Help monarch butterflies by collecting milkweed seed pods

Changing and falling leaves are a sure sign of fall, and so are milkweed seed pods starting to dry out in preparation of being harvested.

Milkweed is the only host plant of monarch butterflies, meaning it’s the only plant on which monarchs will lay eggs and eat. Milkweed also provides a food source for many other pollinators.

The monarch population continues to decline and one of the reasons is the lack of milkweed. An easy way to help monarch butterflies is to provide a habitat by collecting the seed pods and planting the seeds. If you don’t have space to plant the seeds, simply collect the milkweed seed pods and drop them off at Richland Soil and Water Conservation District .

Richland SWCD partners with the Ohio Pollinator Habitat Initiative and residents to collect common milkweed seed pods to help foster habitats for monarchs. Last year, 3,425 gallons of pods were collected statewide. This came out to 225 pounds after they were cleaned. Since December, OPHI and their partners donated enough milkweed to cover 55.8 acres of monarch-supportive habitat.

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Drop your milkweed seed pods of by Oct. 31 in the green-and-yellow container outside Richland SWCD, 1495 W. Longview Ave., Suite 205 B, Mansfield.

Here are a few tips on how to collect common milkweed seed pods:

• Become familiar with common milkweed to avoid harvesting pods from similar plants such as hemp dogbane and swamp milkweed.
• Pods will appear slightly gray, begin to dry and have brown seeds inside.
• If the center seam of the pod pops with gentle pressure, they can be picked.
• Don’t collect pods that are already open as they might be infested with insects.
• Do not drop off pods that are damp because it can cause mold and damage all the pods collected.
• Don’t rubber band your pods together. They can damage the equipment used to remove the seeds from the pods and Richland SWCD will be held liable.
• Place collected pods inside the bin that will have a large paper bag. Do not keep your pods in the bag you used to bring them in. Instead, please add all common milkweed seed pods collectively in the large paper bag.
• Keep the pods in a cool, dry area until you can deliver them to Richland SWCD.
• Only collect from your property or property you have been given permission to go on; do not trespass.
• The amount of common milkweed seed pods collected will be capped at 30 gallons due to the time required to remove the seeds from the pods.
• If the 30-gallon amount is reached, the bin will be removed and no additional pods will be accepted.

Seeds from this year’s milkweed seed pod collection will be removed from the pods to be distributed for planting next year. If you want free milkweed seeds with planting instructions, you may pick them up from the hallway table found outside the Richland SWCD office.

This article originally appeared on Mansfield News Journal: Help monarch butterflies by collecting milkweed seed pods