What's wrong with my plicatillis!!

[RCDS66]

I have couple of Kumara plicatillis plants that I acquired in August this year and planted in 12 inch clay pots. I have no experience of growing plicatillis and traditionally, it is considered a very difficult aloe to grow in my part of the world. Few experienced collectors told me that one way or the other, plicatillis will die in Islamabad area during monsoon / summers. This scares me as I really love this very unique aloe.
In the past month or so, leaf tips of both my plicatillis plants have started turning yellow. The pots are placed outdoors where they get 5-6 hours of sunlight. Temperature in my area nowadays remains between 70*F to 34*F, however, due to very strong wind at night at the top of a hill where I live, there is no frost. Nowadays I water them after 10 to 12 days. The medium is a mix of pumice, grit, sand and garden soil with good drainage.
Please have a look at the photos and guide me that is there something I should worry about? Would really appreciate any guidance / input.
Thanks
Hamad

[Paul S]

I'd say you should water them more. These come from a wet part of South Africa and would receive anything up to 1200mm/47"of rainfall a year.

[RCDS66]

Thanks Paul.
I was watering them once a week during warmer months but now it is a bit cold. But I will water them more frequently now.

[mickthecactus]

I grew plicatilis from seed and had a lovely plant which eventually got too big for me and passed on to another member of this forum. It stayed outside all summer and into greenhouse in winter so liked the UK miserable weather which may be a clue.

Alternatively just take one out of the pot and check no bugs on root.

[RCDS66]

I grew plicatilis from seed and had a lovely plant which eventually got too big for me and passed on to another member of this forum. It stayed outside all summer and into greenhouse in winter so liked the UK miserable weather which may be a clue.

Alternatively just take one out of the pot and check no bugs on root.

Thanks Mick. Taking them out of the pot in Dec would be ok? It's not terribly cold in Islamabad but it does go down to 34-33*F at night.

[coz]

Grew one from a cutting in the ground, till it received to much winter rain and started to rot. Salvaged some pieces that I have rooted in earthenware pots, the leaves I use as a indicator, if the tips of the the leaves dry out, they need water. In summer may water 2 or 3 times a week, in winter maybe once a month.

[RCDS66]

Grew one from a cutting in the ground, till it received to much winter rain and started to rot. Salvaged some pieces that I have rooted in earthenware pots, the leaves I use as a indicator, if the tips of the the leaves dry out, they need water. In summer may water 2 or 3 times a week, in winter maybe once a month.

Thanks coz

[Stan]

They are one the best to grow in pots Aloe/Kumara larger species. I have a couple in the front yard and they like watering in summer. When stressed for that the leaves turn black. Watering brings them back. In hot humid climates i would use a very course fast draining mix. Its a wonder that gets 50" of water in habitat and yet melts in Florida summer.
One last piece of advice, maybe keep it out of full sun in summer?

[RCDS66]

They are one the best to grow in pots Aloe/Kumara larger species. I have a couple in the front yard and they like watering in summer. When stressed for that the leaves turn black. Watering brings them back. In hot humid climates i would use a very course fast draining mix. Its a wonder that gets 50" of water in habitat and yet melts in Florida summer.
One last piece of advice, maybe keep it out of full sun in summer?

Stan, thanks for the input.
In light of the comments, I think I need to water my plicatillis a little more during winters. However, I was just comparing the climate of Islamabad with Hayword, CA and realised that you need to water them more frequently in summers because there is negligible rainfall. Conversely in Islamabad, June is relatively dry and hot but Jul and Aug get 24.71" of rain at an average and in between the rain spells, temperatures at times cross 105*F. That is the monsoon and I think that is where I need to be very careful about my plicatillis. I received these plants in Aug this year when the monsoon was more than half gone and I kept them under shade. I think I should keep them in pots so that I can shift them to a better location during monsoon. They may not survive high temperature and heavy rains during summers I guess.

[mickthecactus]

You know your own conditions better than we do!

[Garrett]

They are one the best to grow in pots Aloe/Kumara larger species. I have a couple in the front yard and they like watering in summer. When stressed for that the leaves turn black. Watering brings them back. In hot humid climates i would use a very course fast draining mix. Its a wonder that gets 50" of water in habitat and yet melts in Florida summer.
One last piece of advice, maybe keep it out of full sun in summer?

Total rot in Summers. Lost 2 in pots to rot and 2 smaller ones are still ok. I won't do these again here. Ramosissima does the same. Probably way too much humidity helps to kill them too. Done with these species. Florida here. SW.

[RCDS66]

After consideration all aspects of my hill top location, I decided to plant both my plicatillis in ground. They have been planted in a raised bed that is around a feet higher than the ground. They will get sun from sunrise to 11 am and would be in bright shade thereon. This place is very windy at night and even during day, there is a light breeze all the time. This means even during monsoon, the place will not be very humid. Lets see how they perform