How fast will milkweed grow from seed?

[MaryMary]

For a couple years now, most counties in Ohio have asked residents to collect milkweed pods and drop them off at the Soil and Water Conservation Department. They don't want any that have cracked open, because the seeds might not be viable due to the Milkweed beetle. I collected pods last year, and I collected a lot that were already broken open, on the theory that the beetles can't have gotten them all.

I have an 18 mile drive to work, all country roads. I had paid attention all summer to where they did not mow, and a friend and I scattered the opened pods there.

I went and looked today, and there are milkweeds!! (I didn't see any there last year.) But look, these seem very tall to be growing from a seed. I know the expression "growing like a weed" has a basis somewhere, but are these first year plants?

Could these be from the pods we threw?

Either way... YAY!!!

 

[JBtheExplorer]

No, those aren't first year plants. The seeds you scattered might just be starting to grow, if they've started yet. They won't get big in their first year, so you probably won't notice any until the second year, and even then, they might be smaller because they'll need to compete with already-established vegetation.

Seeds are often not successful when scattered in already-established vegetation, but there is always a possibility of success, and that's why many throw milkweed seed balls along roadsides and in ditches. One successful seed could mean the potential of a small colony in the future.