What has happened to my Aloes?

[Herts Mike]

This is Aloe imalotensis and Aloe suffulta which have suddenly developed brown leaf markings. I have checked them both with a magnifying glass and nothing to be seen and depotted them but roots quite healthy. When I lifted up imalotensis the growing point just dropped off.


Anybody got any ideas?

[purzo]

Sorry to hear about your plants Mike. I'm no expert on Aloes but I recently lost my A. erinacea which similarly seemed to rot from the centre. I put it down to the extreme (for UK) hot weather we had during the summer. Hopefully somebody more knowledgeable on Aloes will have an opinion.

[KeithG]

As a newbie I am certainly no expert but is it possible that the plants were badly weakened over the winter and have just taken a long time to die? I lost a couple of noid thin leaved Aloe over the summer in a similar manner and that was what I have put it down to as they never really got going at all this year.
I almost lost an A.arborescens after the winter of 2012 - the mature growth took an age to finally keel over but pups did emerge from the base and grow (and ultimately survive) whilst that old growth was dying.

Just a thought.

[ElizabethM]

Could this possibly be Aloe rust or another fungus?

[Herts Mike]

Not familiar with Aloe rust?

[ElizabethM]

Sorry, all I really know about Aloe rust is that it's some sort of fungus that results in the plant having spots that resemble rust stains. Photos I've seen look similar to your top photo.