Astrophytum pollination attempt

[giocactus]

Hi,
Today I'm trying to cross-pollinate two of my Astrophytums. BUT the pollen seems to be hardened, it's not dusty for some unknown reason. Nothing remains on the brush to transfer. Maybe any of you have had similar problem. Any advice is welcome.

[adetheproducer]

Sounds like the pollen is not quite ready, leave the plants is direct light and wait and few hours or maybe another day they should burst open and turn powdery then.

[giocactus]

Great! Thanks a lot for your advice!!! Will update tomorrow

[Onzuka]

I've had Astros where there was no, or barely any, visible pollen on the cotton bud (Q Tip) but fertilisation has taken place. Usually you can see a light yellow dusting for you to transfer though. Make sure that you attempt to place pollen on all the receptors, in my opinion this leads to a bigger seed count.

Steve

[giocactus]

Thank you, I'll try again tomorrow, hope it works even with invisible pollen, like yours. Last (and the first) time I pollinated cacti successfully the dust was clearly visible, I received around 55/65 seeds from each. Here is the "couple" that produced my first seeds, please see the pics just for fun.

[giocactus]

The flowers didn't open next day Thanks a lot anyway!

[Onzuka]

That can be a good sign in my experience. If the flower has been adequately pollenated, then what is the point of opening again?

Steve

[giocactus]

The problem was that the pollen wasn't ready the first day so I wasn't able to pollinate them. It seems it didn't work with invisible pollen.

[adetheproducer]

You might be lucky, it only takes a few grains of pollen.

[giocactus]

Just to update: the couple (photo taken in the garden) has some "children", they're 5 months old now, every germinated seedling is alive, without any rotting-related issues, here is one pot:

[Onzuka]

Super result, Mr. Gio! If they were mine, I would be looking for some non absorbent grit/gravel around 2 -3 mm diameter to top dress with up to around a half of their height. It will give them support, but more importantly, suppress the algae which is growing on the more or less constantly moist surface. Just a suggestion from someone who has grown lots of Astros from seeds.

Again, well done.

Steve

[giocactus]

Dear Steve, thanks a lot for your valuable feedback, I think it's good time to transplant them so I'll use some coarse sand as upper layer. Or, do you think it is better to add some sand /grit to the surface and leave them in the same pots for some more time?
Thanks!

Sophie (Gio's my son's name )

[Onzuka]

Personally, Sophie, I.did leave them where they are for a good while yet. Even when they start to touch each other, there's no rush to do anything. Keep an eye out for the Sciara flies, the seedlings still look small enough to be vulnerable.

2 questions, are you in the UK and did you produce the grafts yourself?

Steve

[Onzuka]

Okay, I see you are in Georgia, not the UK.

[giocactus]

I live in Georgia, country in Caucasus, not the US state. I bought these grafts on eBay a couple of years ago, the seller is Czech as I remember. I have tried grafting, the grafts looked nice for the first few weeks but eventually they died. Mostly I grow Astrophytums from seeds from Mesagarden and from some eBay sellers.