any growing tips on ALOE trees ?

[trioderob]

any of you guys have growing tips on aloe trees ?

Edited December 15, 2010 by trioderob

[JEFF from Trabuco Canyon CA]

What species?

[LJG]

Yeah, put it in the ground. http://www.palmtalk.org/forum/public/style_emoticons/#EMO_DIR#/smilie.gif It really is that easy for most. If you have good draining soil, don't worry about over watering. Just water liek you would other plants in your garen. I grow Aloe barberae and Aloe plicatilis and find them trouble free.

Aloe dichotoma? Hates water in winter! I lost a 15 foot tall one to rot. Still breaks my heart. http://www.palmtalk.org/forum/public/style_emoticons/#EMO_DIR#/sad.gif

[Gonzer]

Aloe bainesii is one of the more readily available "tree" species. As Mr.LG eloquently stated, as long as the soil is well-draining they can handle water, even in large pots. Pumice is a nice addition to their soil mix.

[Geoff]

In your climate (San Diego) I cannot think of a single tree Aloe species that should give you any difficulty at all (unless you try to water some the wrong time of year). I live in San Fernando Valley and have no problems with most. Aloe pillansii is a bit tricky here with our long, very cool, wet winters, and I am struggling with Aloe medishiana (so slow it's like watching a fossil changing its carbon dating numbers). The rest so far have been among the easiest of all the aloes and certainly more rewarding as they grow fast enough to see a huge difference year to year. There are over 20 species of tree aloe you can grow- try them all!

[trioderob]

Yeah, put it in the ground. It really is that easy for most. If you have good draining soil, don't worry about over watering. Just water liek you would other plants in your garen. I grow Aloe barberae and Aloe plicatilis and find them trouble free.

Aloe dichotoma? Hates water in winter! I lost a 15 foot tall one to rot. Still breaks my heart.

OK this gets me.

everything I have read about aloes says that dicotoma dont like water in

summer- not the winter, which is its growing season.

now I am confuse.

[LJG]

Feel free to water in winter then. Their wet season in Winter is about what you get here in SD with no additional irrigation in a given year. Trust me when I say they (and Aloe pillansii for that matter), do not like water in winter.

The best ones I have seen get no additional irrigation other then what God intended here in SoCal.

[trioderob]

Feel free to water in winter then. Their wet season in Winter is about what you get here in SD with no additional irrigation in a given year. Trust me when I say they (and Aloe pillansii for that matter), do not like water in winter.

The best ones I have seen get no additional irrigation other then what God intended here in SoCal.

I trust you.

so no water for my baby except rain.

was the one you had really 15' tall ???

Edited December 17, 2010 by trioderob

[LJG]

Feel free to water in winter then. Their wet season in Winter is about what you get here in SD with no additional irrigation in a given year. Trust me when I say they (and Aloe pillansii for that matter), do not like water in winter.

The best ones I have seen get no additional irrigation other then what God intended here in SoCal.

I trust you.

so no water for my baby except rain.

was the one you had really 15' tall ???

Yep. A few members here saw it. I dug it out of a guys house. The orignal ownwer planted it in the 50s. The house/garden was being gutted so I took a chance. It grew for a few years fine. Then one winter it started to rot and NOTHING I did could stop it. Once the rot starts, it doesn't stop!

[trioderob]

wow that sucks

do you think it rotted because it was too close to a lawn which was watered or

because you got alot of rain.

here is why I ask.

I have a very steep and sandy south facing hill in the back of my property,

its maybe 45 degree steep.

I just planted a small dichotoma right out against were the lawn in my backyard stops in the flat area.

was debating replanting it on the sandy and steep hill but was not sure if it would fall over

after 20 years just when it had turned into a prized tree.

if it could make it on super sandy and steep slope i would plant more

what do you think ?

Edited December 18, 2010 by trioderob

[LJG]

That sounds like the best place for it. Mine was in a planter bed. It was planted a little low and we had a wet winter. I think water built up around the base and never dried out going into spring.

Do not worry about the slope. I have seen pictures of this almost on the side of mountains it looks like.

[bahia]

I don't think I would recommend the Aloe dichotoma right next to a lawn, even if it is on the top of a slope. I think you are asking for problems at some point down the road. This species is even more difficult to keep from rotting in winter here in the SF Bay Area, and as Len says, once they start rotting, it is near impossible to stop it. Where I saw them growing in habitat, the winter rainfall was typically even less than what San Diego gets, although it was a bit more uniform year to year, and more spread out over the year with a longer potential wet season, so that the conditions in some aspects were a bit more moderate than what California throws at our native plants from year to year. This is one of the reasons that South Africans are particularly worried about global climate change affecting rainfall duration and amounts, there habitats are rather finely calibrated in the winter rainfall regions, and it wouldn't take much to push many unique plants over the edge.

Other tree aloes are so much more forgiving of less than ideal conditions, and A. africana, A. speciosa, A. thraskii, A. marlothii, A. ferox, A. plicatilis all thrive for me, even planted in predominantly clay soils and mixed in with other plantings that like more year round water. I do tend to plant the more tender ones with the warmest microclimate advantages I can create, such as in protected paved courtyards with high masonry walls and pavements to give off more stored heat in winter, and also heavily amend clay soils or plant in raised beds to improve drainage. I prefer to plant all of these on slopes rather than flat ground if given a choice. I don't typically resort to rain shelters or winter frost protection, however, and all the above species have thrived and bloomed every year for me here in Berkeley/Oakland/Alameda conditions. I also see plenty of A. barberae and A. 'Hercules' around town, that are doing well also. Aloe dichotoma, not so much, although I am sure there are a few survivors planted up against house foundations and protected from the rains that are slowly getting bigger and more beautiful every year. I remember seeing these at the Karoo Botanic Garden on a rainy day, and the trunks were just so incredibly beautiful that it created instant plant lust. If you get a chance to travel to the northern Western Cape to see them in natural habitat, don't pass up the opportunity, they are out of this world as well.

Another word of advise; if you typically get some hard frosts in winter, avoid the earliest blooming species that start to set flower buds as early as November or December, because the flower stalks are almost never as hardy as the plants themselves. Even Aloe arborescens can lose all its flowers in a winter freeze in Bay Area locations such as Atherton, San Rafael or Orinda/Moraga, and why grow such a monstrously large clumping Aloe if you seldom get to appreciate it in full bloom?

[George Sparkman]

I agree - A.dichotoma and grass (even at the edge) don't work.

Planting on slopes is really good if you need added drainage.

If you are going to move a plant from the ground it needs to be done during winter.

Otherwise you will be stressing the plant with no root regeneration in sight since they are wintergrowers.

That's why most plants that are extracted at the wrong time die (the larger the plant the longer it takes to die).

Also keep in mimd that the new root growth starts at the base of the trunk and that most of the cut or broken old roots will

collapse and become a pathway for trouble back to the base of the plant.

The more active the plant is the faster it gets over this phase.

This of course also applies to A.pillansii & A.ramosissima when in the ground.

All three species are totally different in pots & boxes.

Mine get overhead water with all the other plants (palms,cycads & succulents) all year round at an average of 1.5 inches a week.

They grow like crazy and the only one ever to die was a 7 foot A.dichotoma in a 15g that fell over and bruised the trunk , resulting in rot at that spot.

And as Len pointed out - once they start rotting you can't stop it and it is only a matter of time based on the overall size until they die.

Happy growing,

George Sparkman

Cycads-n-Palms.com

[LJG]

When I stated "That sounds like the best place for it" I was referrign to the "sandy and steep hill". Not the lawn. Lawn bad. Sandy slope good.

[Wai`anae Steve]

I had a nice A. ferox the lost it's top in a wind storm 2 years ago. We get our heavy rain in the winter here and most of my Aloes do quite well in the ground.

[trioderob]

so I pulled the small dichotoma out of the ground next to the lawn and put

it in a big pot till I can figure out where it goes.

got a smokin deal on a aloe hercules form a nursery in town that is nornally very expensive. it is a double with about 2 foot tall and 2" dia for $35 !

the tiny hercules that was in it place went where the dichotoma was

because they seem to like water.

so every thing got moved and 5 minutes after I finished the big rains hit !

anyway just want to thank you guys for taking the time to help me

this is a great forum !

Edited December 20, 2010 by trioderob

[paulgila]

a christmas haiku

by p.kelapa

it wasnt that long ago that you hated us all.

could it be the "spirit of the season,"

or just new anti-depressant meds.

[trioderob]

a christmas haiku

by p.kelapa

it wasnt that long ago that you hated us all.

could it be the "spirit of the season,"

or just new anti-depressant meds.

started drinking kava

now everyone is wonderful

even you pohonkelapa

[paulgila]

hey this is fun!

[MattyB]

It's a Christmas miracle!

[BS Man about Palms]

God Bless us, Everyone!

-T.T.

[MattyB]

I think you mean T.W. (Tall Weeds)