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Post by LEPMAN on Nov 6, 2018 16:31:49 GMT -8
Hello,
I was just hoping someone with experience in rearing Papilio polyxenes or experienced in growing its hosts could advise me on the fastest growing host plant?
Any suggestions are appreciated!
Ed
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Post by Paul K on Nov 6, 2018 17:41:14 GMT -8
That someone should be Adam 🙂😜
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Post by exoticimports on Nov 6, 2018 18:43:15 GMT -8
Queen Anne’s lace. Grows fast and common.
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Post by Paul K on Nov 6, 2018 20:19:43 GMT -8
Are you going to rear them in USA or China?
I suppose the food plant may vary by region.
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Post by LEPMAN on Nov 8, 2018 18:51:15 GMT -8
Are you going to rear them in USA or China? I suppose the food plant may vary by region. I will have someone rear them for me in the USA |
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Post by LEPMAN on Nov 8, 2018 18:52:00 GMT -8
Queen Anne’s lace. Grows fast and common. But they have less foliage/ require more space than the other hosts? |
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leptraps
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Posts: 2,397
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Post by leptraps on Nov 9, 2018 3:39:57 GMT -8
You can rear the on common carrots, or almost any plant in the carrot family, Caucus.
Queen Anne's Lace is super abundant. Should grow it from seeds, and yes, you can purchase seeds for a weed most folks want to eradicate.
The Kroger in Georgetown, Kentucky has carrots with green leaf top in the produce department. Check out you local grocery store. Some folks like to cut up the carrots, leaf and all and cook it chunks of ham. Supposedly it is an east European dish.
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Post by exoticimports on Nov 9, 2018 7:50:19 GMT -8
If I need Queen Anne's Lace I go outside and grab as much as I want. It grows everywhere around me, right in the yard. Ditto walnut, cherry, maple, oak, and tulip tree. Sasafras and willow I have to walk 10 minutes.
Chuck
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Post by catocala59 on Nov 9, 2018 8:57:04 GMT -8
Fennel and dill are both fast growing food plants suitable for polyxenes. Fennel is my preferred option - more foliage per plant.
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Post by papilio28570 on Nov 13, 2018 21:05:11 GMT -8
I use curly leaf and flat leaf (Italian) parsley. Flat leaf parsley grows much larger and faster than curly leaf. Seed for both types is readily available at any garden center. I plant dozens of parsley in my landscape and also makes a beautiful bright green winter border plant which explodes with growth as winter ends. The swallowtails readily visit my yard and deposit more eggs than I can count. They will quickly chew the plants down to nubs if you do not eliminate some of the eggs before they hatch or when the larvae are very young. Leave one caterpillar per plant. I have one 16 ft wide circular border around a flowering pear tree in my back yard and plant 72 parsley plants around the border each fall. In very early spring or late winter, you need to plant a second crop to replace the plants that over-wintered since they will be spent by early summer. This will ensure a food source for the next generation. Plant a third crop in late summer to have plants that will over-winter. During the winter, drench the growing area with a fungicide and insecticide mixture to control disease and parasites. Greatest problem during the warm season is controlling wasps which will quickly eliminate your caterpillars. The wasps even chew through netting. I move nearly grown larvae to potted plants in metal screened rearing cages that are in dappled shade where they soon pupate.
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