Nice little Astrophytum asterias you got there.

Be careful you dont rot it, because i rotted 2 ( ._.)

Thanks =) After googling him, I feel quite silly for goofing with him as I did. I wish I had a second one to pollinate. I'm wicked proud of him. I put him in gritty mix the day I brought him home & only water the potting medium with a spray bottle set on stream.

I've only watered him once since he's been with me but he does have some scarring under his neat little tuffet butt that I was guessing was from a past bout of rot or something. Thanks for the warning, don't feel badly though. Before Al's gritty mix, I rotted tons of stuff.

I guess I'll have to search out a second one =) This guy was marked down from 15.99 to 6.99 which I thought was expensive for such a wee cactus, only 3" across. Now I know better.

Antoinette

Here is my Astrophytum asterias.

{{gwi:632529}}

http://forums.gardenweb.com/forums/load/cacti/msg0902074717701.html?3

That's beautiful!! So are all those little tufts going to be flowers??
Kathi

The little tufts are the areoles, in which a flower can come out of, but not all the time. The other little white spots are just little flecks of soft stuff that keep sun off of the body, and keep warm in cold.

Astrophytum asterias can be quite expensive as you get into the rarer varieties such as Variegated or Super kabuto, and also because it is somewhat of a slow growing cactus.

whoa! your A.a is awesome!! I have a new sense of appreciation for these lil guys. I'm glad I took the pic when I did because when I went to show my husband last night, it had closed. Today it's cloudy & it's still closed. Does the flower only open for 1 day?

Yes, they can be pretty pricey, can't they =) I'm going to try to hunt one down locally. You wanna laugh?....my husband looks at the bloom & after reciting all I had gleaned from google, DH says, next time we're at Walmart, we'll pick up another one. BahahahahAHAHAHA!!!

Well, that was funny cause they don't have them at Walmart -_- They're on the endangered list & only grow wild in a small area of Texas & Chihuahua Mexico. I hope my guy was grown from seed & not collected. I also read that they can take 6 years to bloom. I just happened upon him at a nursery I hadn't been to in about 5 yrs. If I'd seen him at any of my usual haunts, I would've snapped him up, regardless of price. Can you imagine a 15$+ cactus at Wallyworld? snort!

Antoinette

Very pretty. Microthrix mine rotted after blooming too : (

I got mine in Bangkok's Chatuchak Weekend Market for 50 Baht which is like US$1.60 only. They also got the Super kabuto types but I did not ask for the pricing.

I haven't seen them before locally here in NY but I'm going to be keeping my eyes open from now on! We don't have anything like your wknd market here on Long Island =( It sounds like a great place to blow a week's pay, lol! I could do that on Adeniums alone.

I hope the bloom isn't my lil guy's swansong :/ I'll keep him extra dry just in case.

Antoinette

For some reason this species is not widely sold within its native range (the Lower Rio Grande Valley of Texas). I had to buy mine online from a nursery in California.

Ty

Very nice asterias, both!

I love these, but I rotted one, too. After it flowered. Not entirely sure how...

I find its cousin Astrophytum myriostigma a bit more durable, under my conditions.

T

Most if not all Astrophytum asterias should be seed grown. It's a very slow grow cactus taking many years to reach the size you see above so sometime they are grafted onto some other root stock which are more robust.

I'm glad to hear that most are grown from seed! :)
@ T, those guys are pretty toooo... A.asterias would seem to be a gateway cactus as I though he's the only one I currently own, A. Myriostigma is making it's way to the top of my list!

Thanks for sharing! I was planning to add mine to an ocean inspired planter but now I'm thinking he may need his own spot in the sun. I'm scared of rotting him XD. Those that rotted, were they in a gritty mix?

Antoinette

Mine in a gritty mix and it get full sun only during the weekends when I am able to bring it out for a suntan. :D I watered it once a week and sometime once a fortnight if it's raining outside.

Hmmm. For now, mine will have to make do with a sunny window's southeast exposure. I haven't watered him since I brought him home & re-potted into gritty mix. I expect I won't water again till mid October or so.

It's getting chilly here and we've been getting sudden & frequent rains. Cold + rain is what I'm trying to avoid. I left some jade cuttings outside by accident and they rotted in 2 days flat ;/ Good thing I'm up to my ears in Jades -_- When the heat of the summer rolls around again, I'll put him outside with the rest of my succulents.

I have a sheltered place on my patio that doesn't get much rain. My Jades and assorted succulents love it there but my Hibiscus & hot peppers, not so much LOL!

Antoinette