I haven’t seen many Monarchs but it only takes a few to load up the plants with eggs.
So far they have eaten 3 Giant Milkweed plants ( the one on the R is mostly stalks now) and over a dozen Tropical Milkweed. I had to put one of my young Giant Milkweed plants in. It is on the L behind the Tropical with the yellow flowers. It’s not big but it is food.
Most have gone to the top and pupated. There are about 25 in various stages of growth still eating away.
When they go into a “J”, I put a sticker on the top of the cage with the date so I can tell when to expect them to emerge as Butterflies. If we are going to be away over night, I put the cage outside, open the door and staple window screen across the front, leaving about 6” open at the top for them to escape.
That’s a lot of caterpillars. It will most likely be at least a week before any emerge, and by then the rest should be up there also. About 10 of them are Queens.
There isn’t much for them to lay on now….guess they’ll just have to go to Debbie’s. She’s got lots of Milkweed plants.
After they eat the milkweed down to stalks, do the leaves grow back again, or does the plant die?
ReplyDeleteIf I don't let them get eaten down too bad they will come back. The Giant Milkweed have been in the "butterfly house" several times and may have to go back in a few months. I wont be bringing any more caterpillars inside for awhile. Most of my "Tropical Milkweed" plants were started from seed.
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