We receive many requests throughout the year about raising healthier swan plants. I have been picking the brains of some of our horticulturists – although not many profess to be experts on boring old swan plants! If swan plants were roses or popular food crops, no doubt there would have been in depth analysis of the diseases that affect them. But they’re not. So while we monarch lovers can’t identify many of the issues affecting the plants we can at least do what is within our power to raise healthier plants.
If you are starting out encouraging monarch butterflies you will find that most of the plants available in the spring in garden centres are “seedlings”, about 15-30cm tall. There is nothing wrong with that – but do not think these are fully grown swan plants. The seedlings have been started by commercial nurseries over the winter and into the spring and kept protected from aphids and monarch butterflies so they are in great condition when they go on sale. Quite probably insecticides or fungicides have been used in their production.
A large, fully-grown swan plant could be 2 metres tall or even more and having them established before the monarchs return from overwintering is a huge boon. So as you buy or grow your plants, think about them for next year and subsequent years.
In many parts of the country, it is possible to raise swan plants which will last for two or three years. In cooler areas you could try them on the sunny side of the house, under the eaves, but you might need to offer protection from frosts or snow of course. And you could try getting Asclepias incarnata established. This is very successful in colder areas as the shoots appear soon after winter weather retreats, and grow much quicker than any swan plant seedling. It establishes with an underground root system and the patch will get bigger each year.
Here in Auckland, and towards the end of the season I take stock of my swan plants and remove any that do not look healthy: actually, I do this throughout the season, putting branches inside the butterfly house so that the leaves are eaten before I dispose of the bare branches. I do not compost them if I think they may have a plant disease. (A plant disease will not affect the caterpillars but could spread to other plants of course).
I am not well disciplined enough to sow from seed but depend on a very good friend to provide me with seedlings. However, check out the method Gus Evans uses in his guest editorial in the blog. There is no right or wrong way.
And here is a very useful leaflet from Yates about growing swan plants from seed.
Once I have seedlings, I ensure they get a good feed of Nitrogen once a week and I only repot them when there are roots coming out the bottom of the pot. Remember, swan plants are weeds or wildflowers and have not been fussed over or improved by plant breeders over the years, so you should not fuss over them either. There are different ways you can give them Nitrogen. Nitrogen encourages healthy leaf growth.
You could try Tui® Nitrophoska-K or Yates® Thrive Natural Fish and Seaweed, a concentrated plant food. Or sheep pellets, blood meal, diluted human urine (10:1), compost tea, seaweed tea, worm wee. Worm wee makes soil far richer than it could ever be on its own. I have heard that worm castings have five times more nitrogen than regular soil! Unlike chemical fertilisers worm tea will never burn plant roots, no matter how much is applied. If you have access to comfrey or Tithonia diversifolia, these leaves are also rich in nitrogen.
As your swan plants grow it is absolutely natural that the older leaves go yellow and drop off. You will also notice that the stem gets thicker and taller… and there are new leaves at the top. It is fascinating watching the plants grow. When they are about 20cm or so, you might want to pinch out the top of the plant. This will mean that two lateral stems will start growing out at angles, so your plant has just become twice as productive. After those laterals are 10-15cm, you might want to repeat the exercise. Now your plant will provide four times as much food for caterpillars. There is a video on our YouTube channel with some more tips for swan plants as well.
If you see curled leaves or leaves with black spot you can remove them. Do not compost these as you run the risk of spreading fungus or bacteria spores to other plants or into the soil. Diseases can be spread by ants, aphids and passionvine leafhoppers, so control these pests. In ongoing humid weather the problems become exacerbated.
Spots on stems and leaves can be a symptom of a fungal disease. Get in early to start controlling it on young plants. A copper fungicide will kill bacteria on contact. Yates® Liquid Copper is an easy to use, broad-spectrum copper fungicide and bactericide. Check that other copper products are not mixed with an insecticide.
Spray the plants before the monarchs return from overwintering and your plants should stay healthy throughout the season.
You might have heard of the monarch disease referred to as Oe (short for Ophryocystis elektroscirrha) which is carried by female monarch butterflies. As she lays eggs, if she is infected, she will also leave behind spores of Oe on the egg shell. When the caterpillar eats his way out of the egg it will be infected.
The disease can become most apparent when monarchs are raised in cluttered or unhygienic conditions as the disease has a chance to spread. The result will be sick and dying caterpillars, butterflies that struggle to eclose or malformed butterflies.
If you suspect your plant is carrying Oe, left behind by monarchs on the leaves, or other plant diseases, you can spray them with a bleach solution of 1 part of bleach to 19 parts of water. Ensure you buy regular bleach (not with other ingredients such as lemon) and wash the bleach solution off the plant with fresh water after ten minutes.
If you have plants in pots you will need to water them. But in the garden, always water at the base of the plants and invest in sustainable practices to ensure you minimise the need for water. This is not only good for your garden but good for the environment too. I recently watched an excellent series on the soil food web, restoring nature to the soil and highly recommend it so you can understand sustainability in your garden..
Yellowing leaves further up the plant, or stunted growth can be a sign of nitrogen deficiency so keep up the regime of feeding your plants. Do not expect all of your plants to thrive, but if you follow the above ideas you should have more successful swan plants. And feel free to add comments below with your own ideas. As I said, there is no right or wrong way. What will work for me may not work for you. But it is great to learn what others do.
Also, have you checked out the video on YouTube with tips for getting more out of your swan plants?
Hi Julie...have run out of feed for caterpillars.....in Pukekohe area...can u help please?
Hi Vicki - it's hard to find that perfect balance, isn't it? We set up this page just for this purpose:
https://www.facebook.com/groups/555495469912553
Hi Jacqui, we have three swan plants about 50cm tall, they’ve been outside in pots for a month and not one monarch caterpillar yet, lots of eggs but the seem to die once hatched. We found some caterpillars on a couple tiny plants and moved them to our bigger ones and they all died within hours. Thinking maybe the plants are contaminated with pesticide (they came from mite10), is there a way we can clean the plants? Any advice would be hugely appreciated, our five year old caterpillar enthusiast is beyond upset.
Hello Cleo - that's no good. 🙁 Two things - I would suggest that you wash the plants well with the spray on a hose (hope you're not in Wellington). It's hard to know if the plants have been sprayed - or what with, or how long it will last. If you use Facebook, you might like to leave a message on the group we set up called "MonarchMatchmaker" in case there's someone local who has pesticide-free plants nearby. And if you're in Auckland, I have some here which are caterpillar friendly as well - I'm in Blockhouse Bay.
Hello Jacqui - (feel I should know, apologies if we've met) I have a self sown 2 yr old 2.6mtr high swan plant growing out of concrete (3mm gap between garage & footpath) in Northland. 14 pods yr 1, 86+ yr 2. Been a constant battle with an ant colony collecting flower nectar & biting monarchs feet as soon as they land. Wasps get the fly swat & praying mantis allowed to stay hopefully eating the ants I miss.
Plants west facing & cops a bit of wind so have tied center trunk to stabilise.
Not a gardener nor particular butterfly fancier even if the one I rescued from an adjacent web followed me around all afternoon.
Atm monarchs are laying & caterpillars are falling off/abandoning the plant. I suspect because of poor leaf condition.
A question please.. As the plant is so high it's edible leaves are sparse with excessive yellow leaf fall. Have just upped watering in early Feb heat but the red spot on the leaves has me beat. Red spot/ red tip/red bands. Bright rust red colour. Any idea what this red spot is please?
Many of my plants have this condition and the only thing I do is continue to keep them well-watered (pots) or mulched (garden) and fed well. The ones in pots get regular doses of Nitro-Phos-K from Kings Plant Barns or other good garden stores and hardware outlets. Or you could use a home-made compost of course.
As your plants get older the new growth becomes old, stems become branches, branches become trunks, leaves have served their purpose, go yellow and drop off. You will notice that the monarchs lay their eggs on the new growth at the end of the stems.
The ants are a problem for the monarchs – mainly because they encourage aphids, and the aphids will suck the life out of your plant. I suggest using a commercial ant bait in a plastic dish at the bottom of the plant. Ants elsewhere in the garden are not a problem, of course, they’re just doing what they’re here to do.
You might also pick up a few tips from these blog pages:
Monarch Health - https://www.nzbutterflies.org.nz/project/monarch-health-2/
Guest post: Gus Evans - https://www.nzbutterflies.org.nz/guest-post-gus-evans/
Helping Monarchs - https://www.nzbutterflies.org.nz/helping-monarchs/
Approved by Butterflies - https://www.nzbutterflies.org.nz/project/approved-by-butterflies/
Hello Jacqui. Thanks for your quick reply. A bit hard to mulch or compost a plant growing out of concrete 🙂 but thank you for the tips and the links. Will up my watering I think & chase up those links. The ants are relentless. Now the flowers/nectars almost finished they're inside the pods. Dozens of them. Must be something inside pods they like. The battle continues.
Thank you for your time. It's much appreciated.
🙂
Hi,I just read your fantastic overview of swan plant growing.My partner and
I both avid monarch helpers and have had a really quiet season this year but have many pods on one of our large plants on edge of vege garden,I'm interested to learn the best time to harvest pods for seed banking.I've popped few and all seeds looked way too immature.If you have any advice i'd really appreciate your help.Thank you Ka Pai ,Aroha nui
Funnily enough, I'm just putting a piece together for our blog... What I recommend is these organza bags which you can buy from a $2 shop like "Look Sharp". https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xiSBq080P4A Do not tie the ribbons - just pull them tight around the stem so the healthy pod is fully enclosed.
Seed must be collected when it is dry, i.e. no moisture on the plant (late morning or early afternoon on a sunny day). When the pod has burst, the coma or silk will be in the bag with the seed. Here is me cutting the stem to remove the bag.
https://www.youtube.com/shorts/BOc75Nd1qd4
Keep the pods together in a paper bag, in a cool, dry place. You can add a desiccant from a pill bottle if you like.
Thank you for this! I have about 30 fat beautiful pods on my self sown swan plant, and the first one has just opened.
I'll chase up some of those bags as I don't want masses of swan plants but am keen to share the seed.
Hello Jacqui
This year I’ve had so few caterpillars on my swan plants. The main problem is hundreds of yellow aphids that attack the plant and I think they eat the eggs of the monarch. As you can’t spray what is the alternative and has anyone else been aware of this problem.
Hello Wensley - I think you'll find some answers on this blog post here: https://www.nzbutterflies.org.nz/aphids/
If that doesn't answer your questions, search on "aphids" on our home page for numerous other references.
Hope that helps!
Jacqui
Hi Jacqui
Will spraying swan plant with white vinegar mix 3-1 with water, will that deter wasps but be ok for caterpillars to still eat. Try g to find way this year if stopping those paper wasps stealing and eating the caterpillars. Thanks
Hi Gayle
With this spray you will be definitely altering the smell of the plant and may well attract fruit flies - I know that rotting fruit ferments and you end up with vinegar. I don't think it will work as a wasp repellent and possibly the smell of vinegar may mask the smell of milkweed for the female monarchs looking for somewhere to lay their eggs.
I think the best way of preventing monarch caterpillars from being taken by the predatory wasps is still the caterpillar castle - we sell these in our shop - OR you can rig something up if your plant is planted in the garden, like a mosquito net etc.
https://www.nzbutterflies.org.nz/product/caterpillar-castles/
Hi Jacqui, I have a huge Swan plant, about 8ft high, 2 years old that has NEVER had caterpillars or butterflies. I have sprayed the few wasps I have seen with fly spray and also lots of aphids. Could the fly spray be the problem. I am in Hastings and have seedlings growing everywhere.
Hello Liz - it could be the fly spray. To remove wasps you really need to find their nest and destroy it. If you see wasps gathering protein try and follow them back to the nest (where they will be feeding the juvenile wasps). Then after dark you (or someone) can go out and grab the nest while the wasps are asleep, and immediately put them into a plastic bag and then into the freezer for 24 hours to kill them.
Any suggestions to protect and save plant. Too many caterpillars and more eggs being laid.
Plant is not mature and will not be able to sustain so many greedy caterpillars.
Net?
Gauze bag ??
Hi Barbara - yes you can cover the plant with a mosquito net (or similar - sometimes old net curtains work). Also, depending on what region you are in, there might be people nearby looking for eggs/caterpillars for their plants, so you could post a notice on Monarch Matchmaker NZ on Facebook. Link here: https://www.facebook.com/groups/555495469912553
Jacqui I have a swan plan just growing i getting tall saw one monarch flying today landed then took off there us a tan coloured on stem ? Flowers are there will keep watering anything else as I would dearly plant to survive thx jane
Jacqui I have a swan plan just growing i getting tall saw one monarch flying today landed then took off there us a tan coloured on stem ? Flowers are there will keep watering anything else as I would dearly plant to survive thx jane
So much depends on where you are, Jane, what part of NZ and the climate. For example, here in Auckland it's hot and dry. If you are in Auckland, water the soil around the plant in the evening or early morning, and some nitrogen-rich fertiliser will help, plus mulch to keep the soil damp.
I don't quite get the "tan-coloured' item. Eggs are usually creamy in colour, about the size of a pinhead.
Hi
I have had an interest in Monarchs since I was a kid growing up in Blenheim.
When there was to many caterpillars on the swan plants I would hang light netting over the swan plant so it wouldn’t get stripped naked especially going into winter. I solved the Aphids problem with just a small spray of soapy water, not to much.
I moved to Christchurch just before the February earthquakes (perfect timing) and find tit harder for the plants to survive winter even with all the leaves on. I’m going to purchase a small glass house to grow them in with windows I can open in the summer to the butterflies can find their way out. It’s a grate interest and I’m a photographer and videographer and I have a number of different cameras.
Small ones that will record onto SD Mini cards and they have a loop mode when a card is full. I have my Canon EOS 7D Mark II and a Canon 100mm L series macro lens with image stabiliser and been getting grate photos and videos of the caterpillars changing into cocoon and the cocoon with the butterfly coming out.
Great to hear that you're a monarch lover, Rod. There is a very discussion group on Facebook (if you're into that) called Monarch Butterfly addicts NZ. I am sure you would be interested in what the members of that group are doing. We also have set up a page called "Monarch Matchmaker" on NZ and many people share swan plants when they have too many OR share caterpillars when they've run out of food. It helps deal with the "peaks and troughs" of monarch life. There seem to be more "troughs" every year.