Something to discuss Solved

[Ernie]

This pictures shows 2 Aloes growing on my decking area where they have been for the last 4 weeks and despite temperatures falling to zero they are still alive.

The one on the right is the one I would like some thoughts on. I got this plant 23 years ago when it was stemless. It was labled as Aloe Megalacantha I am fairly sure thats what it is but does anyone disagree.

Second point- The disclouration at the end of the mature leafs has been present for sometime and long before I started to put it out in the fresh air. Is this normal for this plant as it ages or has it been neglected by me. (There was a period of 5 years when the unwanted plants following my sell off did not recieve much TLC)
[attachment 2533 DSCN1892.JPG]

[Ernie]

A closer view
[attachment 2534 DSCN1893.JPG]

[Ernie]

Hope someone can comment on this thread. Aloenut's thoughts would be appreciated.

[Aloenut]

Ernie,

Should be Aloe melanacantha. There is an Aloe megalacantha from East Africa but I do not know of it being in cultivation. I will have a look in Reynolds over the weekend.

Aloenut

[David Neville]

Yup, the plant on the right is definitely Aloe melanacantha.

Some consider the beautiful and popular Aloe erinacea to be a variant of this same species.

I have grown this plant for many years without leaf tip dieback. Many aloes suffer from drying of the leaf tips, but this can usually be prevented by giving just a little more water. I suspect that the plant in the photo has been too dry for too long in hot weather, and this has caused the dieback.

I have seen this species growing in the wild in South Africa, but under the hot African sun it is always a rich bronze-red in colour, rather than dull green. It offsets (both in the wild and in cultivation) to make a generally short-stemmed, multi-headed cluster of rosettes.

It tends to be more free flowering than A. erinacea, but some people do have trouble flowering it at all. Living in Southampton, here on the south coast of the UK, I am lucky because we reportedly get the most hours of sunshine per year of any city in the UK, so shy-flowering species are sometimes more forthcoming.

David Neville
Southampton & District BCSS

[Ernie]

Any thoughts why this plant has never offset its always been a single stem.

[David Neville]

I suspect the reason that the plant hasnt produced offsets is partly because it is relatively underpotted. That is certainly the case with my own plant, which I have had for 15-20 years; the single rosette is approx 30cm diameter, but it is growing in a pot smaller than that, and the pot is chock full of strong roots. If it were given more root room I suspect that offsetting would have begun by now.
This is a relatively slow growing species though, and I have never seen a small, immature plant offsetting unless it has been damaged in the crown.

David Neville - Southampton & District Branch BCSS

[Colin Walker]

Hi Ernie,

I agree with Frank and David - this is definitely Aloe melanacantha. I've never seen A. megalacantha in the flesh, but would like to, so if anyone just happens to have a spare seedling, please ever so.