Stillman Posted December 23, 2012 I by no means have a particularly massive or rare collection of Astros but am loving these guys at the moment. I have managed to set some seed and today attempted to graft a stack to peres. I have seen online some amazing mutants But personally am a big fan of the A asterias hybrids, I really want some of the red flowering ones. ANyway thought I might start a thread and hopefully a few of us can post some pics and maybe swap some seeds or seedlings down the track. A capricorne x A asterias I crossed this back with my A asteria and have grafted 10 or so seedlings to peres this morning. A asterias in flower (I have crossed this with the super kabuto and also the capricorne hybrid. A asterias Super Kabuto in flower And here is a seed grown A asterias hybrid from Hellonasty 15 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
myco Posted December 23, 2012 nice stillman love that last asterias hybrid astro's are one of my favorites i to especially love the asterias hybrids and freaks i have 4 small asterias x capricorne i was thinking of grafting a couple of them very nice flower on it havent had many astro flowers yet my 4 ribbed myriostigma is flowering at the moment and i have an asterias flower wich should be open sometime in the next week im really hoping to see some of my astro freaks flower 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Stillman Posted December 23, 2012 The freaks flowering would be awesome. I would say they are in my experience very easy to get to set seed so some freak flowers/ seeds would have to be more inclined to produce freaks. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Stillman Posted December 23, 2012 (edited) This was a interesting article regarding A asterias in the wild. http://www.cactuscon...CI/aimg/aa.html edit and this article http://www.uv.es/~aguilel/docencia/biol%20cons%20teoria/material/Recovery%20Plan%20Astrophytum%20asterias.pdf Edited December 23, 2012 by Stillman Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Stillman Posted December 23, 2012 An excellent blog from SA http://frank-southofaridland.blogspot.com.au/ Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
naja naja Posted December 23, 2012 (edited) A bunch of diff Astro's on own roots, A. asterias, superkabuto mix, SK large white spots, SK variagated, although I don't see any vari yet, COAS and ASCO. And a few other random photo's from within the depths of the lightboxes. Edited December 23, 2012 by naja naja 2 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
LokStok Posted December 23, 2012 (edited) hey Still, couldnt help noticing- Pic #2 in the blue pot to the left Pic #6 next to your thumb (i think, its a bit blurry) there is what I'm sure is liverwort growing. Don't let this shit get a foothold in your collection, it is very hard to eradicate. *edit-cant count Edited December 23, 2012 by LokStok Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Stillman Posted December 23, 2012 Thanks mate I have seen this pop up in a few pots in the green house, didn't know what it was. Today I went through and smashed all the weird stray growth in my pots. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
bℓσωηG Posted December 23, 2012 Love Astros ,cant wait to involve more of my time in collecting them... the more i am confronted with obstacles regarding importation , or selfish collectors who wont share genetics, the more i focus on getting them... pic stolen off facebook ... 8 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Stillman Posted December 23, 2012 When I get some cool seeds I'll pass them around BlownG 2 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Hellonasty Posted December 24, 2012 (edited) Love Astros ,cant wait to involve more of my time in collecting them... the more i am confronted with obstacles regarding importation , or selfish collectors who wont share genetics, the more i focus on getting them... pic stolen off facebook ... My GOD man ! that's bloody huge !! BTW I do my best to share what seed I have, obtaining good genetics is not simply a matter of getting seed with good genetics, however this helps, you need to grow a bucket load to plants and be very selective. Edited December 24, 2012 by Hellonasty Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Hellonasty Posted December 24, 2012 A couple of my plants to tempt your taste buds I hope you enjoy. 21 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
nitrogen Posted December 27, 2012 Oh wow - those are spectacular! I gotta get going on the astrophytum cultivation here at some point Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
GoOnThen Posted December 27, 2012 (edited) I have only just recently started my Astro journey. I haven't had any flowers as yet even though a couple have had buds for some time One of my first freaks that I got the stock rotted into scion so I had to chop it up and so now I have a number of smaller grafts A. myriostigma cv. LOTUSLAND Cheers Got Edited December 27, 2012 by GoOnThen 3 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Stillman Posted December 27, 2012 Nice GOT did you source them from usmob? I got my kabuto from him. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
GoOnThen Posted December 27, 2012 Yep he has supplied me with most of my Astro's I have also acquired a number of seeds from a few different OS suppliers Cheers Got 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Stillman Posted December 27, 2012 Heres the start of a little grow log of some Astrophytum seed. The seed is the progeny from my Asprophytum Super Kabuto x A asterias in the above photos. First planting was around the first week of December and I grafted around 20 or so on the 23rd of December, so far looks like pretty good success rate, but in another fortnight we will see. 1 week old seedlings 3 week old seedlings My trusty grafting seedling light box, converted kitchen shelf with party lights wired in 20watt cfl seem to provide adequate heat and light for good growth. 200 watts in total. Set on 18 hours on in winter I panda film th efront to help keep light and heat in but in summer while lights are on temps sit between 28 and 30 degrees. Added humidity chambers for new pereskiopsis grafts Some grafts taken 23rd of December So as you can see very low-fi but works for me and hopefully over the next couple months I might get some interesting little hybrids out of my seeds. 4 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
naja naja Posted December 27, 2012 i think ur seedraising mix is a little damp, but apart from that, everything looks good if sumwat improvised 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Stillman Posted December 28, 2012 Yeah that container is wet as, but I'll be slowly drying it out over the next couple days. Its all Macgyvered round here lol. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Bigred Posted December 29, 2012 any reason behind the different spectrum bulb's as i have heard using a more red spectrum is better for graft's on cactus Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Stillman Posted December 29, 2012 (edited) I alway have used the 20 watt phillips warm white you get from Bunnings, the main reason being they are the right price. lol. But they do the job nicely, I think standard 18 watt fluros would work too. In my experience peres grows best under pretty low light conditions when you grow them in the sun out doors or under strong hydroponic lights they become vicious spiny unhand-able things in low light with plenty of moisture they are pliable and not as spiny, what they love is humidity and fertiliser. Edited December 29, 2012 by Stillman Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
GoOnThen Posted December 29, 2012 I have a number of shelves under 4 foot fluro's. I have just set up a shelf to propagate pere's as I have run out of room in my propagating box. The shelf has 2 cool white fluro's and I am trying defuses to try and soften the light a bit more. My grafts go under two to three fluro's per shelf. I have been trying mainly daylight / warm white and Nec Bio-Lux HG. I think from what I have seen so far is the Bio-Lux push the growth a bit faster but loph grafts can get quite dark close to purple but still healthy. I am now trying a mix of Bio-lux and daylight which has brought the color back a bit. Cheers Got 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Bigred Posted December 29, 2012 how old can you graft astro's i have one with a sick root system was thinking cutting it off and grafting to a pedro done plenty of grafting but never cacti Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
bogfrog Posted December 29, 2012 If you were using a pedro stock any age should be fine. Lately i have had great success grafting by hanging two rocks tied to the ends of a piece of string over the graft. Low-tech and easy as. Although i read recently that all astros become weak and prone to rot in their old age, so if its a really ancient one it could just be dying a natural death. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
incognito Posted December 29, 2012 I got my superkabuto graft and a lot of my arios from usmob. They are master cacti growers, I'd live a sprinkling of their knowledge. 2 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites