More Aloes

[Christian]

For what it's worth, I had excellent germination of the A. polyphylla seed the BCSS distributed a couple of years ago or so. They were sown in January in fairly cool conditions (certainly below 20 degrees). I rubbed off the papery wings of the seeds with sandpaper, otherwise the seeds got no special treatment and were sown as normal and kept moist but not soggy. They all germinated. I have lost two seedlings subsequently, not sure why, but the remaining ones are still outside now and coming on well. I find them quite fast growing at this stage.

Christian

[chrisg]

Here are a few of mine, they live outside in summer and are mainly in a cold frame over winter.

Aloe arborescens. I have a couple of these which have different colours variegation.

Aloe Mawii, one of my fvourites

Purple flush, actually holds its colour quite well:

Saponaria variagata,

And my all time favourite plant, which sadly suddenly up and died for a reason I could not figure out at all. The new one is tiny and still in not spiralling (which it wont do until after it flowers for the first time).

[McFarland]

Nice little haemanthifolia there Ernie, I have 4 plants myself of similar or slightly smaller size from tissue culture. They have been kept cool, damp and shady so far and they are doing really well. Hope yours survives, they are notoriously difficult

[Clarke Brunt]

May i also ask bout polyphylla seeds? I have some i got from Silverhills (South Africa) last autumn, and i tried sowing 6 or sow by putting them in a jar of water for a while, and once they looked to be sprouting i put them into a pot to try and grow....but i lost them all? So i was wondering where i wnet wrong, as i still have a few seeds left and would like another go. Not sure if i kept the pot too dry, too warm/cool, planted them too deep etc etc also are you supposed to put the seeds a certain way in the pots doing it this way, or can you just literally chuck em in the pot and dust over with a bit of compost?

I can't say much about the 'soak in water until germination' method, as I haven't used it. The one time I tried with a few, they didn't even germinate. But others report great success, so I can't argue. I still stick with sandpapering the wings off - stick between two sheets of sandpaper and rub about - then sow normally. I don't get 100% - I'd say 50% would be good - but it's hassle free, and no worries about transferring from water to soil.

[Herts Mike]

May i also ask bout polyphylla seeds? I have some i got from Silverhills (South Africa) last autumn, and i tried sowing 6 or sow by putting them in a jar of water for a while, and once they looked to be sprouting i put them into a pot to try and grow....but i lost them all? So i was wondering where i wnet wrong, as i still have a few seeds left and would like another go. Not sure if i kept the pot too dry, too warm/cool, planted them too deep etc etc also are you supposed to put the seeds a certain way in the pots doing it this way, or can you just literally chuck em in the pot and dust over with a bit of compost?

I can't say much about the 'soak in water until germination' method, as I haven't used it. The one time I tried with a few, they didn't even germinate. But others report great success, so I can't argue. I still stick with sandpapering the wings off - stick between two sheets of sandpaper and rub about - then sow normally. I don't get 100% - I'd say 50% would be good - but it's hassle free, and no worries about transferring from water to soil.

Mine were done by the water method and transplanting is certainly the make or break time. The first time I tried I had the compost far too wet assuming that as they had germinated in water they would want to remain wet. They all rotted off. This time I had the compost moist, made a tiny hole to take the emerging root then very gently filled that hole. Once they were all done the pot was put into a sealed plastic bag and placed in my cool porch which receives very little direct sunlight. They stayed in that bag until they became big enough to transplant into their own pots which I kept moist but still out of direct sunlight. All have survived and prospered,.

[Herts Mike]

Nice little haemanthifolia there Ernie, I have 4 plants myself of similar or slightly smaller size from tissue culture. They have been kept cool, damp and shady so far and they are doing really well. Hope yours survives, they are notoriously difficult

Mine had a severe infestation of red spider mite and sadly popped it's clogs.

[Herts Mike]

Polyphylla seedling pics-

[georged]

One thing I've noticed with A.polyphylla seedlings is how much their growth rate varies.I have several from last year and the largest is filling a 6" pot while others have barely got going and some which did not do much last year picked up and got going this year.

Maybe it is a suvival strategy, the smaller ones waiting to take over if the larger ones get destroyed.

[Herts Mike]

Polyphylla seems almost as common as arborescens these days...............

[georged]

Yes, it's all Clarke's fault.