Are moonflowers dangerous to animals?
ljlj818
19 years ago
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merriss
19 years agoRelated Discussions
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Comments (55)Riverspots, it was a surprise to see my old post return. I agree with everything you have said, but I understand that many good friends on this site have far different opinions, and I do respect those opinions. As I respond a year later, I realize that most of us take care of our own animals, and I should have noticed that those beautiful hydrangeas were coming through the slats of the fence, and should have not thought it was cute that the dogs would grab the orchid buds that fell. I cannot understand why cat owners feel that is is acceptable to allow their cats to roam at night. Lou M, did you know that vitamins are not regulated, and Vitamin D and A can hurt us? I have also heard that you cannot overdose with the D from the sun, but I overdosed on the pills. I told my doctor that I was only taking a little more than 2,000 IU, and he said that for all I knew I was taking 20,000. I used a name brand from a good store, but he said they were not regulated and I had all the signs of an overdose. AFter stopping the D for a week or so, the symptoms went away. We all know that excessive A is dangerous. Berndoodle, thanks. I allow the use of chemicals for termites. That is really necessary in our area. I also use DEET. Why do you dislike it so much? I always wear short sleeves, and crop pants, so I only spray a couple of areas. Your tick area is over the top isn't it? Our lot is on the larger size for a suburb, but we don't own farm property, and I can imagine that it would be overwhelming to try to control ticks on acreage. huttnem, one neighbor at a time! Little by little if people are aware of what they are using, and if they are aware that the FDA does not control nearly what we think they control, we will greatly reduce the harm to our neighborhoods. We need to encourage others to only spray where it is needed. To coat the yard with a dangerous chemical to stop snails is downright silly. Hi Patricia. Our dogs have their own yard, and also have the use of much of the house. Unfortunately they feel that they have a right to eat anything in their yard or our kitchen. We spill cheese, it's theirs. Thinking like a human, a spilled orchid became his, and either that or the hydrangea that spilled over to their yard made my dog very sick. We have doubled the length of the dogs' yard, and will not be bringing flowers inside now except for roses. My dogs never try to touch any vegetation when we walk them, and they ignore my roses. I need to think more like a dog to protect my dogs. ha ha ha I understand what Patricia was saying about her grandmother, but we live such a different life than our grandparents. My dogs are golden retrievers, but their life is not one where they can run in the fields, and burn their food like maybe nature intended. They can tend to overeat, and put on weight. Therefore, we control the food they get. Instead of digesting a bird or rabbit that might have fiber (ick), they digest dog food that is very expensive, and has the nutrients that the dog food company says they need. Mine would always like more, but the Vet says I am extending their lives by limiting their food intake, and keeping them slim. For this reason my dogs will tend to eat almost anything -- they don't have the instinct that a dog on a farm might have because we always take care of them. Thank you all for your replies. Sammy...See MoreTrouble Germinating Moonflowers
Comments (9)I'm not at all familiar with your region; I hope it isn't too late to try again. I'll share my experience with you in detail, in case some part of it helps. This year was my first attempt at Moonflowers and I, too, planted seed. My first batch of seedlings was destroyed by animals, so I had to do this twice. Either "nicking" (you won't believe what I did the first time, so I won't go into it here...) or sanding a small spot on each seed (with a nail file or sand paper) will allow water to more easily penetrate their tough seed coats. After the scarifying, soaking them for 24-48 hours really gave mine a boost toward germination. (I put the scarred seeds into a dark vitamin bottle then filled it with slightly warm water.) After they soaked -- some were starting to sprout already -- I planted them 1/2" deep in peat pellets in a Jiffy brand mini-greenhouse. That felt a little funny, since the peat pellets are only about an inch and a half to two inches tall, fully expanded. The seeds are so large, I was wondering where on earth the root could go. I followed the Jiffy instructions as to when to prop open, then later remove, the cover. Since it was already hot here (early July) I put them outside really early so they could grow in natural temperatures and I let them grow in the pellets until they were about 10" tall. My first planting of about 80 seedlings were all destroyed except for 6 test plants which were older and 5 - 6" tall when I set all of them out. The larger the plant, the better its survival chances, so I let batch number two get gigantic. At least for peat pellets. The package said they prefer poor soil, so I added very little in the way of soil amendments: just a little bit of Miracle Gro potting soil mixed with existing soil. I put down and still keep a light layer of cayenne and crushed red pepper on the ground around them to discourage squirrels, but of this second batch, I've only lost one plant. These were Burpee seeds: Moonflower, Giant White, Calonyction. My original 6 test plants were Ferry Morse. Of the orginal 6, 4 survived the animal attack. Of the second batch -- 41 plants (in the ground) -- I only lost one. I have a dozen more back up plants in 6" pots in case any more on the fence line die. I had a germination rate of about 90-95% in the Jiffy tray using the above steps. If there are any of the above things listed that you didn't do, you might want to try again and include those things. The place I worried most was concerning water for seedlings. I was really afraid I'd blow it there. Too little, too much. I was so glad when I could finally get them out of the peat pellets and into the ground! My plants went in the ground July 14 and some are now about 1 1/2 feet tall, twining up the chain link fence. I have friends in my region who say they have successfully just tossed the seeds in the ground without any of the above; some who say they just soak and plant; none that went the indoor/outdoor route plus scarifying/soaking like I did, but I'm a stickler for package directions and a newbie to boot. At least all my plants pretty much came up. Hope there's something here you can use and that you haven't given up on trying them this year. Good luck!...See MoreMorning glories and Moonflower poisonous to dogs??
Comments (11)I have grown various species in the Family of plants Convolvulaceae for over 45 years...I have traded seeds with people from all over the world since the early 70's... I have never seen nor heard of a dog or a cat eating any part of any type of Convolvulaceae plant...documented animal toxicity has been related to vegetarian grazing animals,like cows,sheep and goats, that may sometimes ingest some of the more toxic species that have become intertwined with the usual plants that they graze...even then very large amounts of vegetable matter are required to be eaten over a prolonged period of time to result in animal toxicity as the leaves and stems contain little alkaloids in comparison to the seeds... There are many types of plants that are variously toxic to both animals and humans,but MG's are nowhere near the top of the list...Daturas,brugmansias,foxglove,hydrangea,oleander and a few hundred other commonly grown garden plants on tradelists have foliage and flowers that are much more toxic than the Morning Glories that are sold in stores... The seeds of Morning Glories are not visually interesting to animals(or children) and are very bitter to the taste...any animal or child tasting the seeds is realistically much more likely to immediately spit them out,than to continue eating a very unpleasant material... The fungicide sometimes used to coat the seeds to discourage 'teenyboppers' from attempting to get high,often causes more physical distress than the untreated seeds...it takes at least several hundred(!) MG seeds properly(!) prepared(!) to experience any sort of a 'high'...simply chewing the seeds is not sufficient as the chunks of raw material are poorly digested and absorbed... The swollen immature seedpods and pedicels of Ipomoea alba and Ipomoea turbinata(muricata) are eaten in Asia as a vegetable... Ipomoea nil and Ipomoea hederacea seeds have been used in traditional folk medicine as a purgative and as aids to birthing during labor and as with other Morning Glory seeds,they contain naturally occuring tocin related alkaloids that make you puke(!)... There are no scientifically serious documented deaths of animals or humans from ingesting Morning Glories as compared to a very large list of other common garden plants. Scientific facts should be distinguished from over-reactionary 'fuzzy' thinking...there are many substances that animals and humans can potentially become seriously ill from,but realistically(!) speaking,Morning Glories isn't one of them... My experience is that Morning Glories are very safe to grow as garden plants,especially in comparison to the many other plants that are intentionally grown and occur naturally as volunteers all around us... Hope this information helps to reduce any well-intentioned misunderstandings and 'mindless' repitition on the web of misinformation related to Morning Glories and actual or potential toxicity... TTY,... Ron...See MoreFire at Florida animal shelter kills 200 animals
Comments (5)Insurance will more than likely pay for a new building. Hopefully donations will be rolling in to their local rescues to step in and help until homeless animals have a new shelter. I'd be curious to know how this plays out. I feel so sorry for the way those kitties died. I imagine the dogs need a place to go, and hopefully other shelters and rescues will be able to lend a hand. It really is amazing to me how in times of disaster, people can pull together and get things done....See Morelynn_d
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