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Many different beautiful 5 ribbed forms of
'Super Kabuto', which differ for the diverse pattern of the spots are
now available. It would be difficult to mention them all: they range
from completely white forms ('white-type'), to forms with woolly spots
('snow-type'), to forms with a maculation like the shape of fly's wings
('zebra-type' or 'V type').
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Cultivation is not too difficult in a
greenhouse, although grows quite slowly. The plants need a
loose well-drained
mineral soil. They need a good amount of
light. Watering can be done weekly during
summertime, if the weather is sunny enough, with a little
fertilizer added. Kept this way, plants will show a
healthy, although slow
growth. They are
frost hardy to -4° (-10°) C
Be careful: The epidermis of Superkabuto is harder than in
the normal asterias and cracks easily if plants are overwatered.
Propagation: By
seeds, remembering that
seedlings dislike strong
light and
dry conditions and need to be
repotted frequently. Eventually, as they become mature, they attain
a maximum size of 8-10 cm (20) cm. However, old plants become
senile and have a tendency to succumb to
disease and a weak
root system. At this
stage, as is well known, they
die suddenly. So, after they reach 10 cm in diameter grow them
slowly, and adopt a new repotting period, using intervals of every 2 - 3
years. Additionally grow them under drier conditions or with stronger
sunlight. But plants are often
grafted to accelerate growth as they would generally take at least a
five years to reach
maturity on their own, but the grafted plants are typical rather
tall growing, compared with plants on their own roots that are usually
more flat to the
ground. |
Cultivation
and Mail Sale 
