New Aloes

[AL∞Σ]

I ordered a couple plants from aloe institute. The order came in super fast too. I honestly think I received it before paying for it. John was very helpful and gave me some tips on keeping the scobinafolia happy.

I got 2 aloe scobinafolia, aloe zubb, and the toothless variety of aloe arborescens. I'm hoping to use them all one day to make more seeds. They came bare rooted except for the arborescens came as a fresh cutting. The pics below are from the day the arrived.

Does anybody how large the scobinafolia will get? Compared to an aloe vera, bigger/smaller?

I also ordered some cool seeds from Joel Lode in Spain. Aloe Sinkatana, aloe turkanensis, aloe vera, aloe marlothii, and aloe porphyrostachys var koenenii which I'm very excited about. Joel seems to be a real character as well. He clearly answered my email to him about how did he breed aloe vera seeds if they are apparently self infertile and protandrous... Some questions I had been pondering for awhile he was eager to answer.

[mickthecactus]

I'll be very interested in the Lode seeds. Some years ago I bought quite a big seed order from him and nothing germinated at all. Let's hope that yours are fine. Keep us posted!

[Jkwinston]

I'll be very interested in the Lode seeds. Some years ago I bought quite a big seed order from him and nothing germinated at all. Let's hope that yours are fine. Keep us posted!

That was my experience a long time ago, as well. It appeared to me at that time that the seeds were very old. I was specially interested in Pereskia seeds which did not deliver. I have learnt my lessson, no more orders. Jkw

[mickthecactus]

If you want reliable Aloe seeds go to Silverhill.

[AL∞Σ]

I'll keep you updated on the seeds from Joel Lode. They haven't been shipped yet. My first attempts will be the seeds I recently received from Koehres - Kakteen in germany.

I specifically asked the age on the aloe vera seeds from Joel and he said they were harvested october 2019. Personally, I am interested in making seeds from aloes that are similar to aloe vera and asked him about other species from the area.
From Joel...
"As told in the seed catalogue about Aloe vera (the real one with yellow flowers as seen on the catalogue, my mother plants are proceeding from clones collected in distinct parts of the world in the eighties to make seeds produced in the nineties in the Canary Island; then I had plants that produce seeds, and now, thank to bees, it is rather common that Aloe vera produce seeds everywhere in the Canary islands and now in Spain. Thus, I have seeds every year. The last seed harvest was in october, 2019.
Aloe vera has only yellow flowers, but there are other species within this complex:
Aloe Officinalis and Aloe porphyrostachys ssp koenenii
Also Aloe elegans and vacillans

Aloe vera comes probably from the Sultanate of Oman.
Aloe vacillans comes from Yemen; it may have red or yellow flowers in the same population (see picture)
Aloe porphyrostachyy ssp koenenii comes from Jordan
Aloe elegans comes from Ethiopia
Aloe officinalis comes from Araba Saudita"

[Melt in the Sun]

I've been growing A. scobinifolia for 2 or 3 years now. It's about 12" high and not growing much, but has started a bunch of offsets. Photo is from August, and there are a couple more babies now. Not very hardy...froze back the tips a little at around 30 degrees.

20190814_064558_resized.jpg (161.82 KiB) Viewed 19655 times

[AL∞Σ]

Thanks for the photo Melt! My smaller Scobina isn't looking too great, a couple of leaves have started to shrivel. It's kind of strange how hard and woody the leaf tips are. But I'm sure the plant will bounce back once established and the weather warms up some more. I've been bringing them inside at night to avoid a chill. 36ºF here this morning in Austin, but should swing back up to 70º in a few hours.

These seeds came in today from Joel Lode in Spain! I received seeds of Aloe Vera, Aloe Principis X, Aloe porphyrostachys ssp. koenenii, Aloe turkanensis, and a relatively toothless Aloe Marlothii.

It took right about 3 weeks from when I ordered them. Not bad considering the holidays and having to cross an ocean.

Happy New Year y'all!

[AL∞Σ]

I've got a few aloes starting to shoot up a flower spike. First is an unknown Pink Blush, then Blue Elf and the lasts this mystery. I thought it was a flower spike, but it looks more like a leaf branching off. What do you think? The plant was sold as a Aloe vera X hybrid and it hasn't flowered in the 3 years i've had it.

[AL∞Σ]

It definitely appears to be a new leaf or branch. Sure thought it was a flower spike from where it was growing from. It's a strange aloe. The leaves are a little different than my aloe vera, greener, narrower, longer. Labeled Aloe vera x aloe vera hybrid. It's orange flowered variety that came from Strictly Medicinal Seeds in Oregon. I removed 16 pups the first time I repotted it in October now there are already 12 more above the ground. I took out the mature bottom 4 or 5 leaves to use in smoothies and to also give some space for the pups to grow.

[eremophila]

I'll keep you updated on the seeds from Joel Lode. They haven't been shipped yet. My first attempts will be the seeds I recently received from Koehres - Kakteen in germany.

I specifically asked the age on the aloe vera seeds from Joel and he said they were harvested october 2019. Personally, I am interested in making seeds from aloes that are similar to aloe vera and asked him about other species from the area.
From Joel...
"As told in the seed catalogue about Aloe vera (the real one with yellow flowers as seen on the catalogue, my mother plants are proceeding from clones collected in distinct parts of the world in the eighties to make seeds produced in the nineties in the Canary Island; then I had plants that produce seeds, and now, thank to bees, it is rather common that Aloe vera produce seeds everywhere in the Canary islands and now in Spain. Thus, I have seeds every year. The last seed harvest was in october, 2019.
Aloe vera has only yellow flowers, but there are other species within this complex:
Aloe Officinalis and Aloe porphyrostachys ssp koenenii
Also Aloe elegans and vacillans

Aloe vera comes probably from the Sultanate of Oman.
Aloe vacillans comes from Yemen; it may have red or yellow flowers in the same population (see picture)
Aloe porphyrostachyy ssp koenenii comes from Jordan
Aloe elegans comes from Ethiopia
Aloe officinalis comes from Araba Saudita"

I have tried seeds from Joel a couple times and they either don't germinate or they turn into open pollinated hybrids. A lot of people like Joel have good intentions and are strongly devoted to succulent plants, but unfortunately his pollination practices are unrefined and probably done by the bees. The plants from Jordan once known as Aloe koenenii are all one clone of Aloe porphyrostachys brought there from Saudi Arabia many moons ago. Per a recent book on the Aloes of Arabia by the expert Tom McCoy, the plants around Petra do not set seed. Whatever seed Joel is sending around are garden hybrids. I've grown it out before, ten years ago and it's just a garden mutt.

Reliable seed is hard to come by anymore with most of the old explorers either dead or retired. When Rod and Rachel from Silverhill Seeds passed away, the variety once offered suffered a huge blow. I tend to trust the South African species they still offer, but I'd take any other species offered with a grain of salt.

[mickthecactus]

You make a very good and valid point plus the loss of Rod and Rachel is huge.

[AL∞Σ]

Thanks for that info about Joel’s seeds I’ll keep it in mind. I’ve been too busy to germinate the seeds. I need to asap. I tried to cross pollinate the aloe pink blush and aloe blue elf. No seed pods formed an the pink blush surprisingly but I did get some on the blue elves. My biggest aloe Vera is blooming now. Nothing else is in flower at the moment so I’ll try to save some pollen for later.

[AL∞Σ]

Awhile back I posted about a strange leaf growing in between the leaf and stem on this aloe Vera hybrid. It’s progressed quickly. I removed some frost damaged leaves to expose it.

[AL∞Σ]

Aloha Aloe Fans! My aloe collection has somehow survived the big texas blackout freeze of 2021 and I have several aloe veras and aloe vera hybrids about to flower that I plan on cross pollinating. I kept the aloes in a dry tool shed that dropped down about 25F.

I unfortunately noticed a few aloes that are infected with aphids. Aloephagus myersi.

Does anybody have experience with these fuzzy white aphids and how did you get rid off them?

All of my plants are in pots, so if I have to.... I can take them out of the soil and pressure spray them before transplanting in fresh soil. It's safe to assume all of my aloes (about 75-100) have the aphids

[AL∞Σ]

here's a picture of the little SOB's

aloe-aphid.jpg (195.08 KiB) Viewed 18291 times

[mickthecactus]

How did the Lode seeds do?

[AL∞Σ]

Like many of my plant projects it got delayed and I haven't tried growing the Lode seeds.

[toditd]

Does anybody have experience with these fuzzy white aphids and how did you get rid off them?

I had aphids on an aloe, (although I'm really not certain of the aphid species or even genera), but I easily solved the problem with a blast of water to clean the sap suckers and their honeydew balls out of the plant and then treated with a cheap, general purpose insecticide that listed both aphids and ants on the label. (Ants were present and they are known to farm aphids.) Only one of my aloes was affected and I haven't seen any aphids since. See this topic.

[AL∞Σ]

The aphids or mealybugs have not gone away. they live in the smallest of crevices on the aloe which there are many. Diatomaceous Earth has helped. Since I eat the aloe filets from the aloe vera, I don't want to spray with a pesticide.
Anyways, my project of making aloe vera seeds has been a success. I was able to use pollen from an aloe vera hybrid to pollinate aloe vera and vice versa.
The aloe vera hybrid is the one in the middle with the light colored pot and the blockier flowers.

[Epiphyte]

Sorry if I missed it in this thread, but why are you interested in growing Aloe vera from seed?

[AL∞Σ]

That's a good question @Epiphyte I wanted to see if it could be done. I had read more than once that aloe vera cannot reproduce by seed. I couldn't find anybody else doing it besides Joel Lode in Europe.
the origins and genetics of aloe vera intrigue me. Has the same plant been passed on through off shoots for 1000's of years? Is there no genetic diversity at all?
Also if aloe vera can be propagated through seed, then improvements can be made for "better" aloe vera plants. It seems silly that every other agricultural crop goes through improvements through selective breeding, but not aloe vera.
What I really want to do is cross aloe vera with other medicinal aloes like sinkatana, arborescens, ferox and select interesting individuals from the offspring.

[Epiphyte]

Coincidentally I recently sunburned myself and ended up using a sad leaf from my sad plain green Aloe vera. Didn't want to sacrifice a big plump leaf from my variegated plant. The sap didn't seem to provide much relief. Perhaps I should have taken a bath in sap from my plain green Aloe arborescens of which I have tons of. I had totally forgotten that it is supposed to be medicinal.

Never heard the theory of Aloe vera solely being grown from offshoots. It's hard to imagine that being true. It's too bad that genetic testing isn't super cheap, quick and easy yet.

That's interesting that you'd like to cross A. vera with other medicinal Aloes. Personally I don't understand the medicinal aspect enough to guess the consequences of hybridization. Are all medicinal Aloes edible?

For the 1st time my Aloe ferox bloomed at the same time as my variegated arborescens. Strangely, the only seed pods that formed on my ferox were from my own efforts at cross-pollination. Not sure how the bees and hummingbirds managed to drop the ball. I sowed a few of the seeds and none of the seedlings are variegated. No idea on how to check if any of the seedlings are more medicinal than the parents.

After all my variegated arborescens finished blooming my variegated vera (VV) decided to bloom for the 1st time. Usually I thought that green vera is an early bloomer. Luckily enough I managed to find a variegated camperi at a local nursery that was in bud but there wasn't much overlap in blooming with the VV. No pods formed on the camperi but the VV did end up with around a dozen or so pods, several of which were variegated, so I'm guessing that a decent percentage of the seedlings will be variegated.

[熊仲麟]

I'll keep you updated on the seeds from Joel Lode. They haven't been shipped yet. My first attempts will be the seeds I recently received from Koehres - Kakteen in germany.

I specifically asked the age on the aloe vera seeds from Joel and he said they were harvested october 2019. Personally, I am interested in making seeds from aloes that are similar to aloe vera and asked him about other species from the area.
From Joel...
"As told in the seed catalogue about Aloe vera (the real one with yellow flowers as seen on the catalogue, my mother plants are proceeding from clones collected in distinct parts of the world in the eighties to make seeds produced in the nineties in the Canary Island; then I had plants that produce seeds, and now, thank to bees, it is rather common that Aloe vera produce seeds everywhere in the Canary islands and now in Spain. Thus, I have seeds every year. The last seed harvest was in october, 2019.
Aloe vera has only yellow flowers, but there are other species within this complex:
Aloe Officinalis and Aloe porphyrostachys ssp koenenii
Also Aloe elegans and vacillans

Aloe vera comes probably from the Sultanate of Oman.
Aloe vacillans comes from Yemen; it may have red or yellow flowers in the same population (see picture)
Aloe porphyrostachyy ssp koenenii comes from Jordan
Aloe elegans comes from Ethiopia
Aloe officinalis comes from Araba Saudita"

I have tried seeds from Joel a couple times and they either don't germinate or they turn into open pollinated hybrids. A lot of people like Joel have good intentions and are strongly devoted to succulent plants, but unfortunately his pollination practices are unrefined and probably done by the bees. The plants from Jordan once known as Aloe koenenii are all one clone of Aloe porphyrostachys brought there from Saudi Arabia many moons ago. Per a recent book on the Aloes of Arabia by the expert Tom McCoy, the plants around Petra do not set seed. Whatever seed Joel is sending around are garden hybrids. I've grown it out before, ten years ago and it's just a garden mutt.

Reliable seed is hard to come by anymore with most of the old explorers either dead or retired. When Rod and Rachel from Silverhill Seeds passed away, the variety once offered suffered a huge blow. I tend to trust the South African species they still offer, but I'd take any other species offered with a grain of salt.

what's meaning of "with a grain of salt"?

[mickthecactus]

They may not be entirely what they say they are.

[AL∞Σ]

I'll keep you updated on the seeds from Joel Lode. They haven't been shipped yet. My first attempts will be the seeds I recently received from Koehres - Kakteen in germany.

I specifically asked the age on the aloe vera seeds from Joel and he said they were harvested october 2019. Personally, I am interested in making seeds from aloes that are similar to aloe vera and asked him about other species from the area.
From Joel...
"As told in the seed catalogue about Aloe vera (the real one with yellow flowers as seen on the catalogue, my mother plants are proceeding from clones collected in distinct parts of the world in the eighties to make seeds produced in the nineties in the Canary Island; then I had plants that produce seeds, and now, thank to bees, it is rather common that Aloe vera produce seeds everywhere in the Canary islands and now in Spain. Thus, I have seeds every year. The last seed harvest was in october, 2019.
Aloe vera has only yellow flowers, but there are other species within this complex:
Aloe Officinalis and Aloe porphyrostachys ssp koenenii
Also Aloe elegans and vacillans

Aloe vera comes probably from the Sultanate of Oman.
Aloe vacillans comes from Yemen; it may have red or yellow flowers in the same population (see picture)
Aloe porphyrostachyy ssp koenenii comes from Jordan
Aloe elegans comes from Ethiopia
Aloe officinalis comes from Araba Saudita"

I have tried seeds from Joel a couple times and they either don't germinate or they turn into open pollinated hybrids. A lot of people like Joel have good intentions and are strongly devoted to succulent plants, but unfortunately his pollination practices are unrefined and probably done by the bees. The plants from Jordan once known as Aloe koenenii are all one clone of Aloe porphyrostachys brought there from Saudi Arabia many moons ago. Per a recent book on the Aloes of Arabia by the expert Tom McCoy, the plants around Petra do not set seed. Whatever seed Joel is sending around are garden hybrids. I've grown it out before, ten years ago and it's just a garden mutt.

Reliable seed is hard to come by anymore with most of the old explorers either dead or retired. When Rod and Rachel from Silverhill Seeds passed away, the variety once offered suffered a huge blow. I tend to trust the South African species they still offer, but I'd take any other species offered with a grain of salt.

That’s interesting info about Aloe porphyrostachys in Jordan.
I never got around to germinating the aloe seeds I collected, including Aloe porphyrostachys. I think I am intimidated by germinating aloe seeds. Can someone please show me a simple foolproof technique to successfully germinate aloe seeds?
I did get an Aloe porphyrostachys plant and also a. Sinkatana from arid lands nursery last year. The sinkatana is flowering already and the Aloe porphyrostachys is looking good.
I’ve written a little above about dealing with aloe mites/mealy bugs and ants. I seem to have them somewhat under control. I spray them with an oil nano-product called purecrop1 and also dust them with diatomaceous earth.