Mammillaria luethyi seed wanted?

[DaveW]

Anybody know where I can obtain a few Mammillaria luethyi seeds at a reasonable price? The price of the seed from E. Europe does not always seem too bad, but at around £10 postage ($13,14, €11.89) to send them often exceeds the price of the seed. I find it hard to believe it costs so much to send a single packet of seed in a small padded envelope to the UK?

I can get plenty of grafted plants, but they usually eventually shrivel up on the stock and I have not managed to de-graft one successfully either. Therefore wanted to try it on it's own roots, however own root plants instead of seed are difficult to find in the UK.

[phil_SK]

ADBLPS had some when his list came out 2 weeks ago. In past years, it's sold out by the time of the early January refresh list, though, so you might have missed the boat for this year.

[Aiko]

Mammillaria leuthyi seeds for reasonable prices are not very hard to find. But you still need to be on top of this, as they sell out fast. Basically you have already missed your chances, although you can still give it a try. Next time, keep your eye out on the 'Updated seed lists' thread, and look for anything on your wish list immediately when something has been updated.

If you can get grafted plants, can't you pollinate them and harvest your own?

[DaveW]

Thanks Phil and Aiko. Yes I have seen them in the past, but as you say they were already sold out since they are hard to harvest being cryptocarpic. The problem with grafts Aiko is they are probably mostly a single clone and I am not sure if M. luethyi is self fertile or not? If I could get them to de-graft it would be no problem since with other cryptocarpic plants like M. theresae you can simply take an offset off and root it.

As said I can see seed on EBAY but the postage exceeds the cost of the seeds. In fact strangely the postage is virtually the same on grafted plants from similar sources and yet they are for more bulky and heavy than a packet of seed in a normal envelope would be. Agreed postage rates on small items have gone crazy in recent times since few write letters anymore, using email or smartphones now, and letters previously helped to help subsidise delivery costs.

However there does seem to be a bit of exploitation by the worlds Post Offices for small packets now since the British Post office charged me £3 second class for a tiny padded envelope to a friend in the UK the other day, considering a letter of the same size goes for 61 pence second-class, just over a fifth of the price.

[Shane]

...As said I can see seed on EBAY but the postage exceeds the cost of the seeds. In fact strangely the postage is virtually the same on grafted plants from similar sources and yet they are for more bulky and heavy than a packet of seed in a normal envelope would be...

Another factor to consider is sometimes sellers pad the shipping cost to increase their profit. They assume most people look more at the list price than the smaller print shipping cost. Also some sites take a percent of the sale price but not the shipping making this also a way to reduce listing fees (I don't know if Ebay works this way though)

[DaveW]

You certainly have to look at shipping costs when buying on EBAY. As you say Shane they are often cooked so the product costs more than it seems. I have often noticed that what appears to be the slightly dearer identical item on EBAY with free shipping is in fact cheaper than one listed as cheaper but the shipping cost is extra. Moral is always add the shipping cost in with the item for comparison if more than one person is listing them on EBAY.

Strangely enough I did some work for a chap who sold model cars on EBAY many years ago now. He said the buyers seem to prefer you list the postage and packing plus shipping costs up front, even if you charged significantly more than quoting a cheaper shipping cost to different countries if they enquired how much it would be. Very strange?

[Fatich]

You can find some here
5seeds 5$
http://www.cactus-miroshnichenko.com.ua ... 4932250977

[DaveW]

Thanks Fatich,

I will wade through the list later when I find which page they are on.

[Shane]

I talked to someone recently who said his strategy for M. luethyi is to always have several on hand in case one (inevitably) dies. He quickly removes and grafts any offsets his make to ensure a steady supply. Apparently they produce offsets at a slightly faster rate than they die for him

[Shane]

I am very curious to see how yours do Dave. Keep us updated if you sow any seeds