FOUR Astrophytum asterias flower color sampler!

Description: This listing's specificsThis listing is for four plants. I selected these four plants as a nice range of flower colors. The plants are described below. I then potted them in a single pot...you get all four plants in the pot.All four plants are very similar in terms of epidermis...dark green with countless tiny pinpoint flocking, and large tufted areoles. Plant #1--This plant is the first plant in the photo series. It has lovely red flowers with crimson cores, which as you know is an extremely rare mutation. The flower in the photos is on the small size, but I think this is because the plant is still young and it flowered on a blisteringly hot day. PLEASE NOTE THAT THIS PLANT HAS SOME EPIDERMAL SCARS. These are unsightly right now, but as the plant gets larger they will become completely hidden on the underside of the plant. The VERY LAST photo in the set of sales photos shows you what to expect in terms of the epidermal damage. If you look at the pot from straight overhead, with the tag at the top, this plant is at the lower right. The plant is about 32 mm across.Plant #2--This plant is the second plant in the photo series. It has pale lilac flowers with red cores, which is another rare mutation. Flowers with this kind of coloration tend to mature into really beautiful akabana type flowers (which have a range of colors in different parts of the petals). These are really sweet flower variations. If you look at the pot from straight overhead, with the tag at the top, this plant is at the lower left. The plant is about 36 mm across.Plant #3--This plant is the third plant in the photo series. It has really interesting pale cream flowers with orange-red cores. Cream to ivory flowers are produced only as a variant, when you cross two parent plants which both have red flowers. I've used these extensively in my breeding program to get really nice results. If you look at the pot from straight overhead, with the tag at the top, this plant is at the upper right. The plant is about 38 mm across.Plant #4--This plant is the last plant in the photo series. It has very nice, deep yellow flowers with dark orange cores. This is the most classic form of flower for this species. If you look at the pot from straight overhead, with the tag at the top, this plant is at the upper left. The plant is about 36 mm across.Yep, they are pretty expensive plants, but these ain't tulips. You're getting specialty plants, grown by an expert for several years, and with absolutely known, awesome attributes.I will ship all the plants in the pot. If you mix up the pot, you'll have to wait for them to flower to sort them out! If the tag comes out of the pot, remember the purple one has a bit of scarring, and is at the lower right.When I prep the plants for sale, I'll give them a careful look over. If there's anything I don't like about the appearance of the plants, I'll talk with you about it, and we might decide to cancel the sale, parting as friends, and no bad reviews. Agreed? Good. About breeding and grading Astrophytum asteriasAstrophytum asterias is an extremely popular plant, and for a damned good reason. It's just one of the coolest life-forms on the planet! I breed Astrophytum asterias, looking for characteristics I prize. I'm fond of heavily flocked Superkabuto types, where the plants are strongly covered with big patches of flocking. I also looooove red-flowering variants. While the normal flower is a nice yellow form, trying to breed for red-flowering plants can result in lilac, red, or garnet flowers. Along the way, I'll sometimes generated other variant flower colors, like cream, ivory, or akabana (rainbow) types.I don't like to graft plants just to speed them up a little bit, so these plants been growing on their own root systems since day 1, and I've just let them take their time getting bigger. Common color: Butter yellow Rarer colors: Pale straw yellow, deep yellow with orange core Even rarer color: ivory, cream, lilac Rarest color: dark red, deep garnetI have found that the most common red-flowering plant morph is a plant with fairly large, scattered areoles, and pinpoint flecks throughout. When I see a plant like that coming up in my red-flower breeding pots, I know I have a real contender. On the other hand, you occasionally get red-flowering superkabutos. These are massively rare.I get the highest percentage of red-flowering plants when the parents are both red-flowering. I haven't seen yet any proof that the momma or daddy has more influence. It could be there, I've just never does the numbers to check. Suppose I have two nice plants that I cross to try to make some nice red-flowering plants. I cross the plants, harvest the seed, germinate them, and care for them. After about 18 months I'll start looking for nice results. The selection process begins...Below is a grading system I've come up with. (Incidentally, if you ever see anyone else using this grading system....well, I can't vouch for their ratings. This is eBay, after all, where folks loooove to exaggerate!) You'll note this system is R1, R2, R3, to differentiate it from the grades 1, 2, 3 I use for my superkabuto breeding. The R stands for....you got it! Red!Grade R1: For every cross, with great seed set, I might get 80 little seedlings. There is no way to tell if they're going to be red-flowering or not. So I just keep these going, and almost never sell pots at this size. Grade R2: After a few years, the plants will be big enough that I'll pop about 9 into a 3" pot. Still, I rarely sell plants at this size.Grade R3: After about another year, I'll have the pots with about 4 plants per pot. The precocious plants in the pots will actually flower. I'll frequently sell plants at this stage. Please note that it is pure speculation as to whether a plant will make a specialty type flower...until it flowers, you don't know. So buying plants at this stage always has a risk factor. The most likely crosses to produce red flowers are crosses where both parents were red flowering, and where the morphology is big scattered areoles and tiny pinpoint flecks throughout. The listings often will include photos of the parents so you have some idea of the possible genetics. Grade R4: If a grade R3 plant flowers, and shows off a specialty flower color, I'll pull it out of the pot and plant it in its own, solo 2" pot. Plants at this grade include ivory, cream, lilac tinged, light lilac to grape flower colors. Very nice.Grade R5: These are, in my mind, the stunners. Plant will get put in this category if the flowers are particularly nice Akabana (rainbow) flowers with multiple colors (that must always include some kind of lilac, red, or purple), or if they're super dark red (which I call garnet), or if the epidermis is significantly superkabuto. The reddest-flower plants often have a red style in the female reproductive parts.Each tier is increasingly difficult to get to, increasingly rare, and yeah, increasingly expensive because it pains me that much more to sell them.So now you know how the sausages are made.General cultivationThese plants are somewhat challenging for many to grow. Rot appears to be the biggest cause of mortality. I don't have serious problems with the species, perhaps because I grow my plants in either a completely inorganic medium or a medium with very little organic material. Since I do that, I must fertilize lightly with each watering. I grow this plant in light (30%) shade--they can burn if you grow them in full sun and aren't careful. If you grow them in heavy shade they don't do well. I let the plants get well over 110 F (43 C) during the summer, so they can take a lot of heat! They can take winter temperatures at or slightly below freezing, but be carefulI have never seen pests on it. As such, these plants should be considered reasonably pest-free. Note, however, as with all plants, you should take suitable pest precautions when you incorporate them into your collection. Just before I ship the plant, I'll give it a careful lookover, to make sure it is free of bugs. If I find any problems with the plant, I'll contact you before shipping the plant, and we can discuss what to do. If you find bugs on it when it arrives, please contact me immediately. Shipping, and combined shipping, and add-onsPlease ensure that your shipping address will not expose the boxed plants to extreme conditions. Mailboxes in full sun can become dangerously hot, and I will ship to cold climates at your risk. If you want to buy a heat pack, you can. See my listing for a heat pack.If you want, you can buy soil packets from me to go with your plant purchase. I only sell soil baggies with my plant purchases as I want to sell plants, and not soil. You can get a baggie of regular "inorganic mix," or my "juvenile mix" which has a bit of organic mixed in, or even my "baby mix." See my listings for that. If you buy more than one item from me, just pay for it all up front. No, I do not use eBay's combined shipping tools as they are not appropriate for such irregular objects as plants. Instead, pay for all your items (yes, including all those shipping charges), and then when I box everything up I will calculate the new shipping charges, and refund you the difference via PayPal. This is fast and efficient, and this way the plant spends less time in a dark box.

Price: 110 USD

Location: Woodland, California

End Time: 2023-12-20T19:14:26.000Z

Shipping Cost: N/A USD