I hope I'm wrong. It might be the biggest fear in aloe world. Aloe mite attack. If so, keep it far away from all other aloes. Use 'Seven' dust to dust all other aloes. Don't kill them but inhibits it's spread.

The over abundance of rain we have is know to spread aloe mites. Can only come from another aloe. Shows up first in bloom stock. Next will be super tiny crowded new growth. Mutated almost crested form.

Wait till some one who knows more chimes in. There is treatment for this but cost is outrageous.

Oh man! I'm afraid that Stush is right.

I didn't know it shows up in the bloom stalk first. Good to know!

So, I guess the best thing to do is get rid of that plant. Would it be transmitted through the seed pod on the other plant?

Isn’t it crazy what Aloe mite does? I’m not gonna lie sometimes it looks cool, but it’s no bueno because it spreads. It does make the Aloes look interesting.

I have no clue if the seeds can carry the mite. I would think if you harvested the seeds and kept them cool and dark till next year the seeds would be fine. I mean the mites feed off the Aloe flesh, and the seeds have nothing for the mite feed off. I wouldn’t sow them this year. I would wait a year or so because I can’t imagine any mites could live that long with zero food source.

This is all just a guess of course.

I like to wait for the seed pod to dry out a bit more, but tbh they could be ready. That flower stalk looks pretty dry.

Kara, how do you store the seeds for a year?

I put my seeds in a marked envelope and put them in my pantry:). Make sure they’re nice and dry first. Usually Aloe seeds are. Things like cactus pods are juicy so I leave them out for a few days to dry out.

Maybe a year is being a little to careful, but at least a few months. Where’s Aloebot when ya need him. I’m sure he knows plenty about Aloe mite;).

SLD, If i'm right and I hope I'm not. Don't trust your other plant. If by chance mites got into that seed pod, the rest of the plant is infected as well, even any pups. Try the 'Seven'. You got nothing to loose and it's cheap at Walmarts. Cut distorted bloom stock off and I would still keep the plants but away from any other aloes. Lucky it does not spread to other plants but it will to their kin like Haworthia and Gasteria. Your seed pod plant may be okay.

This aloe mite reminds me of that sy-fi movie 'The Thing'.

I only have a few Aloes. The only aloe I have that I care about is castilloniae.

Hopefully, it's not infected. I will try Sevin (already have some on hand) and hope for the best. After you dust, do your keep the plant out of sun and rain for a while?

I'm guessing that the mites must have come in on DZ. I've had Peppermint for years without any problems. Think it's kind of a boring Aloe, though, so don't mind getting rid of it if I have to. Haws are all inside, so haven't come anywhere close to the Aloes.

Where in the world do these come from if they're only on Aloes? Reading things like this make me want to keep all plants indoors. I happen to have my few Aloes inside.

Many people say to destroy the plant with mites. I can't destroy a rarer plant that is mature and has some years on it. I also try to avoid chemicals, so no expert there. I have been successful saving A. pluridens and A. taurii with surgery. I finally gave up on a variegated A. arborescens- the most commonly afflicted. I am still trying to save a A. castanea with 3 heads. It will be its' 3rd surgery. If this one fails I might try to save the heads. These are all in one section of my yard. This tells me it would have been better to destroy and start over. I have 3 Arabian Aloes in this area plus a A. marlothii and A. alooides that are not affected. I have mostly avoided buying the small aloe hybrids just because many of them look like Aloe mite infections and I worried I would not catch a real infection until it is too late. I prefer species Aloes anyway. I wait until the seed pods start to crack open. The seeds are mature then and could be planted at that time.

Depending on the active ingredient in your can of Sevin (they changed ingredients recently) it may not be effective on Eriophyid mites. Read the label to see what it is rated for.

It was on this site that we had a hugh discussion on Aloe Mites. Some one stated (who ?) that seven stopped the spread. I used seven to 'dust' all my plants, (Agaves, haworthia, Aloe, Sanseveria) just to be on the safe side. We had so much rain and I had a black fungus dusting on my plants. That cleared up. I had one infested aloe from years before that I keep to experiment on. Grows normal and looks good but that tail-tell sign of funny bloom stock keeps showing up. It was a seed grown plant along with many other seed grown so I believe it came from some thing I purchased and introduce. Which scares me because all of them look good. Having to wait to see them bloom to be sure. So far so good but where in hell did the first one came from? I also use Listerine Original mouthwash (contains Thymol and Benzoic Acid along with Alcohol) to spray them with.

I'm thinking that I'm going to get rid of my Aloes except for castilloniae. That one I'll keep and hope for the best. I'll check my container of Sevin, but it's not that old, so may not be effective. I'm going to keep the seeds from Peppermint.

Fortunately, I don't have a large and rare collection of Aloes.

Aloebot, will the seeds be free of mites? Can I plant them right away, or should I store them for a while first like Kara suggested?

Stush, I do have Listerine on hand as well as Sevin...

That A. castilloniae is quite unique Try the Sevin and mouthwash and keep both. Keep isolated until it blooms again and see.

Stush, going to try it... fingers crossed! Do you spray the Listerine on full strength or dilute it?

Full strength. I buy the Dollar Store brand same for $1. Mint flavor so it smells nice. I don't do this often. Just maybe once every month. I use this on all my succulents.

Where do you find such different great looking plants? You own some rare ones.

Is it the actual mites that disfigure the plant and bloom stalk or is it a virus the mites transmit that causes the damage? If it's a virus, I'd assume the seeds may be infected, too.

What disfigures the Aloe’s growth is a chemical that is secreted by the mites as they eat, which makes the Aloe grow these huge masses.

A quote from Dave’s Garden:

”This chemical is actually a growth hormone regulator and it tends to induce a gall (solid mass) around the mites as they eat and this gall probably protects the mites from the dangers of the ‘outside world'. The mites not only continue to feed inside the gall, but then lay their eggs as well.”

Here’s the Article from Dave’s Garden about Aloe mites.

Flowers and fresh center growth is what the mites like best.

Thank you Kara, Very informative.

I think it is Thamm the Aloe hybridizer in South Africa who says for aloe mite to use formalin (formaldehyde) which you can get at pond/aquarium stores; it is used to treat parasites in fish. If you go to the SunBird Aloe site you can find the page, at least you could last I looked. My neighbor used it on a big A. africana and several years later the plant is still clean. You have to be very careful with formalin and strictly follow all precautions because it is a known carcinogen and toxic besides.

I used Bayer imdacloprid as a systemic soil drench on my Aloe (Kumara) plicatilis five years ago for an infection of gall mite. I also cut off the affected area down to the base one of the branches and applied Sevin to the cut. It has been clean ever since, for the past five years. It was a pretty big plicatilis so I could not give up on it.

The gall mite infection is usually localized at first because the creatures do not move more than a few millimeters in their lifetimes. They blow through the air on the wind to infect new plants and it is the bloom stalk that is the most vulnerable part of the plant.

Re seed: the seeds in the pod are ripe when the pod starts to pop open. You can wrap a piece of tape around the pod to keep the seeds from flying out and getting lost.

See on these pods how the pods are starting to split open at the top. They are ripe. I planted these fresh seeds and they are sprouting now. Old seeds are not as good.

Thanks, hoovb. The photo of the seed pods is a big help. Great idea to use tape... tomorrow morning I'll do that. I don't think I want to work with formaldehyde, but I do have Bayer tree and shrub which is imdacloprid. What dilution would you recommend for that? I don't think it says anything about Aloes on the container.

Thanks everyone for your help!

I use the Bayer 3 in 1 myself but it had no effect on the mite. Sevin did help one early stage on one. The mouth wash helps on the black spot fungus I just got this year due to the record rain fall we have been getting.

Thanks Hoovb for the formaldehyde tip. The one I kept for experimenting with will be a good candidate.

I guess I follow the directions for fish since fish are more delicate than plants. Last year when I checked on treatment, it was around $200 for smallest amount you could buy so no plant was worth that.

Eww, where is Avid sold? I'm almost ready to give up on my A. castanea with 3 heads. It is post 3 surgeries plus Bayer 3 in 1 once and they keep coming back. If you've seen the flowers on this you will understand why I keep trying.

Amazon =)