Astrophytum seeds 30 days after flower

[LateBloomer]

So a cross that I've done in the past had zero germination and this time I was able to cross both ways.

Two astrophytum super kabuto grafts one of the fruits had brown seeds that looks alright but the other the seeds seem immature. Both crosses were down 30 days ago.

Maybe I harvested too soon but the difference in the two seems pretty large. The white seeds also have 30% more seeds. I'll let these dry for a day and sow friday. Next time I'm able to do this cross I'll leave the fruits 2 months

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[MikeInOz]

I'd be interested to see if they germinate. They look far too immature to me.

[Hanazono]

G'morning LateBloomer,

Two astrophytum super kabuto grafts one of the fruits had brown seeds that looks alright but the other the seeds seem immature. Both crosses were down 30 days ago.

Maybe I harvested too soon but the difference in the two seems pretty large. The white seeds also have 30% more seeds. I'll let these dry for a day and sow friday. Next time I'm able to do this cross I'll leave the fruits 2 months

Seeds of Super kabuto on your photo are immature. The crossing were done 30 days ago which means it was in winter in your place. The maturing time of asterias seeds depend upon seasons. It is very slow if you pollinated in autumn or winter.
When seeds were metured, the fruite becomes very soft and can not stand by itself.
You have to wait until next spring if you pollinated in winter.

Frank

[LateBloomer]

G'morning LateBloomer,

Two astrophytum super kabuto grafts one of the fruits had brown seeds that looks alright but the other the seeds seem immature. Both crosses were down 30 days ago.

Maybe I harvested too soon but the difference in the two seems pretty large. The white seeds also have 30% more seeds. I'll let these dry for a day and sow friday. Next time I'm able to do this cross I'll leave the fruits 2 months

Seeds of Super kabuto on your photo are immature. The crossing were done 30 days ago which means it was in winter in your place. The maturing time of asterias seeds depend upon seasons. It is very slow if you pollinated in autumn or winter.
When seeds were metured, the fruite becomes very soft and can not stand by itself.
You have to wait until next spring if you pollinated in winter.

Frank

Thanks this is good info… I think I notice another flower on the kabuto that has the white seeds as the mother. This Astrophytum was experimented on so was thinking it was due to that. Ill leave the fruits alone until it falls off on its own next time.

[Tom in Tucson]

G'morning LateBloomer,

Two astrophytum super kabuto grafts one of the fruits had brown seeds that looks alright but the other the seeds seem immature. Both crosses were down 30 days ago.

Maybe I harvested too soon but the difference in the two seems pretty large. The white seeds also have 30% more seeds. I'll let these dry for a day and sow friday. Next time I'm able to do this cross I'll leave the fruits 2 months

Seeds of Super kabuto on your photo are immature. The crossing were done 30 days ago which means it was in winter in your place. The maturing time of asterias seeds depend upon seasons. It is very slow if you pollinated in autumn or winter.
When seeds were metured, the fruite becomes very soft and can not stand by itself.
You have to wait until next spring if you pollinated in winter.

Frank

As usual Frank, your explanation and advice are superb!

[Tom in Tucson]

G'morning LateBloomer,

Two astrophytum super kabuto grafts one of the fruits had brown seeds that looks alright but the other the seeds seem immature. Both crosses were down 30 days ago.

Maybe I harvested too soon but the difference in the two seems pretty large. The white seeds also have 30% more seeds. I'll let these dry for a day and sow friday. Next time I'm able to do this cross I'll leave the fruits 2 months

Seeds of Super kabuto on your photo are immature. The crossing were done 30 days ago which means it was in winter in your place. The maturing time of asterias seeds depend upon seasons. It is very slow if you pollinated in autumn or winter.
When seeds were metured, the fruite becomes very soft and can not stand by itself.
You have to wait until next spring if you pollinated in winter.

Frank

Thanks this is good info… I think I notice another flower on the kabuto that has the white seeds as the mother. This Astrophytum was experimented on so was thinking it was due to that. Ill leave the fruits alone until it falls off on its own next time.

As I'm sure most Astrophytum growers are aware the fruit characteristics of non-hybrids can help you determine when it's best to harvest them:

A. myriostigma are the easiest to see. They split wide open at the top (like the eggs in 'Alien'), and if you;re not careful the seeds will spill out around the "mother".

A. ornatum is almost the same, but they tend to split along the sides, and don't burst open.

A. capricorne start by turning red, and then split near the base of the fruit. You can wait several days once they're ripe without losing many seeds.

A. coahuilense look almost the same as A. capricorne.

A. caput-medusae look a lot like A. ornatum, but are a little red (not green).

A. senile looks like i]A. capricorne[/i].

A. asterias slowly turn red when about to ripen, and then they lose strength at the bottom, and fall to one side.

[LateBloomer]

So after allowing these seeds to dry in a cool dark place in toilet paper the already brown seeds look alright and seem viable.
The white seeds have all turned brown but most seem to have dried out excessively. In the future I'll leave the seedpod on longer but if I get white seeds again I'll attempt to place them directly into the moist soil to prevent this dehydrated seed effect.

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[Hanazono]

G'morning LateBloomer,

In the future I'll leave the seedpod on longer but if I get white seeds again I'll attempt to place them directly into the moist soil to prevent this dehydrated seed effect.

Grains which we can see on your photos are not real seeds. A seed is a small portion of the grain. Almost all part of grain is husk. We can see dehydrated husk but we can not see the condition of actual seed.

My friend sent me asterias seeds by a normal envelope but the normal envelope passed through between rolls in the mailing process. As the result, all husks were crushed off. I collected all seed parts and the germination rate was normal.

Frank

[LateBloomer]

Got it. Well a know for next time I get flowers in the winter that it takes longer than usual. I’ve sown the husks regardless since why not?

Thanks for your experience hanazono

[Tom in Tucson]

G'morning LateBloomer,

In the future I'll leave the seedpod on longer but if I get white seeds again I'll attempt to place them directly into the moist soil to prevent this dehydrated seed effect.

Grains which we can see on your photos are not real seeds. A seed is a small portion of the grain. Almost all part of grain is husk. We can see dehydrated husk but we can not see the condition of actual seed.

My friend sent me asterias seeds by a normal envelope but the normal envelope passed through between rolls in the mailing process. As the result, all husks were crushed off. I collected all seed parts and the germination rate was normal.

Frank

That's the first time I've heard of a recovery after seed being crushed. Do you know of any other species that have also survived similar conditions?

[Hanazono]

G'morning Tom,

Do you know of any other species that have also survived similar conditions?

My actual experience is just astrias seeds only but seeds of all other astrophytum species are similar to, I think.

Frank

[LateBloomer]

Interestingly the seeds that were shriveled 'husks' seem to have inflated after being in germination conditions. No clue if it will germinate but they have swelled up.

Invitro I think they would germinate but might not survive normal conditions.

[Mrs.Green]

Latebloomer; I hope you don’t mind me using your post, instead of making a new one ?

I noticed this morning that the dried up flower on one of my myriostigmas had fallen off. Taking a closer look on it, I noticed that what looks as a seedcapsule had split open, just as Tom in Tucson describes. Something (very small) fell into the pot, when touching the plant. Don’t know if it could have been actual seeds or just debris from the flower. It disappeared into the ‘ground’. The plants ( two myriostigmas) flowered at the same thine about a month ago , so I tried my luck as a ‘bee’ with a small brush.

I don’t have a camera that can take extreme close-ups, so this is the best I can come up with. Using a magnifying glass, I could see what looked like seed, deeper down the seed capsule . What shows on the pic doesn’t look like seed to me, more like husk maybe as Hanazono mentioned above.

The question is, is this a seedcapsule at all? My first myriostigma flower just dried up and eventually fell off, with only the usual ‘scar’ after the flower left.

[LateBloomer]

Those looks like seeds that were aborted or just didn’t mature.

My seeds have not germinated yet but temps have been cool so I’ll have it a while longer.

[Hanazono]

G'morning Mrs. Green,

The question is, is this a seedcapsule at all? My first myriostigma flower just dried up and eventually fell off, with only the usual ‘scar’ after the flower left.

I think your pollination worked well and I can see seeds. The seedcapsul of myriostigma is opened by itself when seeds were matured. I can see the opened seedcapsule on your photo.
White "rootlike" thing is attached each seed but it is not root. Things will disappear when seeds were dried.

Frank