Hi-I notice that you're both in zones 8 and 9, so just a word of caution here: a.polyphylla is completely intolerant of temperatures >85° inside the pot--cool roots are a must. Speaking from personal experience, keep the pots themselves shaded completely from direct sun. You might even put a few ice cubes around the edges of the pots if it gets very warm. Here are a few of mine just a couple of hours ago. I don't worry unless the temp goes below 25°, and mild snow is a relief to them: The 2 largest pots are 22", and the other 2 are 17", and in need of larger pots. As a rule of thumb, the pot should be at least 2" wider than the leaf span. Happy growing! Rick in CT

Thank you for all the great feedback. My primary worry has shifted from temperature to root rot. But I guess there isn't a whole lot I can do about drainage until I re-pot or get another one to practice on. I'm hoping by refraining from watering until a moisture meter reads dry at the middle of the pot will help it from drowning. I just have to hope that the wetness before it begins to dry out isn't too much for the plant. If it does do well, then that is good news and means the roots can handle high moisture levels for 2-3 days. @Stush I don't have any good ground spots with the right lighting conditions to bury it. Plus I wanted to try moving it to a full sun position when winter nears. @wanto I'm a nut when it comes to growing things that shouldn't be grown in my local environment. I tried to think about everything that could logically help the plant without needing daily attention. I will definitely come back in later months with updates. This forum was my primary source for ideas, supplemented by the expert knowledge of the head propagator at UC Berkeley botanical gardens. @david I was thinking about moving it to a full sun position when winter and rain come. But I will keep it very tilted to avoid the crown rot I see reported on the forums.

Soil: 50-50 turface + perlite + slow release fertilizers. I bury the pot in the ground to keep the roots cool. Plant is at an angle to prevent water from pooling in the center. Full sun. Watered daily in the summer. Stays in that spot unprotected except when nights are regularly below freezing (December to March). January and February it sits in my garage - cool, dry, no light. December and March, if there is a prolonged very cold and wet period, I will move it under cover. It needs a wide pot, but the root system is not deep. The absolute most important factor, in my opinion, is that the root zone must be kept cool. A potted plant exposed to typical ambient summer air temperatures (80+ F) will lead to failure unless your climate is cool i.e. Pacific NW. These are alpine plants, not "desert" plants. They like strong sun, cool and damp soil, and good air flow. x

I wanted to show the progress of my two A. polyphylla, but having issues adding the photos so bare with me a moment... I got them both in late March of this year. I had some better photos where my hand was beside them when I first potted them up, but I’m having trouble getting them from the cloud. Hopefully you can get the idea. Ok so the first two are the same plant end of March 2020 and then today. It’s grown quite a bit but no spiral yet. The ruler in the top pic shows that it was about 4 inches across in March. Edited to add: I finally got the March pictures from the cloud. WHEW! Here is the smaller one. It’s grown quite a few new leaves & has filled out. No spiral here yet, either. I’m happy they made it through the heat of the Summer. We’ve had some cold nights down in the 40’s F. I haven’t covered them so far. Do I need to? Thanks in advance for any advice you can share.