Aloe Ramosissima - Stem Burst

[EB_drygarden]

My A. Ramosissima was growing in my dry garden in zone 9b in Bay Area, CA. However, from Dec 22' until the end of January 23' we received about 20in. of rain, and consistent overnight lows in the low 40s to mid-30s. Then on Jan. 31st and Feb. 1st, it snapped down to 30 and 31, respectively. I would suspect it got a few degrees colder where I live given the nature of microclimates, as evidenced by damage on other aloes and agaves in my garden and gardens throughout the neighborhood.

Is it common for stems to burst or create fissures when rain and freezing temperatures are present? None of my plants were protected from rain or the cold (experimental nature of mine). There was no evidence of leaf breakage or jostling of the bamboo supports. Planted in Sept. 22', the roots were very healthy with new growth and greensih/yellow tips.

[mcvansoest]

Could just have burst from way too much water, not sure it needs freezing temperatures, if the stem froze I think you would see way more destruction on cellular level.

[mickthecactus]

Indeed I would expect freezing conditions to show on the leaves which seem fine.

[Spination]

Oh oh... I would have left the stem alone - perhaps filling the fissure with antibiotic ointment to fill the crack to provide some protection against pathogen
attack (yes, it really works). As it is now, you have cut the two heads off in the hopes of rooting, which to my knowledge is a futile endeavor. I have tried and failed to get ramosissima to root, and more importantly, nobody I know or heard of has got one to root either. I'd love to see updates from you on whether you can get rooting, because in my opinion, that would be a great accomplishment. That said, the leaves of ramosissima can persist for a very long time (years), and still no rooting, so on the plus side, you have a long time to try different things. I've tried rooting hormone (after the severed surface has healed/calloused over, rooting in perlite or akadama, bottom heat - all to no avail. Thankfully, these are pretty easy to grow from seed, so it's not hard to start over from scratch.

[EB_drygarden]

Could just have burst from way too much water, not sure it needs freezing temperatures, if the stem froze I think you would see way more destruction on cellular level.

An overload of water was my first impression, even considering the medium is roughly 70/30 pumice to soil. The freezing temps came into consideration for exasperating over-saturation and causing the bursting or abruptly expanding of stem diameter, but maybe not.

If it was simply overwatering, the leaves would suffer first and more versus the stem right? In my limited experience, I haven't had a plant stem suffer bursting from overwatering, but rather root & leaf decay as a result. Either way, this was a valuable lesson!

[EB_drygarden]

Oh oh... I would have left the stem alone - perhaps filling the fissure with antibiotic ointment to fill the crack to provide some protection against pathogen
attack (yes, it really works). As it is now, you have cut the two heads off in the hopes of rooting, which to my knowledge is a futile endeavor. I have tried and failed to get ramosissima to root, and more importantly, nobody I know or heard of has got one to root either. I'd love to see updates from you on whether you can get rooting, because in my opinion, that would be a great accomplishment. That said, the leaves of ramosissima can persist for a very long time (years), and still no rooting, so on the plus side, you have a long time to try different things. I've tried rooting hormone (after the severed surface has healed/calloused over, rooting in perlite or akadama, bottom heat - all to no avail. Thankfully, these are pretty easy to grow from seed, so it's not hard to start over from scratch.

Considered leaving the stem alone and/or shoring up the tear, but didn't know to use an antibiotic. What would you have used? Also, with more rain & cold on the way, I needed to act fast if the heads had any chance of surviving and rooting. If you look closely at the first picture, the portion of the stem that had burst and was cut by me, the fibers were already soft and fraying. The stems directly below the heads, however were still healthy and dense. I guess I'd rather wait years to have them to root than lose the specimen completely.

Updated pictures will surely follow, but the heads are currently in a 90/10 pumice to soil medium. Did not wait for them to callus or use rooting hormone, but the medium should suffice for drying and keeping the exposed portion dry. It's fully acclimatized to outdoor weather here, so it will remain on the back porch next to the house until spring/summer hits, then into a warmer & sunnier spot. If you have any unexplored rooting techniques, I'd be willing to try once the trauma has subsided! In the meantime, a premier spot in the garden has opened up.

[EB_drygarden]

UPDATE

After about 6mos, one of the severed A. Ramosissima branches appears to be rooting. I've only checked twice since potting them after the initial cuts were made, today being the second time.

I highly doubt it's leftover bark or outer surface material because it's been callused over for months now and all that material is dark brown or black. The roots are on the top portion of the cutting in the picture below.

Both severed branches have persisted with each pushing out 3 new leaves, with a 4th on the way for each as well.

The planting medium is roughly 90% pumice & 10% original surrounding soil, with the cutting being placed almost exclusively in pumice with the soil underneath that layer of pumice.

[EB_drygarden]

UPDATE:

A full year on and one cutting continues to root, although extremely slowly. Both cuttings were left out in the rain one (or two) nights and I had to repot them because they were showing signs of stress shortly after that. The non-rooting cutting was showing signs of rot so I cut back another 2in of stem and placed it in 100% pumice. The cutting that has roots was still firm all the way through and I placed that in about a 70/30 pumice to soil ratio. I won't be checking on it for another year given how slowly it's grown roots so hopefully it continues to persevere. Check back next February!