i am still looking for sprial aloe or agave (polyphylla). these are very expensive to buy from a nursery if you can even find them. if anyone has the plants or pups or seeds that you would like to share please email me and let me know. thanks

They seem to love our SF Bay Area conditions, and I've planted out dozens of them in client's gardens and have yet to lose one. They do get big with time, between 2.5 to 3 feet across. There are some nice big examples of them at the University of California at Berkeley Botanic Garden on African hill, and also at San Francisco Botanic Garden. The one in my photo is in a front garden in the Oakland hills, there are more photos of them elsewhere in this same garden with lots more succulents. I've had friends who are experienced growers with other succulents who tried growing them just the other side of the bay in Atherton, where they didn't appreciate the extra summer heat at all, and fried their roots, even though they were in the ground. I haven't had issues with them rotting from too much water collecting on the foliage, but I do try to plant them at a slight angle or on slopes in general. Here is a link that might be useful: Aloe polyphylla

I always grow these outdoors in the landscape here in the SF east Bay, and they aren't so temperature sensitive as some here would make out, 70F in the day isn't going to stress this plant if you keep it watered regularly. It is the roots that don't like to get too hot, and they tend to get those yellowed leaves when pot grown and the pot sides get heated up by mid-day sun. Where I have seen them grown in hotter parts of the SF Bay Area where it does get into the 80'sF in summer, they are best double potted so that the roots stay cooler. Normal range of temperatures here in my part of the Bay Area where they thrive is a good stretch of cool day time temps which will vary between 50 to mid 60'sF for several months of winter, temps at night between 35 and 45 for several months. In the warmer months here, the day time temps range between 55F and 75F, nights back down to 55F. I doubt this temperature range is all that critical to match as long as the roots stay cool and hydrated, but this is what they seem to thrive on locally, I haven't lost one of the dozens I've planted out. I would suggest you don't try to send it into winter dormancy, but keep it growing under lights or in a south facing window. 70F temps as the high during the day shouldn't harm it, but do give it a good soak to the point of seeing water drain out the bottom on a periodic basis. Plants that I've seen with that amount of yellowing older leaves usually indicate that there has already been major loss of roots, I'd depot to see if that is the case, and up the watering. One of those Aloes that doesn't like to completely dry out, yet hates too wet saturated soil conditions as well, in my growing experience. I'm posting a link to a photo of a nice fat Aloe polyphylla in an Oakland hills garden, probably about 6 years in the ground here, and planted on a slope. Here is a link that might be useful: Aloe polyphylla

I had two tissue-culture plants Aloe Polyphylla ("AP") that I ordered from a nursery in California. Both were approximately the same size when they arrived. After a couple of months the one in the second photo was growing well. The one in the first photo had remained about the same size. About a week ago I was checking a leaf on the smaller one and the whole plant tipped over -- the roots had rotted off. I emailed the nursery and the owner said that this was due to overwatering. I had overpotted the plants to deal with the heat problem (saw that on another forum someplace) and was watering daily. I made sure that no water collected in the crown or leaves of either plant and they were kept in the exact same conditions. I also recently ordered a year-old plant from an eBay seller. Her listing stated, Needs full sun and infrequent water. Seriously, INFREQUENT water ... No returns if it comes back waterlogged! All of the literature I've read, including Alan Beverly and Clark Brunte, states that the AP should be well-watered and Beverly says that this is one way to avoid root damage from high temperatures. As long as the soil drains well, over-watering doesn't seem to be an issue. Obviously people like Rick who have success growing AP can't be wrong, so I would advise you to follow his advice. The temperature where I live only rarely reaches 90 degrees and my plants receive only morning and late afternoon sun, so I don't have to worry about extra high temperatures. One suggestion is to change the plants into a ceramic or terra cotta pot. I think those materials are better at diffusing heat. Here's the link to Alan Beverly's advice on raising AP, including advice on dealing with areas with higher temperatures. http://www.ecotree.net/Care&Cultivation.pdf