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Soil pH requirements: 5.1 to 5.5 (strongly acidic) 5.6 to 6.0 (acidic) 6.1 to 6.5 (mildly acidic) 6.6 to 7.5 (neutral) 7.6 to 7.8 (mildly alkaline) 7.9 to 8.5 (alkaline)
Propagation Methods: From seed; direct sow outdoors in fall From seed; winter sow in vented containers, coldframe or unheated greenhouse From seed; stratify if sowing indoors
Seed Collecting: Allow pods to dry on plant; break open to collect seeds Wear gloves to protect hands when handling seeds Properly cleaned, seed can be successfully stored
On Apr 16, 2008, sladeofsky from Louisville, KY (Zone 6b) wrote:
This was the favorite food of the Carolina Parakeet. They would consume great quantities of the seeds. There beeks were specially designed to tear through the spiny seed pods. As the native parrot declined and eventually became extinct, the number of cockleburs swifttly climbed. Now the Eastern US has no parrots but plenty of these pesky plants.
On Apr 16, 2008, marwood0 from Golden, CO (Zone 5b) wrote:
A nice looking plant when green, looking like a short squat sunflower bush without the nice flowers. Very hardy and can grow in a wide range of conditions. Supposedly, each seed pod has two seeds, one of which will sprout the first year and one the second year. Be careful not to let this plant get away from you; I would pull it and harvest or eliminate it before the seed pods get too dry; when dry they break off easily and you might wind up with these tough spiney seed pods everywhere in your lawn, on your dog, on your kids, on your clothes, and eventually inside your house and peircing your family's skin. The seed pods are known to contain a toxin used as a chinese medicine, most of which is contained in the thorns. Removing the thorns by burning or grinding apparently gets rid of most of the toxin. Consuming large quantities of the seed pods over time has been known to cause liver damage. When burned, the smoke from the seed pod thorns gives off a pleasant, somewhat attractive smoke, it reminds me of a flavored cheap cigar. The smoke from the thorns doesn't last long and the smoke from burning the regular seed pods and branches does not have quite the same attraction, at least to me. Overall I would not consider this a very useful plant, and if not strictly controlled, it can (and will) be quite a problem.
