Do you grow Aloe arborescens (torch aloe)? Let us know your experiences and what you like best about it!

@hawk7102

6 ай бұрын

Thank you for your highly educated video you shared with the people. Impressive.

@QueenofSucculents

6 ай бұрын

Thank you for a wonderful comment. Very glad you liked it! @@hawk7102

@vbmoonrocksi4902

5 ай бұрын

I'm going to get one and start to propagate it. Should I plant it in the early spring I guess right?

@QueenofSucculents

5 ай бұрын

Yes. @@vbmoonrocksi4902

I like gold tooth aloe during flower! They are beautiful as well!

What a wonderful and pleasant video and narrative. Was looking for info as I just got a 15 year old plant today.

I was just visiting Monterey and enjoyed seeing the stands of Aloe Arborescens along the coast. It's such a lovely plant!

@QueenofSucculents

5 ай бұрын

I totally agree!

Namibian here! I grow a few varieties on my game farm, they sure look good in a xeriscape.❣

@QueenofSucculents

6 ай бұрын

How marvelous to hear from a Namibian! Thank you for the comment. So interesting!

Debra, aloe vera in our Phoenix metro yard became invasive! This Fall, I discarded nearly 100 plants and hope to replant the area with lantana. I’m keeping a giant container with aloe vera instead.

@QueenofSucculents

6 ай бұрын

Oh! I'd forgotten how well Aloe vera does in Phoenix. Thank you for the reminder. Geez, it's invasive?! Now that I didn't know...!

Thank you Deborah for sharing that is very gorgeous. I have quite few aloes myself they are ready to bloom.

@QueenofSucculents

6 ай бұрын

Thanks for commenting, Martha! I'm very glad you liked it. Enjoy Aloe season!

Wonderful info and photos…thanks so much!

@QueenofSucculents

6 ай бұрын

Thank YOU for a lovely comment!

It's very pretty, it looks a lot like the Aloe Cameronii, except for the color, of course.

@QueenofSucculents

6 ай бұрын

Yes! Very similar, but cameronii doesn't form mounded colonies. I love it too!

I really enjoy your video's 🎉❤

@QueenofSucculents

6 ай бұрын

That's so nice of you Patty! Thank you!

Great video! Thank you for sharing. I love aloes- they’re probably my favorite group of succulents (caudiciforms are right up there with aloes on my list: aloes are #1 for beauty and caudiciforms are #1 for their “weirdness factor.”). I’m definitely no “aloe snob” and I practically drool when I see pictures of A. Arborescens on the bluffs at Laguna. I love how you’ve used them in your own garden, too! Do they need to be in the ground a while before they bloom? We’re in the “inland empire” area and there are far too few people planting aloes in their yards; consequently, we purchased one from a local nursery a few years ago as a way-overgrown 5-gal plant (many of the succulents and virtually all of the aloes at that nursery are overgrown for the size of their containers; I suppose it reflects on the fact that too few people in this area are buying succulents). Ours is going into its second winter in the ground and it has yet to bloom. I’m wondering if this might be a result of it being so pot-bound in its container? I cut the roots on the outside of the root ball before I planted it, but perhaps I should have been more vigorous in the way I did that? We have had a number of other aloes bloom in equally crowded pots before I got them planted- brevifolia, ‘Cynthia Giddy’, plicatilis, x nobilis, and others, so I’m wondering why the arborescens has been reluctant to bloom. Any thoughts? Off-topic, but related to pot-bound plants, we purchased a Kalenchoe beharensis at Rogers Gardens a number of years ago in a 1 or 2 gal pot. It was, of course, in great shape when we bought it but alas, I neglected to pot it up for a long time and it became stunted. I finally did pot it up a couple of years ago, but it’s been stunted ever since- I don’t think it’s had a leaf any longer than ~3” for years. I saw that you commented on your website that “Fang” prefers coastal conditions, but I don’t know if the same applies to the species? I’ve double-checked your books, but I didn’t find anything that might explain why it’s apparently so unhappy here in our inland area. We’re in a microclimate that’s almost completely frost-free: we grow fruiting mangoes and bananas and have grown papayas in the past. We’re up on a hill with excellent cold-air drainage to the valley below, so I don’t think cold is a factor. Your comment on. “Fang” preferring temps below 85 got me to wondering if that might be part of why it was so happy at Rogers and not so much here.

@QueenofSucculents

6 ай бұрын

Hi Mike -- Yes, it can take several years for aloes to become well established and mature enough to bloom. Aloe arborescens in my own garden took five years, and I have other species of Aloe that have yet to produce flower spikes. They need enough sun to stimulate blooming but not so much that they sunburn. Good soil, fertilizer and water all factor in, as does the type of aloe. I've noticed dwarf ones tend to bloom ASAP. These mid-sized aloes have bloomed annually for me from the first year onward: 'Blue Elf', camperi, distans, 'Little Gem', maculata, and striata (coral aloe). I'm still waiting for acutissima, arborescens 'Variegata', aristata, brevifolia, cameronii, dorotheae, erinacea, glauca, speciosa, thraskii and vera. Re Kalanchoe beharensis, the closer you get to the coast, the more lush and vigorous it tends to be. The species drops its leaves in less than ideal conditions, as does 'Fang'. I suspect you're too far inland, but with the right microclimate it might do OK: Avoid strong sun and high heat in summer (shade in the afternoon is a must), give rich soil, regular water, and (good luck with this one): morning fog.

@mikebishop7838

6 ай бұрын

Hi Debra, Thank you for all the additional information! I have never fertilized any of our aloes, but I've made a note to do just that come Spring. The leaves on the A. arborescens look pretty small in comparison to those in pics from the coastal areas. I'm wondering if it may not have rooted out very much into the ground at this point. We have very well draining mostly decomposed granite for soil, so I thought it would have taken off once in the ground. After what you've said about K. beharensis, I'm very surprised mine is even alive at this point. :( It's in a pot on our back patio where it gets blasted by full summer afternoon sun- in addition to reflected heat from the patio and the house. It's definitely going to get a new location, and come warmer weather, I'll repot it in better soil and give it a light feeding. Thank you again so much!

Wonderful video. Very informative. Here in South Texas, we really don't have too many problems with mites or agave snout beetles . They are there , but not they are not as prolific as they are in the west coast or southwest

@QueenofSucculents

6 ай бұрын

May they never find you! Thanks for the comment!

Are these plants related to Kniphofia? Thanks.

@QueenofSucculents

6 ай бұрын

No, entirely different, but they do look similar.