Astral self monk simic hybrid grapple with its extra appendages

Question

The question is pretty straight forward. Could a simic hybrid with the grappling arms make a long distance unarmed strike with the astral arms, and then bonus action grapple them and hold them in place?

Answer 1

You cannot

Both features necessitate using specific arms with the unarmed strike. Grappling Appendages says:

As an action, you can use one of them to try to grapple a creature. Each one is also a natural weapon, which you can use to make an unarmed strike... Immediately after hitting, you can try to grapple the target as a bonus action.

...and Arms of the Astral Self says:

When you make an unarmed strike with the arms on your turn, your reach for it is 5 feet greater than normal.

When you make the unarmed strike you must either use the Grappling Appendages or the Arms of the Astral Self meaning you either get the extra reach, or the bonus action grapple.