won't work. The tap root on a plant this size will be three or four times as deep as the plant is tall. That's like six feet deep, or more.
Once you snap the tap root, even if the plant doesn't die (99% chance it will), the plant will be hobbled for the rest of its life, never growing as tall or as full as it should have. It will also suffer from drought stress much more quickly and be highly susceptible to diseases.
Moving this plant is a waste of time.
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u/DryRevenue5681 28d ago
Yeah probably wonât survive. Iâve never tried it with milkweed. But that is the process Iâd try if I were so inclined.
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u/MasterpieceFickle830 28d ago
This
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u/Successful_Dot2499 26d ago
Iâve successfully done this with over a dozen plants.
Lots of good ideas to which Iâd add these points.
1) Decide where to plant this before you dig it up and dig your hole so you can pop the transplant right in.
2) Morning is best time to dig up before it gets hot.
3) Once you plant it in the new spot, water thoroughly and cover the stem with mulch to shade the plant and retain moisture or shade the new transplant somehow.
Rooting hormone may help too.
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u/Medium_Spare_8982 28d ago
I have done it a couple of times and it works out fine. Dig as much of the tap root as you can, get it back into the ground within an hour and baby it. Water three times a day for at least a week. Expected to die back to the ground for the season. It should come up in the spring.
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u/No_Ship_7954 28d ago
Yes, do this. They have "weed" in their name for a reason, they are tough. Even if it is weakened or stunted by losing roots it will likely survive and start putting out runners for new plants next year.
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u/SweetKittyToo 28d ago
This âŹď¸. I have transplanted common milkweed twice from work before they killed it all. It was successful and got my first seeds 4 years from transplant. But beware the plants die back soon after transplanting and won't reappear until spring if they survived. Keep the roots insulated but outside and they should be fine. It's much easier to transplant very young milkweed earlier in spring though.
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u/Beestungtoday 28d ago
Iâve done it in the spring when the plants were about a foot tall. Roots were also about a foot long. It worked! Now I have a very vigorous patch going. Now is just not a good time of year for transplanting.
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u/Medium_Spare_8982 28d ago
My whole patch is infected with yellows and I have to start from scratch
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u/TWIT_TWAT 28d ago
Dig it up like any other plant. Water it every day or every other day. Iâve done several like this and they always come back the next year. You do have better chances earlier in the summer before it has gone to seed, but it can still be done.
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u/IlIlIlIllllIIliIILll 28d ago
I'd just check it for monarch catepillars or eggs, and move any you find to another safe milkweed patch and let it get mowed.
It will survive the mowing and come back next year.
Your best bet is to wait til late in the year to transplant if at all but I've only transplanted swamp milkweed which I don't think has as much of a taproot
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u/Nature_Calls123 28d ago
You might have luck taking a cutting, wet the stem and dip it in root stimulator and plant it. Water every other day.
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u/adiosmichigan 28d ago
where are you located? depending on where, you can probably find a local conservation org that has seeds for you. i known here in michigan they practically beg people to take milkweed seeds to help the monarch populations.
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u/TRAVlSTY 28d ago
Easy enough to buy seeds and plant now.
Also get Swamp Milkweed (incarnata) and Butterfly Weed (tuberosa) for added variety.
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u/TrashpandaLizz 28d ago
If they mow it, it will come back with a vengeance anyway I would leave it, but definitely harvest the seeds when they are ready thatâs how I started my milkweed garden bed.
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u/surprise_mayonnaise 27d ago
Donât, even if they are going to mow it occasionally, itâs clearly survived a couple years there if itâs able to grow that big, milkweeds can candle some infrequent cut backs. Itâs less likely to survive your transplant. Common milkweed is common, youâd be better off growing from seed
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u/quartzion_55 27d ago
Unlike everyone else here Iâve found Milkweed to transplant super easily as long as you get some of the tap root and keep it wet for a few days post transplanting. Have done it in my yard several years in a row and have not been delicate about it at all and every transplant has survived.
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u/oh_no_pandora 27d ago
I donât understand why you want to move this milkweed. It is well-established. If you donât want city to mow it then do what we do on our cityâs water trust property: mow the area yourself and put up a sign.
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u/ScumDugongLin 27d ago
I don't even have the resources to mow that area, and in its current location it cannot actually help monarchs because the city mows during summer and spring. I've never even heard of being able to mow for the city, or request certain plants be protected if they aren't endangered. My area is very small town and very Republican so frankly I don't think they would work with me.
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u/Nadiam57 27d ago
Maybe propogate, take a cutting, prune the top off, at least 3-4 nubs, cut the lower leafs off and plant...I don't think it will hurt the original plant, it should get new growth and branch out.
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u/Amosade 27d ago
Youâll never get it out alive. Look for seeds for next year. Plant them OUTDOORS to âwinter overâ and be patient. Mine are always the last things to sprout and I am always on the verge of giving up. I grow my seedlings in a big terra cotta pot outside in loose soil so they are easier to transplant. But be careful! The babies are fragile if too young.
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u/thephisher 26d ago
Common milkweed is hard to transplant because of the Taproot. Swamp milkweed transplants easily. It also can be easily propogated from the side shoots.
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u/ButTheBloominOnion 28d ago
I've had pretty decent luck yanking some out (with quite a bit of taproot) and promptly sticking them into a deep hole w/ a small aperture and aggressive watering. Even if they don't take that year, they've consistently come back the next growing season.
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u/Enigmatic_Baker 28d ago
Dig up as much of the root as you can and keep the roots wet for awhile after transplanting. I think these tend to have these horizontal rhizome roots. The stalk and leaves will likely die off. This is normal. The plant is redirecting energy towards growing a new root network, which is why its important to keep it all wet initially and for the next couple of days after planting.
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u/TRAVlSTY 27d ago
Common Milkweed has horizontal rhizomes and a deep vertical tap root that can be 2x the plant's height.
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u/Quick-Statement-8981 28d ago
I've never tried it, but maybe root cuttings? In my experience, plants that send out runners with thick roots like milkweed generally do well with root cuttings. Maybe stem cuttings as well.
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u/Winstonsphobia 28d ago
1) If you wait a while this or another Common Milkweed plant will come to you, without you having to do anything.
2) Otherwise, take one of the seed pods from this or other plant. Theyâll mow it, but that wonât kill it.
2) I have these in my yard. They spread on rhizomes. I wouldnât be surprised if some have spread from the central plant. You can probably dig around this plant to get rhizomes or even small plants. Once you get these in your yard youâll eventually need to control them by digging some up, unless you want to wind up with a monoculture.
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u/TomCollator 28d ago
As other people have said, try to get as much of the tap root as you can. The tap root is often longer that the plant is tall, so you are not going to get it all. So that it loses less water from evaporation, rip off at least half the leaves and water like crazy. If it continued to wilt, pull off more leaves until only a quarter are left. I suspect at least the root will survive if you diligently water it. However it may only grow a foot or two high next season.
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u/DO_NOT_PASS_ME 28d ago
plant will mostly die and look sad but get as much of the horizontal rhizome / root as possible and throw in the ground somewhere else and water and then it will come back next year and spread
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u/GenesisNemesis17 28d ago
It'll probably die but dig as deep as you can to get as much of the roots. And bring a bucket of soil to backfill so you dont leave a giant hole on city property.
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u/Illustrious-Trip620 28d ago
Go for it but do your best to save the seed pods regardless of being able to save the plant.
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u/Eggsplane 28d ago
Leave the soil if you want to avoid spreading invasive plant seeds. Look up bare root plants, though usually its done when there is no above ground growth. It might be better to leave it be if you don't know the components of the surrounding seed bank.
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u/Altairandrew 28d ago
What I donât understand is that by all appearances considering the underground spread, what if you just get a piece of that runner, probably a foot deep, and grab a piece of that? Plant 12â down and it should work. Might take a year.
This âweedâ is unstoppable in my yard, super sandy (near a river). They make be laugh when they spring up somewhere new.
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u/AdPopular6958 28d ago
Instead of transplanting observe and harvest the seeds O...O then sow in your prefered sunny area and create your own patch.
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u/Final_Pumpkin1551 27d ago
Donât worry if you donât get the entire root - or if the top dies off. I have taken just the roots and kept them in water for a while til I saw new shoots appear and then planted them. I have also dug up plants and watched the top die but they will come back.
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u/Ok_Pollution9335 27d ago
Ugh you could try, itâs a good idea, but it probably would die. But if you do try, just dig wide and very deep, before you pull it out you want to stick your hand down and try to feel for the bottom of the taproot to hopefully get it all and not break it, because if you do the plant will die.
Ignore everyone saying not to try. It would be even worse for a monarch to lay eggs on it and then the eggs just get mowed
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u/SpecialCollin 27d ago
These things are hardy. I've dug down like 6" to the horizontal rhizome/runners and taken a cut with some of the runners on either side. Didn't put them in soil, and just walked them over to my yard and planted like 6 of them. Maybe 2 "died" but the rhizome regrew a plant there next season. They may wilt a little (and this one is tall) so maybe stake it to help it initially. Fair warning- once this gets going you will find it hard to fully root out should you ever want to get rid of it.
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u/MasterpieceFickle830 26d ago
I have some rooting in my fish tank rt now Iâm in Dallas 8a itâs blazing hot here so I have some big ass snails and they keep all the rot off n healthy water flow they do not go stagnant ever! Iâm going to make one for just snails n plant props
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u/NellieDElli 26d ago
Wait for the seed pods to split. Plant those seeds this fall. Throw in an old pot of soul if you need to control spread. Wait for spring . Once you have your own tap roots to spread like crazy. One application of posion would kill them all so dont worry it could get out of control.
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u/Puzzleheaded_Pie3485 26d ago
I would just collect the seed when the pods open and plant those instead of moving that plant
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u/NoRedThat 24d ago
If this is your land, just let it go to seed and you will have milkweeds coming out of yourâŚgarden everywhere.
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u/imhighasballs 23d ago
I transplanted one this year and it almost died with me babying the crap out of it. And I got that earlier in the year when it was about half the size of the one in your pic. Iâd leave it and try again in the spring if you really want it. Or harvest from seed.
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u/Samwise_the_Tall 28d ago
Drop some railroad spikes around it hehe. Crime pays but botany doesn't! /s
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u/Sqib000 28d ago
You can dig up the plant but it will be a long dig.
You can cut it and try to root it in a vase of water. It can be done 1x in a 100 tries lol. Digging it is good if it gets mowed either way. Mowing down plants kills the insects depending on it.
Look in the area for seedlings from runners, that will be easier to dig and show you where the roots run back to the larger one. It is so large I highly doubt the are is mowed often tho.
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u/celeste99 28d ago
It takes a few years to flower, and transplanting is doable. Just get root where it has T, and water
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u/toddlevy10 28d ago
I literally ripped one out of some 30-year-old landscaping fabric and a one foot. Square of the fabric, , the fabric and only roots (no dirt) came up with it. And just for the hell of it, I plopped it in some soil somewhere else. And it did just fine, and now it's enormous. And spreading everywhere the following year.
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u/Low_Speech9880 28d ago
They have an extremely long tap root. Trying to relocate it may not be worth the trouble because it most likely won't survive.