Steve's 2015 stuff

[Onzuka]

Here is an update of the Opuntia graft I showed you at the very beginning of the year. Its now about 2 years old from seed and starting to flower for the 1st time.



This is not the easiest rootstock to graft to, but its worth it. Growth of the scion is close to natural without the baby offsets popping out all over that some stocks give you. Its also proved to be hardy in an unheated greenhouse in northern England at 53 N of the Equator.

My main long term stock has been Harrisia, but I'm using this one more and more.

Steve

[Onzuka]

Someone asked about seed collection on here very recently. Here's a few pics to show how Astrophytums deliver their crop.

Here is a rather nice A. myriostigma onzuka with the desirable "V" stripes around the areoles. Let the pod ripen and open naturally.



Remove the seeds with tweezers, maybe called forceps in the US of A. Get to them before any creatures help themselves.



I just rub them between my fingers to remove the white membrane.



And leave them to dry for a few days. Don't store Astrophytum seeds for too long, my experience has been that after a year, germination is very compromised. I dropped two seeds in the greenhouse whilst collecting them, and ended up with 66 seeds by my count, not bad. This Onzuka has always produced good seedlings for me.



Store them cool and dark until you choose to sow them. The empty seed pod will dry out and come away from the mother plant in a few days.

Steve

[Onzuka]

So the Harrisia opened its flower yesterday evening. I got a couple of pics at around 21:15 and it wasn't fully opened. I'm guessing the flower to be around 8" (20 cms) diameter.





Steve

[Tenoch]

Hello Steve,
Thanks for the great info on seed saving. It's very good advice. Regarding seed storage, have you ever observed reduced germination rate with very fresh seed? If so, how long do you wait to plant fresh seed after collection?

[Onzuka]

Hello Steve,
Thanks for the great info on seed saving. It's very good advice. Regarding seed storage, have you ever observed reduced germination rate with very fresh seed? If so, how long do you wait to plant fresh seed after collection?

These days, I only really sow Astrophytums and Lophophora. I have just made a 60 seeds sowing of some 2013 Astro hybrids and not one germinated, and the conditions were right. So 2 years seemed to be too long for those. Lophophora after 2 years seem to still be okay. I have heard that some seeds do need to be stored for a while. I'd guess that most seeds would be okay until the next year after collecting fresh, after all, in habitat there would be every chance they would have to wait until the following year for the right conditions.

Anyone else got an input?

Steve

[Onzuka]

I'll sow these 66 seeds shown above, absolutely fresh, and report what happens.

Steve

[Tenoch]

Thanks Steve,
I've got about 100 fresh Copiapoa seeds harvested just this week, I will plant them fresh and we will see. My thoughts are that some genus' will not need a resting period while others may benefit.

[Onzuka]

Mr. Tenoch, this Forum taught me the plural of genus, so now I'll share the knowledge with you, it's genera! All said, of course, in a joking manner.

The 64 seeds are sown (I dropped two) so now we'll see what happens

Steve

[Onzuka]

Here is another pic of the Astrophytum myriostigmas that you have seen before, they are really growing now and I must get around to giving them individual pots. The trouble is, apart from the coloured ones, I'm not that interested in them. They are not particularly good Onzukas, and the ones that started life as quads have now developed a 5th rib. I'll have a think about what their fate may be.



Steve

[Onzuka]

Here are some of my grafts, all Astros grafted on Pereskiopsis. The first two are variegated. Note the first one has a completely normal super kabuto head and a very variegated one, strange.





This next one is an Ooibo with the big areoles, giving me it's first flower.



And finally an asterias hybrid which is going to flower like crazy,



Steve

[george76904]

So how do you go about grafting Astros to opuntia? I have made several attempts at grafting Astros to O. Humifusa, but all of them have failed. Any tips?

Also, I'm a big fan of normal asterias, and I want all of those. The 2nd variegated one is stunning! Where did you get it from? 3rd one in particular looks awesome, I was thinking about buying seeds of the Oobio cv. Now I really want 'em!

[Onzuka]

Here is another variegated aterias for you. Again, it has two heads, one variegated and the second I thought was just a normal asterias hybrid. I had a real surprise when I looked closely at it. I need to spend more time looking at my plants and less time caring for them.







Steve

[Onzuka]

So how do you go about grafting Astros to opuntia? I have made several attempts at grafting Astros to O. Humifusa, but all of them have failed. Any tips?

Also, I'm a big fan of normal asterias, and I want all of those. The 2nd variegated one is stunning! Where did you get it from? 3rd one in particular looks awesome, I was thinking about buying seeds of the Oobio cv. Now I really want 'em!

I have also tried grafting to O. humifusa (compressa) and failed. The guy at Cactusartbiz loves it, mostly for its extreme hardiness I think, but I find the pads too thin to work with. This one seems much better and comes through the winter okay in my unheated greenhouse at 53 deg north.

As with all grafts. you have to know where the vascular bundle is. On this Opuntia, its very close to the plants skin and follows the oval cross section. There is a pic earlier in this thread showing where it is. After that, its just standard grafting practice. Keep things clean, align the scion carefully, secure the scion and keep some pressure on it for about a week and keep it in a humid environment. Below are some pics I've used here before, showing how I do it. They show a Harrisia stock, but Opuntia is exactly the same, its only the position of the vascular ring that alters Patience is also a virtue, but having seen the beautiful Italic writing that you do, you are not short of that!





If you need any more pics or info, just ask. At the moment, I'm in the middle of the grafting season and will normally have plants to get pics from showing how its done.

Steve

[Onzuka]

Also, I'm a big fan of normal asterias, and I want all of those. The 2nd variegated one is stunning! Where did you get it from? 3rd one in particular looks awesome, I was thinking about buying seeds of the Oobio cv. Now I really want 'em!

The variegated and the Ooibo seeds were supplied to me by a guy in France. I bought them on Ebay. He only wanted 1 Euro, roughly $1 per variety so I took a punt. They turned out good and soon I will be able to produce my own seeds. In my case, the jury is still out on the variegateds. I've never really been fond of them, but I must admit that my opinion is changing.

Steve

[Onzuka]

Here are a few more Astro hybrids, mostly based upon asterias, this time on their own roots. These were sown at the same time as the flowering grafts I've posted, so it shows just how quickly a graft can produce flowers and seeds.



Steve