Would not abort, says me - that's the problem of storing plants for the winter...you have to shut down some processes (PRO cess ease, in the Canadian manner).

My A. plicatilis use to flower in March/April. I think yours is growing its flower stalk that early because it gets confused by being put it in the dark garage.

I don't know though if moving the plant indoors now would allow the development of the flower stalk to continue. More light certainly might be good, but room temps might be too high for it at this time of year.

Jordi

I think I am going to try it for a few weeks and see what happens. We keep the house relatively cool (oil prices too high!) so maybe it will work.

If this does not work...or after it flowers...I wonder if garaging it again will REALLY freak it out? Perhaps I am overthinking this a bit....?

Tom

Hey guys my Plicatillis was planted in a pot two years ago with the nice red berry looking flowers on them at the time, now two years later not one sign of a stem in sight, it gets direct sun and indirect sunlight depending on the time of day mostly morning and and partial at noon time. when I purchased my cutting it was planted in full sun all day at Pismo beach, Ca. any help for my Plic, such as soil, ect...
Thanks,
Greg

Tom,
a large Aloe Plicatilis is one of the trophy plants on my wish list. I've never seen one in bloom. Care to post a pic?

whip -

I most definitely will - if the stalks extend and open. Right now, no guarantees...they are just starting to peek out between the leaves...

T

Here is the big girl at the UCI Botanical garden, blooming in February. She's about 6'x6':

Wowza.

I have to say, though...my fans look plumper than those...perhaps I coddle mine too much!

T

It looks better in person, could not get the whole thing in the frame.

This one I think lives on winter rain only (no supplemental irrigation), about 12"/year.

A longer stalk on the left, and a few shorter ones in the middle and on the right...

stalk:

Plant sideview...enjoying the southern sun:

We'll see if I can get this to continue.

Tom

Attaboy.

Give it as much sun as you can, but indoors without a skylight overhead, it probably still isn't enough to really fully develop a fully formed flower, especially at your latitude with weak winter sun. Can you also spot a grow light on it to increase the light levels?

I've had problems with this species as a container plant where it didn't get full sun in winter, with periods of week long rains it would often start rotting out. Unless one lives in a desert or hot inland location here in California well away from the coast, full winter sun is always preferable for Aloe plicatilis to grow best and bloom.

You're not able to provide optimal, but you're able to supply 'good enough' conditions.

This is my eternal quandary with X's advice about the winter-grower conundrum. He gets great results by doing exactly opposite of what most folks would do, and his sublime results are proof of the sound advice he dispenses....

OTOH, if you have a room where 'winter-growers' can grow, and they do so (to the point of flowering, or at least wanting to), why shut it down, dial it back, be the soporific to your plants?

IMO, Tom can't provide optimal results ever, so why not get it to grow when it wants to (also including flowering); Tom, I mean no disrespect, as I'm sure you know, but Connecticut isn't Irvine (and if you've ever been to Irvine, you'll be thankful for where you are now, plicatilis farming notwithstanding).

hoov,

More pictures of the mother lode, please. That's just an awesome plant, isn't it?

I forget who I stole this one from - maybe Juergen?

{{gwi:626737}}

Wow!!!! All of the pics are awesome!

Well, I found my plic a nice bright spot so it could do its flowering thing, and these are the thanks I get?

Seriously, looks to me like the flowers are aborting. I knew not to expect too much from these, but this isn't what it should be doing...is it? Any ideas?

Thanks!

Tom

Talking about Aloe plicatillis I just recently purchased 2 new plants last Saturday at my local farmers market for only 5 bucks a piece yah only $5. Bucks for a 1 gal. Plant . The stocks are about 3 inches long and of course the fans (leafs) are about anothet foot long very nice bargain for me.
still no stem in site on my other one but I will make sure it gets plenty of sun.
Grrg

:( Sorry for your loss. T. I think mine failed the first time it tried blooming, as well. Next year might be better.

Good bargain, Grrg!

Hoovb -

Any theory on why it failed (or, more specifically, why mine has)? I wouldn't have expected it to be a 'not enough water' thing based on the flowering plant that you posted earlier in this thread...that one looked pretty thirsty!

Also, and perhaps this is an X question (fellow northeast garager that he is)...would there be any harm in returning the plant to my garage if I wanted to free up a little south-facing window space for other plants (since it has let me down anyway)?

Thanks!

T

T, sorry for not even mentioning the miscarriage of your plic blooms, I was all excited about my bargin at the farmers market and I plowed right passed your post. I'm no expert but I can make a comment from experience, looks like it over dosed on water or fertilizer I am looking forward to what those who have experienced this in the past & have corrected the problem.
Me on the other hand am still trying to get my plic to shoot out a stem or two.
Again sorry Tom
Greg. Lol... Grrg oops

No problem, Greg. That is an exceptional deal on those plics!

Hoov - so second time around yours flowered? Did you do anything different?

Thanks.

T

Re: flowering of plants, in general, based on my observations - the right conditions, whatever that may be, seem to be an important factor in flower initiation, not so much in flower development.

You can take a flower stalk, stick it in a vase, and in the short term the flowers will still be vibrant and continue to unfurl despite no photosynthesis.

With living plants, it's probably the same thing. Warmth, light, water, humidity, photoperiod, etc. have to be suitable to stimulate the hormones needed for bud formation. Once all that is set, plants start putting resources into this metabolically expensive period.

Succulents, more so than other plants, are exceptionally capable of utilizing reserve nutrients - this means that new photosynthate is not a priority. But once the process has started, it will continue to completion unless there are sudden changes in conditions.

Quickly moving a plant into a new environment can result in flower abortion. We've all seen this. I'm not convinced that light is important - I think temperature changes may be a bigger negative stimulant. Take a look at flowering bulbs - all the nutrition is ready to go to form the flowers, when the time is right. No light is needed at all. This is an extreme example but still falls in line with the rest of the Plant Kingdom. Growth --> nutrient storage --> suitable environment --> flowers.

I've had Aloes and other plants that started flower stalk formation outdoors during cool conditions. I bring them into the garage where it is still cool but there is minimal light, and guess what, the flowers still form. Photosynthesis is probably not a requirement. The hormones and nutrients continue to flow through the plant juices, despite lack of new glucose.

The moral of my story is that I have not seen enough evidence to state definitively that strong light is needed during the entire blooming period. I believe it is most important immediately prior to blooming, when the flower buds are initiating. As the buds grow, swell and open, light is not so important. Some flowers won't open unless the sun is strong, but that's a function of attracting pollinators on a sunny day, nothing related to growth and metabolism.

So...Tom - maybe you should have left your Aloe in the cool environment? The warmth may have been detrimental to the blooming. I still hold that Aloe plicatilis flowers are not worth the extra effort. Personally, based on my ramblings, I find it more impressive that you even got to the point of flowers, than having them open.

x

Thanks, x...great information! I guess I will get another chance at it next year.

Now the question becomes...should I leave it in the window, or put it back in cold storage? What would you do?

T

T - for me that's an easy answer. Back into the cold. In our situation if there's not enough light for good growth, you are better off having no growth. And as an added bonus, you have the ability to limit overall growth which is a good thing since some of our plants can get big and heavy much faster than we may realize.

It's a pseudo-bonsai regime, except that when we deal with large monocots you can't prune the same as dicots.

x

Tom,

I must 'fess up - the A. plic. cutting that I had tried to root for two years got thrown out this year. Things ain't what they used to be.

x,

We saw lots of flower damage (burn and aborted flowers) in the Phoenix area on Aloes due to the cold (around freezing). And I've got lots of new growth on the A. dichotoma since (1) it's near a partially sunny window (2) it's warmish in that room (3) it got repotted in early November.

cmch -

Sorry to hear about your plic...had you successfully rooted cuttings before?

In San Diego, where rooting of (al)most all Aloe cuttings are possible, some even just lying on the ground's surface, an Aloe plic. would root in its bucket of pumice, located on the warm sidewalk, at the drop of a homburg - but wait, there's more. I guarantee you roots in six weeks. Alas, that's not happening up here without some special care and equipment and more judicious drinking.