The asters we are introducing are suitable for pots and for cut asters. Email us for cut-asters if you want to receive cultural information. Below is cultural information for the pot asters we carry.

Variety Presentation

Milka ® 'Carmine'                                                      Milka ® 'Pink'

Milka ® 'Blue'                                                        Milka ®  'Dark'

Aster 'Pretty Wendy'

(This is the latest introduction of the Milka series and the flower is top quality with bright white very full double flowers)

Cultural information

General
During the extensive trials it appeared that our varieties can  very well be used for pot plant cultivation. Depending on the growing method used several different results can be achieved, with respect to shape and size of the plant. The great advantage of the ASTEE® as pot plant is that the consumer is offered a far better long-life product than the well known Novi-belgii or Universum single flower varieties. Of course this will give large advantages to the customer. For the retailers this longer durability of the ornamental value means a larger margin for the time period in which they have to sell this product.

Cuttings
The cuttings delivered by our company are specially cultivated for the pot Aster cultivation.

Planting for programmed growing

For the cultivation of pot ASTEE®, starting from an unrooted cutting, we advise not to begin earlier than week 12 and to root not later than week 32 (under Dutch circumstances). If one already wants to begin in week 12 one must have the possibility of darkening. A cultivation by using the natural day length is possible with plantings of unrooted cuttings from week 30 to week 32. ASk us for details if you want to grow with Blackcloth and under short days.


The growth
The cultivation develops the best with a minimum temperature of 68 F. Immediately after potting it is recommended to grow the plants under "long day" condition until one week after pinching.  Depending on the desired plant size one can pinch on 4 to 6 pairs of leaves. After new shoots of ± 0.5" length have developed one can start "short day" condition. Do not wait too long with this. The longer one postpones 'short day' condition the taller the plant will be when it blooms. If one prefers a more compact plant it is recommendable to use a growth retardant such as B9 ( ask your PGR supplier for details and usage) as soon as the shoots have a length of + 0.5" - 1" length, and to repeat this treatment every 5-7 days. This all depends on the development of the plant and which type of plant one wants to make. In practice retarding appears to have a favorable influence on the development of the buds. However in order to maintain the growth (development of shoots and buds) after retarding, it is important to give a little more nitrogen. In this way the growth is being stimulated from the bottom and retarded again from the top. By following these instructions one produces the best plants. As 'short day' condition one can maintain11-12 hours of daylight. The plants will bloom approximately 5½ to 6 weeks after the start of the 'short day' condition. In order to stimulate the development of the flower buds one can slowly increase the day length from the 4th to the last week of the short day treatment to 14 hours. This increasing of the day length is particularly important if the light intensity is decreasing again (in autumn). In spring this treatment makes no sense. The moment, during the 'short day' condition, on which one can start the increase of the day length, depends on the growth of the plant. If the plant is still too vegetative, then one should wait a little longer. If the flower buds grow too fast then one has to stop this treatment in time.

Harvesting
The plants can be sold at the moment all buds are well developed and show some color. Depending on what the market desires one can deliver riper or less ripe. Our advice however is to deliver when several flower buds have color and are open and the other buds are ready to burst.

Diseases and plagues
The Pot ASTEE® are little susceptible for diseases. The same diseases and plagues can occur with the pot aster as with the cultivation of cut flowers. One has to be alert on a Thrips attack; also especially at he moment that the plant starts to flower one has to pay attention to a mildew attack (white). Depending on your type of greenhouse, climate and cultivation method, one has to be alert on any first infection and immediately start the treatment. When a disease or plague regularly occurs with you, than execute a preventive treatment. If, for whatever reason, you should want to store your plants temporarily in cold store, which in any case should be limited to a few days only, we advice you to treat the plants in the cold store . Ask your supplier what to use best in your situation and State.
 

Crop protection


Mildew
Mildew usually occurs on the topside of the leaf. These white spots can spread very quickly. In a fully grown crop it is difficult to execute a treatment. Therefore it is better to execute a preventive spraying, before the growth goes into the short-day phase. During the short-day period also a second spraying has to be executed.


Thrips
Especially in spring and summer, the Thrips can increase in number quite unexpectedly and explosively. These Thrips mostly appear in growing points, young leaves, flower buds and flowers. The damage caused by the Thrips can differ substantially. With the Aster the deformation often occurs in young not yet fully grown leaves, in which case the specific silver discoloration often fails to appear. These Thrips can be present in flowers in great quantities and there they cause a brown discoloration of the yellow hart of the flower. Also brown spots appear on the white petals. Beside the direct damage the Thrips are capable to transfer virus, among which the Tomato spotted wilt.

Greenhouse Whitefly
The damage Greenhouse Whitefly can cause, can be divided as follows: - direct damage: sucking damage, which causes a restraining growth, and the secretion of substances, causing pollution and black (sooty) dew on the leaves.

Leafminer
Leafminer causes white/grey winding tunnels in the leaves. For an effective treatment it is very important to take frequent observations. By an early tracing the chances of a quick and effective treatment are bigger. A leafminer can be treated with chemicals in 2 phases of the life-cycle, namely as larva and as mature insect. The egg and nymph stadium are hard or not at all treatable.

Red spider mite
The small and spider-like creatures suck on the leaves, especially on the bottom side, which causes white spots. Drought and warmth increase the chance of the development of Red spider mite.

Broad mite
Contrary to the Red spider mite, the broad-mite prefers a relatively high humidity of the air. The mites are very small and mostly not visible with the naked eye. The damage is caused in the young plant parts but is mostly only visible in an older growth stadium. They are often hidden in leaf- or flower buds and grow points and there, small quantities can cause much damage. Therefore treatment has to be preventive by means of a minimal pretreatment of 1 time per month.

Our verbal as well as our written culture advices are based on a sound knowledge with regard to the Aster cultivation. Astee Flowers B.V. and Fleurizon LLC cannot and will not accept any responsibility for damage and/or other consequences. Always ask your extension agent and or chemical supplier what to use best in your situation. These situations depend on State regulations and climates