Blue morning glory flower.
If the flower has been pollinated, soon after the petals fade, you'll notice the seed pods begin to swell. These two seed pods are ripe and pulling them from the vine at this time will not yield good results.
If you want to harvest morning glory seeds to plant next year wait until the seed pods turn brown, and begin to shrivel and resemble the seeds pods pictured above.
Ripe seeds are black and hard, you may find some that are tan or white-these I'll usually discard and keep just the black seeds. If you squeeze a seed pod and it is ready to release the seeds it will crumble in your hands. If you apply pressure to a seed pod that isn't quite ready it may be soft or pliable and won't break apart. If you fail to harvest these seeds before winter approaches, you may have a second chance in the spring because they remain on the vine unless disturbed.
Thanks for showing the process! I like morning glory flowers. The blue ones are popular here as well. Purple ones are often seen growing in the wild. Have a pleasant and fruitful week!
ReplyDeleteWowo....Blue morning glory flower looks wonderfikl. would love to grow it in my own garden.
ReplyDeleteThe picture on this page labeled blue is actually the purple variety, Grandpa Ott. The blue variety is a baby blue called Blue Moon Morning Glory.. I have both at home.
DeleteThe blue morning glory flower looks beautiful but it's too bad that it only lasts a single day. Thanks for sharing on how to collect its seeds.
ReplyDeleteGorgeous photos, makes me miss my indigo morning glories. I am an urban gardener in Colorado, growing food, chickens and children (the children grow inside in the winter)
ReplyDeletehttp://6512andgrowing.wordpress.com/
Great post. My morning glories weren't that spectacular this year. Perhaps it's because the critters love chomping them when they are tender. As always, your pictures are beautiful.
ReplyDeleteHi all,
ReplyDeleteThanks for taking the time to leave a comment.
Lets all get high off the seeds yay
ReplyDeleteYayyyyy!
DeleteI just so happened to look this flower up because yesterday on my early morning walk I found one of these growing curbside and it was even more magnificent then this picture . I went back this morning to see it again but it was gone ... I got sad but on upside I had taken two pictures of it that I have as my screen saver on my phone . At least I know its dying was due to nature and am happy I got to see it and now will keep it alive via my phone .
DeleteWow the pictures of the Morning Glory are amazing! I was stunned when I saw them! Great photography!
ReplyDeleteBeen looking all over for how and when to collect MG seeds. This is by far the BEST explaination i've come across... Thank you
ReplyDeleteThanks for the info. It was exactly what I needed - precise without being too much information!
ReplyDeleteThanks @Anonymous and @Alicia for the feedback on the post. Glad it was helpful.
ReplyDeleteHello, nice foto. Is it possible collect morning glory seeds after frost, just now flowers faded of frost. Chicagi,Il. Thanks
ReplyDeleteAnonymous in Chicago,
ReplyDeleteYes, you can collect the seeds after the frost.
A friend of mine gave me a PEACH tree and one day I noteced a vine groing in there the purple flower are so beatifull and thank's to you now I know they are morning glory !!
ReplyDeleteThanks. I harvested my seeds and I would like to give some to all of my neighbors for Christmas. How should I tell them to prepare them to plant and planting in the Spring?
ReplyDeleteIm from austalia what seson is best for picking them
ReplyDeletei am from india and i love to try morning glory....whats the story morning glory..
ReplyDeleteHi
ReplyDeleteThanks for the info.
Is tuere a specific place i should plant my morning glory seeds.
Thanks again
Hi,
ReplyDeleteI am from Thailand, just start planting morning glory. Thanks for your info.
I did this for the first time last year, and I was amazed how easy the seeds grew this year. When I was harvesting them last fall, some must've fallen into the dirt as I was surprised that we had new morning glories before I even planted the seeds! I planted the seeds, and they started to sprout less than a week after I planted them; I didn't even nick and/or soak them. I had a few seeds too many for my seedling starters, so I tossed them in the garden; those were two inches tall within one week. Fascinating!
ReplyDeleteHi Mr.Brown Thumb,
ReplyDeleteCan you use the morning glory leaves perhaps for salads or other culinary use?
Thanks for the tips!
Morning glory seeds ( along with moon flowers and datura) are poisonous. All these are part of the night shade family of plants, in which both seeds and parts of the plant are poisonous. There have been reports of people ingesting these seeds or plants to get high. Both can kill you or cause permanent damages to the brain.
DeleteHi!! I am in Brazil and I got morning glory seeds when viziting Boston and they are so happy and beautiful, but no seeds yet!! How long It takes for my seeds to start showing up?
ReplyDeleteThanks for the info. How do I store the seeds over the winter?
ReplyDeleteI live near phoenix az and they were growing as weeds on the side of the house. I didn't pick them and their growning like crazy. This winter I will save a the seeds. I will buy 2 white trellis and plant in sping on the brick wall. I think they came about from bird seed and bird droppings.
ReplyDeleteJay H.
Jay, they are illegal to grow here. Get rid of them. They choke out and destroy crops. http://www.blm.gov/pgdata/etc/medialib/blm/az/pdfs/energy/rdep/deis/vol2.Par.75194.File.dat/AppdxE.pdf
Delete"The following noxious weeds are restricted (includes plants, stolons, rhizomes,
cuttings and seed) and if found within the state shall be quarantined to prevent
further infestation or contamination.
...
Ipomoea triloba
..."
seeds seeds seeds. this is my first time growing MG.. someone gave me some starters .. amazing. My deck fence is covered so thick you cannot see the rails.. I was shown how to seed them so now my daycare children and I head out and peek under the leaves .. I take the pods that are ready and they pop them .. what fun.. I will store them away and so many of my nighbors and friends want so will be sharing for sure.. My other favorite flower is the 4 oclock that has abundant seeds as well..
ReplyDeletewhat if I harvested my seed pods too early? They are still green in color and I pulled them off not knowing. if I leave them in an envelope will they eventually turn brown?
ReplyDeleteThey may not be mature enough to germinate, but you should still give them a try. No harm in trying.
DeleteThank you. I am new to gardening. This is my first year and I've been pretty successful so far. However... I have also noticed in some of the seed pods there is some type of larva/worm. Any ideas? I can upload a pic if needed.
DeleteZoe, I've never noticed any worms or larva in morning glory seed pods. I wouldn't be very good at identifying that kind of bug it was anyway. If they're coming out of the seeds themselves, maybe you should store the seeds in something so the bugs don't escape in your house. Hopefully you've had some morning glory seeds fall to the ground and sow themselves and you'll get more plants next year.
DeleteI know that with beans if you pick them just a tad too early to save the beans for next year's planting you can let them dry out like on a countertop in some sun and shade, not full sun though. Eventually they'll be fragile enough to release the seeds.
DeleteYou could probably dry them out in some sun on a countertop and perhaps they'd dry enough to be fragile and release their seeds.
DeleteZoe, I have also noticed larvae in some seed pods (watch out for "two-eyed" seeds, the second eye is the grub popping out, if you see a hole in the pod, the grub has already eaten its way out and you have a pod full of dust). I havent been able to find any info, my search led me to these comments.
DeleteA few further observations: at one point there were a bunch of caterpillars very slowly feeding on the leaves, they were all very small (1/8cm-1/4cm wide, 2.5-3cm long, apple green with vertical brown stripes, with two ridges of short spikes along the back. I also saw a small light greenish yellow butterfly feeding on the flowers once (ive never noticed other butterflies on them around here, just bees). But still, cant determine for sure what they are.
I've noticed the worms in several species of MG, but they seem absent from Hawaiian baby woodrose seed pods...
are you talking about the wild butterfly weed flowers or what i only have wild morning glory seeds they where white then they turned brown.
ReplyDeletei picked my butterfly weed seedpods they where still green and a bit of red in color i had to get them before the bugs did so thats what i did.
Mike, This thread is about morning glory seeds. If they were white they might not have been ready. Although, if the seeds you saved where Moon Vine seeds then them being white may not be that big of a problem. I've seen some moon vine seeds and they generally have a light colored appearance.
DeleteIf I pick seeds while green, and leaves get frozen, is there a way to dry out the seeds?
ReplyDeleteLucia,
DeleteI think what's most important in determining the ripeness of the seeds is the color and texture of the seed pod. If the seed pod you collected morning glory seeds from still was soft and green, then chances are the seeds were not ripe yet. Although, after the frost/freeze you'll often come across seed pods that you didn't notice when there were still leaves on your morning glory. If you see any seed pods in winter go ahead and collect them, and dry them out for a week or two in a warm and dry location.
Eat the seed they get you high, simaler to lsd
ReplyDeleteIt can kill you, don't!
DeleteI collect my morning glory seeds every year and replant in the spring. What is the difference between the white and black seeds and can you keep harvesting the seeds year after year or do you have to add new seeds after awhile.
ReplyDeleteHey, I had great success growing morning glory and moonflower alongside each other (they formed an absolutely gorgeous hedge twining together against the chain link fence) its studded with what I now know are seed pods (I'd assumed from a distance they were unopened flowers), we got our first frost last night and as expected the leaves are very badly wilted. Should I try to get the seeds now...or will it be okay to leave them even if the freeze hits the plants again (its supposed to freeze again tonight)
ReplyDeleteIf you want to collect the seeds for a specific spot grab some. If you want them to grow there next year still grab some just in case they don't come back. But trust me, they SHOULD come back next year, maybe just a little roughing of the soil with a cultivator or fourpronged hoe or something will launch the seeds off if they're in the dirt laying dormant.
DeleteI think that morning glory is actually a violet ipomoea purpurea, perhaps a grandpa ott or star of yelta. The purple on morning glories almost always shows up more blue in photos than it is in reality. The blue form of i. purpurea is almost always very light to extremely light blue OR light blue with dark blue streaks. Otherwise, great article on the collection of morning glory seeds! Remember that SOME varieties actually DO produce blonde seeds, so if they are ALL blonde or white, don't throw them away!
ReplyDeleteHi, Question: I can harvest my purple and pink morning glory seeds no problem but I can't find any on my heavenly blue. Is Heavenly Blue a seedless cultivar? My email is helenemessina@aol.com. Thank you.
ReplyDeleteThey may not be getting properly pollinated, either because the right pollinators arent in your area, or it may be a genetic problem. Do some research on what that variety needs to be pollinated, and possibly hand-pollinate
DeleteI have grown many varieties of morning glories for years here in PA. But never knew how to save seed for the following year. Thank you so much for posting this video. Can anyone also give me information on how to store these seeds over winter after they are collected? And what about soaking them in hydrogen peroxide to remove bacterial and fungal pathogens that may interfere with germination? Any thoughts?
ReplyDeleteHi! Thanks for the great informations! I have been cutting/drying and saving seed pods for the past few years and it works great! My questions is this - some of the seeds are not full and plump but smaller and deflated/wrinked - both in black/brown and some starting tan color... Should I discard those small and deflated ones? or will those germinate too if soaked overnight first?
ReplyDeleteHow many seeds are there per pod? What is the actual arrangement of the seeds in a pod? I need to replicate it in an art project, but can't find any images/schematics.
ReplyDeletethis might seem like a silly question, but does anyone know if picking the flowers before they die, stop seed pods from forming? thanks
ReplyDeleteHave you ever had next years seeds turn into a vine that has tiny white flowers that are like a weed?The first year, seeds were fine. Next year, all I got were the weed. the leaves look the same at germination, but then get more pointy.
ReplyDeleteAfter the 2nd year, my seeds produced a similar vine, but with tiny white flowers that were more like a weed.
ReplyDeleteI've got morning glorys in my front yard.I started harvesting the seeds and all or the seed pods were brown and came apart easily, but most of the seeds are still a lite color but there hard. Does that mean that they won't grow or is there still a chance?
ReplyDelete